Best diesel heater

[gilligansail]

I have an Outremer 49 and want to install heat
What’s the best heater and did you use one per hull one one for the entire boat?
Thanks Stefan

[mikereed100]

Cats are a bit more challenging to heat than mono's due to the separate hulls. The options are forced air, such as Webasto, or radiation, such as Dickenson. If you use a radiating heater, as we do, you will need one in each hull. The forced air heaters are great, but ducting can be a challenge, they require power for the fan and are not as reliable as the simpler radiating heaters. We met one couple in Alaska who carried 2 as backups. As I mentioned, we have a Dickenson in each hull, each with it's own tank using gravity alone for fuel pressure. Very simple and effective. The heat rises into the main saloon and keeps it fairly comfortable.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ran-12848.html

[gilligansail]

Thanks for the reply
I like the simplicity of the dickenson heater
How big is your cat and did you have mold/ condensation issues? I’m also curious about hot warm you kept you boat and fuel consumption.
We a I’m New Zealand now and think about the West Pacific/Japan/Alaska route
Stefan

[mikereed100]

You should be fine with a couple of Dickensons. Our boat has large, glass windows surrounding the cabin, so we lose a lot of heat to conduction. The cabin does not get "warm", but it gets comfortable and the Dickensons keep the humidity down. A 3 gallon tank lasts us several days if we keep it on low and do not run it 24hours/day. We are headed for Chile now and are curious ourselves how much fuel we will use. Alaska should be no problem as the water temp keeps things fairly temperate. Also, fuel is available everywhere so you don't have to worry so much about conserving.

You are in for a treat visiting Japan and Alaska. Our favorite are was Prince William Sound as it was protected and there were any number of glaciers to visit. You can get an idea of what awaits you by checking out our blog. Happy sailing!