Best heater for use during winter?

[waynemonastra]

Hi there

while on the subject of winter im about to move onto my new yacht in a few weeks and want to know what is the best way to keep a yacht dry and free from dampness in the winter, we are starting to get cold nights here so winter isonly around the corner, I want to put a heater of some kind in the boat but what type is reccomended and how much condensation will it make. I will have a boom tent covering the cockpit so I can leave the hatchway open to provide ventilation etc, Also what do i need to do the prepare the boat on the outside ( if anything)

Cheers

Wayne

[capt lar]

Wayne, you will get better feed back if you copy this post and post it as a new thread. Look at the list of categories, select the one that fits best and post as "new" You can (can we still ?) delete the post here. When we bring new topic to ongoing thread, it gets confusing. There are also past thread you can search for options on safe heating, humidity control during cold months.
Larry

[Andy R]

I went ahead and split these posts off as a new discussion. I could not find a proper place about heating/ac so I put it in the Q&A forum. I think we will need to look at restructuring the forums to better house discussions like this in more logical places.

Admins/mods - lets delete these two posts (mine and capt lar's above) once we get some responses to this thread...

[Charlie]

I am starting to research this as well. In the West Marine catalogue I found a few different heaters Propane, diesel, and alcohol. The alcohol was a portable that will kick out 5000 btu. I don't know how you would do the heat loss calcs on a boat but for an 880 sq ft apartment (well insulated) in Montana USA you needed about 18,000 btu.

Best solution though is to head North in the winter.

[ssullivan]

Also, we have had many a good discussion on here about our preferred heat sources. The discussions have even got a little "heated"... (sorry... couldn't help it). But it's true.

Search for heater, stove, diesel, etc... and you'll come up with a lot of useful info.

You'll also see Kai Nui's and my tendency to promote wood stoves.

[Richhh]

Are you on the hook or at a dock?
If at a dock I'd go with electric heaters ... no mess, no lugging fuel, no smell, NO condensation from combustion, Cheap to buy, almost as cheap to run (depends on the price of local elec.) etc. Ditto with a 'heat-pump'.

[waynemonastra]

HI there,

I will be at a marina and the rent i pay (for the berth) includes unlimited use of power and shore facilities, I will have a shop round over the next few weeks,
Thanks for the advice

W

Unlimited power, to a point. If you purchase an electric heater, make sure the shore power can handle it. Most portable heaters over here are 1500 watts. That and a Charger are all our system can handle. Consider all of your power loads. You will probably have to turn off the heater to run a microwave. Few things worse than blowing the shore power breaker in the middle of a rainstorm at 6 in the morning. Also consider the loads you do not notice, such as hot water heater. A 1500 watt unit will do little more than take the edge off a 34' boat below 40 deg. f
And yes, Go wood

[Charlie]

We just spent the night on a J105 (34.5' with 5'2 head room) in San Francisco (about 50 degrees F ) and we were very warm with a 1500 watt fan heater. I know that Christ Church is much colder than that and I believe everything is 220v so you's be able to get more wattage with less amps. I think that one of those Italian oil filled radiator electric heaters would probably heat a good sized boat. You could keep an alcohol fuelled heater as a supplement for those really cold times.

Charlie

I agree on the radiators. THey work really good. I have not had them last very long (2 years at the most), but if left on, they keep the boat pretty toasty.

[waynemonastra]

The Boat I have just bought is to small ( i think ) for a fire place, although I would love the idea of coming home from work to a yacht with a warm fire in the cabin. I have thought about putting a fan heater on the steps leading into the cabin but my only fear is the rocking of the boat and the heater falls off and breaks or worse catches fire.
I also have a 4 fin oil filled heater ( the smallest) which may be the best option, I guess the only way to find out is to wait till I move aboard and try it out.

Is there anything else a new live aboard will need to know??

any help is good help.

W

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by waynemonastra

The Boat I have just bought is to small ( i think ) for a fire place, although I would love the idea of coming home from work to a yacht with a warm fire in the cabin.
W

Let me be the first to tell you... wood fires don't work like that!

Coming home from work to a warm fire isn't really like that. You need to do more work when you get home to fire it up (like 10 mins). I suspect if you are coming home from a long day's work, you may not be interested in that. Don't forget you will need to cut and split the wood, or pay someone to do that for you.

Here is a great stove though, in case you decide that wood is the way to go. I bought the Little Cod from Andrew, who runs this company. His customer service is beyond belief. Great guy. These stoves are definitely small enough for any size boat. The Little Cod heats my boat well and puts out 28,000BTU

http://www.marinestove.com/

[BC Mike]

You need to here the rodeo song to make you chuckle.
The oil filled electric units can be as small as 500 watts. You can run one of these from a 1000 watt Honda generator. You can put a flower pot over one of the cooker burners, or use an Origo type heater. These three all give about the same heat which may not be enough. From there you step up to a diesel fired unit with fan, about $1500- around here.
Flake the spinnaker over the bed, it works great.
Michael

[John Drake]

Hello

I use two 1500W electric heaters on my boat (38ft, 22,000lbs). They work great and I generally use them on their 1300W setting. I can get the main cabin to 70-75F even when it is 25-30F out. If it is in the 40's out, I can get the cabin to 80. When I got to bed, I put one in the forward cabin that I sleep in and let the other churn away in the main cabin. In the morning the main cabin will be perhaps 60 over a winter's night.

I do only run one heater when making coffee in the morning, but generally don't have a problem running both when I have other appliances on (TV, computer, lights).

The nice thing about electric heaters is that they are cheap and safe. You can let one run all day if you are out. I would never do that with a fueled fire.

One trick - if you have dorade vents, plug them up to keep the warm air in (of course make sure you do have adequate ventilation in the boat).

Side note:
On the hook, I just bundle up and use thick comforters. I do have a Force 10 kerosine heater but have not hooked it completely up yet (niether did the PO). I am thinking about getting a nice little wood burning bulkhead heater). There is something about a wood fired heater I like.....since I am originally from New England. One popular one says it will put out 5000 btu (about what one 1500W electric heater does)....but it looks too small to do so...wonder if anyone has had any experience with them?

Hope this helps

John
s/v Invictus

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by John Drake

I am thinking about getting a nice little wood burning bulkhead heater). There is something about a wood fired heater I like.....since I am originally from New England. One popular one says it will put out 5000 btu (about what one 1500W electric heater does)....but it looks too small to do so...wonder if anyone has had any experience with them?

Hope this helps

John
s/v Invictus

John,

Funny how growing up in New England with a wood stove makes you want one later in life - even though you probably hated doing wood for a chore as a kid as I did!

I would tend to believe a wood burning bulkhead heater will put out 5000BTU. The Little Cod is only 17" x 13" x 12" and it puts out 28,000 BTU. This figure doesn't even include the extra heat you get from the stove pipe as it exits the boat. The key is to get the heat to distribute evenly, so you will need some kind of fan to get the air moving around a little bit. We just point one of our 12V summer fans over at the Little Cod, and that does the trick.