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Old 26-12-2018, 02:41   #76
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

Hi All!
The Baltic sea is just freezing slowly. Here is our set up on 42 ft steel sailboat:
Kabola 4 kW (?) diesel central heating with free flow fluid plumbing. Radiators in every cabin and heads. So it doesn't use any electricity, and doesn't make any noise eather. Heater burns quite nicely to the gale force winds but sometimes it puffs a little smoke cough inside when wind gusts strange way.
Engine coolant is also warming up the central boiler. Warm water to galley and toilet/shower is running thru that boiler too. There is also a 2kW shore power unit in the boiler. You can imagine that the builder of the boat is professional plumber too.. ;-)
There is a 50 mm foam insulation everywhere starting from waterline.
Season Greetings from Helsinki, Finland!
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Old 26-12-2018, 04:43   #77
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

5.2kw Webasto Thermotop C. It runs and diesel from the main tank and heats two large but lightweight radiators and a towel rail.

Sounds like a spaceship taking off, but great when it works. So far in the space of a year I've had to clean the burner, replace the glow pin, and now replace the main board.

It also provides hot water for showering since my raw water cooled engine doesn't have a heat exchanger.
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Old 31-12-2018, 11:08   #78
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

I have specialized expertise in boat heaters, which means I have had a big problem in that area.


My boat is a 34-foot steel sailboat, and I installed a Dickinson Alaska heater. The installation is a beautiful one (and the only one that could work in this case). The heater is at floor-level, which is normally impossible to achieve unless your beam is 12 feet or better) and the flue is the mast support. There is a 45-degree Y near the overhead, so that the chimney is at deck-level just ahead of the mast. This puts the heater as low as it can be and the flue is inobtrusive, with a nice guard that serves as a first step while climbing the mast. The cabin table hooks onto the U of the lower mast support, with the heater between the legs of the U. This means the cabin sole is clear of obstructions apart from the U and the heater. The mast support/flue is 3 1/2" heavy-wall tubing, which gives mass to retain heat. I put holes near the top, and welded 3/4" pipe into them; using short pieces of wood dowel, I can hang wet cloths on them, which dry in a jiffy.

I was very proud of this, and it works great in every way. But I was forced to scrap the Dickinson because it's just too hot. Now I know that a minimum of 16,000 BTU is way, way too hot for a small boat, and I had to leave the hatch open when it was on, or I would begin to melt into a grease spot.


So I took the heater to the Dickinson factory in British Columbia, and I implored them to make a model that is have the capacity of mine. They told me in clear terms they have no interest in feed-back from their customers so I was just out of luck.


Scouring the very limited market for diesel heaters, I came across the Refleks company in Alborg, Denmark, and I bought their smallest model through a British chandler, who advertised them on the UK eBay. Overpriced as usual, I paid $1,000 for this. But it's very small and quite nice, lacking only a window to see the flame and a convenient access to light it. I believe there is a serious typo in the manual, which says to pour in 5 cc of alcohol, light it, and open the valve. It worked at first, using the little sighting hole in top, but now I understand they want 50 cc poured in, which is a lot of alcohol, and which would blow it apart unless I slide up the flue tubing and the top of the stove and light it that way.

The capacity is 11,000 BTU at the lowest setting, which works fine for me. If you keep in mind the need to lift up the flue to light it, it's a great alternative to being cooked out of your boat by the Dickinson. Also, the Dickinson is a pain to light, and it eventually gets messy with paper ashes; it makes having an onboard vacuum cleaner a necessity. You must time the pre-heating perfectly, which means you have to park there for five minutes until that burns off, while the Refleks seems to be a lot more forgiving about that. The larger models of the Refleks have a sight window.
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Old 31-12-2018, 11:37   #79
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

We are in Slowenia (Adriatic Sea) at the moment, 6°C outside, we use a Dyson 2000W hot&cool blower, we tried the Webasto A/C, one in the master cabin does not heat very well, the other 3 failed, because of a leak in the central sea water pump, I managed to fix it with a soldering iron - finally.

Well, the Dyson and the A/C are power hoghs, and the Webastos are pretty loud too, so I ordered a Chinese diesel air heater kit with 8kW for 160€, will install it in the spring time as an alternative heater when power is an issue, it is too cloudy and foggy for the solar panels this days, the sun is too low, so only 1 to 2kWh energy harvested per day now. We are on shore power from the marina (16A connection) and the Victron Quattro assists on higher loads for the galley and heating if necessary, we can heat almost a day on battery only, if necessary (up to 15kWh capacity).

I guess, the 8kW diesel blower it is the best option for heating the 40ft cat, presumably will take 0.2...0.5l/h, if it works as expected, I will add a second one for the other hull and hook it up to the existing air ducts of the A/C units.
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Old 02-01-2019, 10:29   #80
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

Quote:
Originally Posted by videorov View Post
Wonder what type of heat systems do people use if any on the cold days.
Which is safe and better to use then others????
I have a Propane heat on the center of the Boat I have a 57' Bruce Robert Anchored @ St. John River in Downtown Jacksonville, Fl on hold for the weather to crossing North Atlantic to Acores
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Old 02-01-2019, 10:47   #81
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

"so I ordered a Chinese diesel air heater kit with 8kW for 160€"

Could you provide us with the details for this heater, and especially, after the installation, a review?

Thanks

Pawel
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:09   #82
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

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"so I ordered a Chinese diesel air heater kit with 8kW for 160€"

Could you provide us with the details for this heater, and especially, after the installation, a review?

Thanks

Pawel
Sure, will do this when installed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/8KW-12V-Die...r/323506755578
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:13   #83
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

I omitted one salient feature of my installation, from the prolix description I wrote.


The table has no legs and clips onto the lower section of the mast support.



The heater is between those legs and exhausts straight up through the mast support, which is a heavy-wall 3 1/2" steel tube, which I had pickled and galvanized after I built it.


But under the table is a Caframo electric heater. It mounts on a Lazy Susan swivel up-side down. So it's out of the way, permanent and the heat can be directed where I want it. The fan alone could help out in hot climates.
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:21   #84
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

regardin diesel air heater, there are reviews on youtube as installation videos



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Old 02-01-2019, 11:21   #85
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

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On my last boat (34' sailboat), I used Dickinson Newport. It has a nice fireplace window and heat was enough for the main cabin on Great Lakes in spring and fall. It looks lovely in the main cabin but it did not do anything for v-birth.
We used a Dickinson Newport propane furnace on our 30' Tollycraft. It was simple, clean, attractive, and efficient. The boat already had a propane system, so it was the obvious fuel for heating. The unit has a nice double walled stack which means the furnace draws air frim the outside as well as exhausting outside. This also results in the stack remaining cool. Great unit, and aesthetically pleasing as well.
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Old 02-01-2019, 11:24   #86
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

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Originally Posted by CatNewBee View Post
Sure, will do this when installed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/8KW-12V-Die...r/323506755578
I have the 5k version on my defender I'm extremely happy with the performance .
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Old 04-01-2019, 14:43   #87
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Re: What type of heat system do people use on boats when its cold?

"COLE" solid fuel (wood) stove. Made in Seattle. Approx. 8"w x 8"d x 14"h. I usually burn small pieces of wood or wood pellets (in a soup can).
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