General Info: Purchase Advice: Do I Need Heat?

[cram]

I can't imagine installing hydronic heat would be too difficult?

[Tupaia]

A cat is a big space to heat but being sandwich construction retains heat quite well. I have a 10.5KW hydronic diesel unit with a matrix heater in each corner cabin. Heat rises so it heats the whole boat. It only runs at full power for a maximum of about an hour in the coldest temps before throttling down. If you decide to go this route plumb in a dual coil calorifier with appropriate valves and you can get a full tank of hot water in 20-30mins without running an engine. Great when you have been diving even in the tropics.


Have no idea what the "F"s are all about mine are in "C"'s can maintain 20-22 when it is snowing outside.

[JPA Cate]

If the boat will stay in So Cal for its entire time with you, I would think that a really good quality comforter would make sleeping fine. However, if what you don't like is actually getting out of the warm bed and having the cold air leach warmth out of your skin, having a good quality heating system to take the chill off the cabins in the early morning--a proper hydronic system--is probably the most user friendly way to go. The cat will have a lot of area to heat, and getting it warm in a 1/2 hr. would be more warm in a short time than I think you could get with the kind of diesel heater we have on our mono.

Twenty deg C is roughly 68 F. and 22 C is roughly 72. We are happy sleeping at 50-55 F, but prefer getting up into 65 or more. And, now, we are sleeping under a 20% duck down and 80% feather comforter (or duvet)*, which warms within 5 min of getting under it, and demands no electricity. Temps in winter only go to freezing here, but especially under 10 C (~50 F), I really don't like the feel. However, wearing washable merino thermal underwear mitigates the discomfort quite well.

* Now I'll predict someone will say I'm crazy to use down on a boat because if it gets wet it will not insulate. They're right, it won't. But I've kept my down pillow in use our whole cruising life, and now we have what we have, and are not worried about it. Y'all get to make different decisions, the point is that it has worked for me. You just have to not allow them to get soaked. And there is a polyester fiber-fill one, in reserve.

Ann

[OneBoatman]

It all depends on where you are planning to sail. Climate matters. Alaska vs. Galapagos. If you plan on living aboard when it gets and stays below about 45 deg F you'll want some heat. Only you can decide but I will say without any humor intended that if you can afford a brand new Lagoon 40 it isn't what would come to mind as a decision you need to make at the time of purchase. Watermaker, battery capacity, electronics/ communication, safety equipment, life raft, solar capacity, fuel capacity, sails, winches, freezers and refrigeration, autopilot, Winter cover, tender, slip or mooring all these things should come first. You can always add heat later.

[David Mathis]

You're spending how much on a new 40? Now you're saving some cash by skipping the heat and ac? Primates live in the jungle without heat or ac. Need and nice are not necessarily close to being the same. If you plan to spend your time at the dock, a couple home electric heaters will usually be enough to remove the chill and bring the boat into the comfort zone but if you intend to spend time on the hook, it might be to your advantage to rethink the no genset, no heat, no ac decision. Also, when the day arrives to sell the boat, it might be a challenge to find a buyer for a boat of that size without temperature controls.

[Rob19321]

I'm in Canada, east coast, so mostly the weather is alike Kettlewell in Maine.

The other answers are,
"You might not need heat but the odd time that you do, you'll want something."
"You might not care for the heat, but we heat for 10-15 minutes each morning because it eats the moisture."
(Moisture, moisture, moisture, moisture, moisture.)
"The catalysic heater someone mentioned hasndled our 34 footer easily."
"We just purchased a $150 Chinese diesel heater that I will mount in cocklpit lazerette, heat pushed in through bulkhead, combustion exhaust pumped out thru-hull (above water) to port side."



"We just purchased" actaully means I saw my wife answer the door and grab a Vevor box from the Amazon guy... so "Merry Boatmas to me"

[Seadarer]

I boat out of Vancouver Island year round and have had two boats that I have installed furnaces in. The first one I installed a Hydronic heater and individual bus style heating units in each room with their own thermostats. That way we could let the individual rooms select their own temperature. Also, the hot glycol would first pass through the water heater too so we always had hot water which itself was quite nice. This system worked very well, but it used relatively more electrical power than our current hot air system.

My current boat has Webasto (diesel burner direct to air transfer) heaters and separate thermostats. It ends up working just like home heating. It makes it very comfortable, just like home, down to below freezing temberatures and is very efficient on its power consumption. The only downside is that it doesn't heat the water heater, so to have hot water we need some type of electrical heat.

Additionally, we never use the furnace at nightk, preferring to let the boat drop to ambient temperature and sleep under a down comforter - makes for the best sleep possible.

Bottoom line, is that both of these type work and it boild down to a simple a choice of how much comfort you want to have at any time. In our case, it completely eliminates the thought that it is too cold out to enjoy boating thus a perfect success.

