Dickinson solid fuel stove or propane

[Cachimba]

Hi


I was planning to install a Dickinson fuel stove, since Im living in my boat in the south of Portugal, I will use it ocacionally during the nightfall, my boat is a Dufour 358. Want to know your opinion regarding solid fuel stove, is ti worth?, and if you have any experience with this brand.


thanks a lot.

[pcmm]

If it was me I'd get the Diesel stove. No need to carry a separate fuel that needs to stay dry, less mess and the Diesel has the ambiance of being able to see the flame.

[Chotu]

I had both the diesel and the propane Dickinson.

The propane was much better.

You still have a wonderful ambiance. They even degrade part of the flame to make it burn yellow.

The bid difference is soot. The diesel is a dirty, nasty thing, while the propane stays completely clean and requires absolutely no maintenance. Assuming you can get propane, it’s the best way to go.

Also significantly better for the environment.

[Cachimba]

The bid difference is soot. The diesel is a dirty, nasty thing, while the propane stays completely clean and requires absolutely no maintenance. Assuming you can get propane, it’s the best way to go.

Also significantly better for the environment.[/QUOTE]




thanks a lot will chech propane

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I had both the diesel and the propane Dickinson.

The propane was much better.

You still have a wonderful ambiance. They even degrade part of the flame to make it burn yellow.

The bid difference is soot. The diesel is a dirty, nasty thing, while the propane stays completely clean and requires absolutely no maintenance. Assuming you can get propane, it’s the best way to go.

Also significantly better for the environment.

propane is terrible for the environment. It comes from fossil fuels and should be illegal for you to use on your boat when you don't really need the heat anyway. You could just wear long underwear as far as I am concerned. The same goes for diesel.

I have heat on my boat many years making heater from scraps cost is none and fuel free.

[Cachimba]

Originally Posted by seandepagnier

propane is terrible for the environment. It comes from fossil fuels and should be illegal for you to use on your boat when you don't really need the heat anyway. You could just wear long underwear as far as I am concerned. The same goes for diesel.

I have heat on my boat many years making heater from scraps cost is none and fuel free.

If I´m considering using it, it´s because I need it... I don´t spend money in something I don´t need... that is the reason Im asking... I´m using electric one to keep me dry and confortable... and want another source of heat. For me 5ºC with humidity it´s enough to consider all options... but thanks for your legal words...

[seandepagnier]

haha. my words are unfortunately not legal yet. Just an opinon.

I used a 50 gallon drum and cut it, then bent it and welded it into stove.

[250224]

Also have a look at the Cubic Cub (or Grizzly). Shipping to Europe is expensive however.

[Oeanda]

Which Dickinson stoves are you looking at? We had a small Dickinson solid fuel heater which didn’t work for us and we got rid of. We had a larger woodstove which we liked a lot for heat but the firewood thing was messy. Then we put in a Dickinson Pacific diesel stove which has been even messier (the soot is horrible) and not worked well for us at all, but we are still trying to tune it up better. It sounds like other people we talk to at the dock here have had somewhat better experiences with the Pacific, so we haven’t quite given up on it. I suspect though we will probably go back to wood heat as it’s free and keeps us nice and warm. We would rethink our firewood management to keep down the amount of sawdust and crap migrating down into the bilge.

[Cachimba]

Thanks a lot for your words, it´s not easy to decide, have you consider propane? like Newport 9000?

[Cachimba]

Originally Posted by blu3534

Also have a look at the Cubic Cub (or Grizzly). Shipping to Europe is expensive however.

for me it fits better the Dickinson, and it looks well made, yeah price is high that´s the reason I want to make the right choice.

[Oeanda]

One of my neighboring (20’) boats has the Grizzly cubic mini and isn’t very happy with it. Said it’s cheaply made and way too tiny- which pretty much sums up our experience with the Dickinson solid fuel bulkhead heater as well. Of course if your space is tiny and you don’t need very much heat and don’t mind something that needs to be refilled every hour or two then they might work well for you.
As for propane we haven’t considered that because it wouldn’t be convenient to refill. Also expensive to run.

[Cachimba]

thanks a lot! yeah I don´t mind refilling every our, I don´t use the electric heater when I go to sleep anyway, don´t like to leave it on.

[250224]

Originally Posted by Oeanda

One of my neighboring (20’) boats has the Grizzly cubic mini and isn’t very happy with it. Said it’s cheaply made and way too tiny

Would you mind to ask the neighbors for a bit more details? Tiny is expected but otherwise (from videos/blogs) I thought that it would be rather good.

[Oeanda]

I gather that some people are happy with their propane heaters. Just make sure it is vented. My only experience with propane heat was in someone’s cabin where it was unvented and the moisture produced by the burning propane made it very uncomfortable.

Your boat is the same size as ours and I believe your temperatures are somewhat similar though a bit warmer. Hovering around 8- 10° C most nights at the moment. The Dickinson solid fuel bulkhead heater was not able to heat up even one of our boat cabins with the doors closed, no matter how dangerously red hot we got it. We sold it to a 20 foot boat and it wasn’t hot enough for him either. The Grizzly would be the same in my opinion so unless you’re really only looking for a boost of a few degrees (and don’t mind constantly feeding the thing) I’m pretty sure those two would not work for you.

What has made the most difference for us at the dock is a dehumidifier to take out the damp. For the wattage involved it has a lot more effect than the electric heaters do.