Under-Floor Central Heating Afloat?

[Arranman]

VOLTAGE SENSITIVE RELAY FOR DC

I am trying to use the spare juce from the wind turbine to heat water to run an under floor heating system.

Theory:- When the 24volt battery bank is fully charged a 24volt water heating is switched on and when hot enough the hot water is pumped round the system heating the boat.

Problem:- To stop the batteries draining to far, a voltage sensitive relay with upper voltage settings and lower voltage settings, and a time delay is required and I have not been able to find such a thing in the UK. The only place that i have found one is from intec controlls in the US, bt as yet they have not replied to my emails.

Can anyone out there help me find one please?

All the best

Jim

[Sailmonkey]

look for a blue seas systems "ACR" there are quite a few different ones that should do what you a looking for.

[svHyLyte]

If you have a hot water system that uses the heat from the engine to heat fresh water, you can tap a loop into that with a simple on-off valve that passes some of the engine coolant through a hydronic heater (see Heater Craft Auxiliary Cabin Heater ) with a samll recirculating pump in the circuit to keep things moving when the engine isn't running. Then, simply insert the Blue Seas systems "ACR" previously mentioned in your power system to dump juice from the wind turbine to a heating eliment in your hot water heater. When you need heat, open the valve in the coolant line and turn the heater fan on, with a tap from the heater fan switch that also actuates the recirculation pump. The coolant will pick-up the heat from the hot water tank and transfer it to the heater. We've got one of these on our boat (albeit without the heating from dumping the excess power from the wind turbine) and, it works great.

FWIW...

s/v HyLyte

[Arranman]

Hi, thanks for the posts.
Have looked at the blue seas systems "ACR" but they don’t seem to do one for 24 volt systems. Intec Controls, a Wilson Mohr Inc. company of US, supply a VRDC of the type I need but they have not replied to my emails.Hope my system will work as well as yours on s/v HyLyte.
It’s amazing what the sailing mind get’s up to on the long Scottish winter nights.
Thanks
JP

[goboatingnow]

try this crowd Pennine Components UK - Saia Burgess, Crouzet, Apem, Otto Stockist

[seandepagnier]

I use the excess wind generator electricity to power a dehumidifier. It dries the boat, makes water, and heats it.. it is simpler too.

I want to rig it up so it automatically starts when the batteries are full, and cuts off when they get below a certain voltage as well. I think a simple schematic using a relay, a few flip-flops a transistor and some potentiometers (for setting the voltages) would make this possible.

Alternately I would rather just use a microprocessor which measures battery voltage directly (through resistor bridge) and controls the relay directly (microprocessor IO pins are beefy enough to do it) So literally only 4 components are needed. The only annoying part now is the dehumidifier has a soft switch which has to be pressed after power is applied, so I wil have to cut it open and short it out somehow.

[Arranman]

The VRDC unit that I have been truing to source from Intec Controls in the US is perfect for this type of job, and will run from a 12 to 24 volt source. I have converted most of my domestic battery side to 24volt, primarily because I bought a 24volt wind turbine by accident, instead of the 12volt version, and living on an island, it was just not worth the hassle and extra postage costs to send it back. I like the 24v system as it is much more efficient with far less voltage drop in the cables.
The Isle of Arran is a great place to live, but has it’s own problems like the extra cost of living, as everything has to come in via ferry, but a great base from which to explore the west of Scotland.
If there is anyone in the states that could source these VRDC,s, I would be delighted to send the money required to purchase some and pay the postage

All the best everyone

Jim

Life is for the living , learning, and loving

[Arranman]

Hi and thanks for all the useful comments.
Have had a change of plan and bought a second hand 24 volt Eberspacher heater on ebay for £170.00.
So far I am pleased with the system, it is timed to run for an hour a day and the wind generator is still keeping the batteries charged. Not quite heating for nothing, but for the small amount of diesel the heater uses it keeps the cabin dry and in the long run will be cheaper than the mains electric heating. It also switches it’s self off if the battery voltage drops to low.
So I have at least achieved part of my goal in using wind power to keep the boat warm and dry in the winter months. There are still enough winter months left before sailing starts again for me to dream up some other mad ideas.

All the best
Arranman