[MHTinkler]

Love aboard - 34 sailing catamaran. Came equipped with A/C with electric auxiliary heat. Boat is usually either in warm climate (Miami) or in a Marina during cold months. Currently in St. Augustine, FL where lows regularly hit mid fifties. Electric furnace keeps up nicely here.
When on the hook, if needed, I have a Buddy Heater run from a dedicated 30 lb. propane bottle. Easily heats entire boat (with fans to circulate air). Never run heater while sleeping, use a down comforter. Toasty. 30 lb. of fuel lasts entire season. Biggest problem is condensation. Propane is a very "wet" fuel.
If buying a new boat I would install separate A/C with electric auxiliary and diesel fired forced air heater (like Webasto)

[mcon12000]

Originally Posted by cram

I can't imagine installing hydronic heat would be too difficult?

It’s actually not that difficult and far easier to run the hoses than ducting in a sailboat. You gain hot showers without turning on the engine and zoned full boat heat for around .10 gal of diesel per hour. Power consumption is super low as well but will vary with the size/number of exchangers. You have what’s called a summer valve that allows you to by pass everything but the water heater when full boat heat isn’t needed.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time researching this one and although it’s a bit more complicated and expensive it’s the only option that ticks all the boxes away from the dock.

[dw1979]

Sure you can live without heat. But what about companions that you might want to share boat time with? You don’t have to run the heater but having a way to dry out the boat after cooking etc is a plus.
If you are financing the new boat you won’t even notice the extra $$ in the payment no matter which form of heat you go with

[Calif.Ted]

Worse case I've woken up in the islands with the temp at 42 F., usually Feb. or March, pop out of sleeping bag just long enough to light the stove under the kettle. By the time you make coffee and drink it, having drug the bag to the salon, the sun's up and so are you. Now I carry a buddy heater and fire it for a few minutes, works fine for a small mono.
If you are going to support a 40' Cat here you might as well get a heater, it will only cost the same as a month's slip fee. Take a couple grand out of petty cash.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by JimInSoCal

I'm concerned about cold when it gets down into the 50s (often) or 40s at night

Yes, you absolutely want heat if you'll be spending time in the 40-50F

Your life doesn't change when you're on a boat. Ask yourself, if your residence was 45F, would you normally be turning the heat on? (Of course you would!!)

Being on a boat doesn't make you magically comfortable with being uncomfortable.

[Cheyne]

We have heat on our's via our AC units, but rarely use it when on anchor. We also rarely are on anchor in cold weather except for the few days we are transiting down to the Bahamas from Virginia. This year we used it at docks 3 nights total. Works great, but if we didn't have it I wouldn't notice. We do have some 12v electric blankets that we put under the blankets and run it before we go to bed.

Cheyne

[jimellifritt]

Originally Posted by JimInSoCal

Hi all, new here and considering the purchase of a new Lagoon 40 that a local dealer has as a stock boat.

Unusually (as best I can tell), they ordered it without a genset, A/C or perhaps most importantly, heat.

And based on that, my question is this - I'd actually rather add solar and extra batteries and not deal with a generator if it's avoidable, so I'm otherwise fine with that, and it's not often hot enough here to want A/C (I very rarely need it even on land), but I'm concerned about cold when it gets down into the 50s (often) or 40s at night (less so but enough to take into consideration), and the average water temp gets down to 60 here compared to 68ish in the summer.

I don't plan to move aboard anytime soon, but do certainly plan to spend nights on board for a week at a time or more when tootling down to San Diego or out to Catalina, etc., and if I'm going to freeze my tail off without heat installed, I want to make allowances for that up front.

At what temps are folks finding they need to use diesel, electric, or other heaters to keep the boat warm enough for comfortable sleep overnight? I'm kind of a hot sleeper (I usually tend to have the AC in hotel rooms at 68), so I might like it cooler than some other folks, but there's obviously a limit.

Any and all thoughts appreciated!

Heat yes. Bottomline it extends your season. We have been live aboard and now fulltime cruisers. We have had in the past propane catalytic little buddy heaters to warm, but they are very very hot and need ample clear space, forced air diesel loud but warm, hydronic the best but most expensive, reverse cycle AC, and small space heaters. Without a dock or genny you are really down to forced air diesel or hydronic. Propane in a cat for sleeping would be a no go. If the boat is comfortable not only will you use it others will enjoy it. IMO hydronic is the best, of course the most expensive. We are from PAC NW, we have only had heater on once in the Carribean, but we will be north again and the heat and unlimited hot water will be welcomed from the hydronic system

[lifeofreilly57]

We left Newport RI in end of November 2018, I had removed the heater unit from the aft locker to make more storage room, yeah, that was a mistake.
Boat still has all the ducting and wiring for it and the heater unit, which is a forced hot air unit that runs off diesel. Now that its back in northern waters the heater is going back in.
Even if we only use it to burn off the morning chill it's well worth it.
Problem was that it requires 120vac, but now with the new inverter and lithium battery bank power is no issue, so I can run the heat at anchor.
If your on a cat, it's easier to add a fair amount of solar on an arch due to the width of the stearn, with that and a good sized lithium bank you should have no problem.