Winter heating for liveaboard

[Lostsailor13]

Even though its not the dead of winter yet there have been nights that have been 20°f and with the foc'sle insulated to about 20r valve i can keep the interior over 90° if i choose with the hygrometer at 25 percent just running the Dickinson which is hooked up to a thermostat bypass with a small circulating pump and potentiometer keeping the engine block at about 80° also have a Chinese diesel heater that is 5kw that was used before installing dickinson and that was even enough in the dead of winter in new England,but i chose the Dickinson because of no electric draw and burns only 2 gallons per day,also have a few 1500w ceramic heaters that are set on timers for while im at work and all the windows sealed
with reflectix found this combination on a 36 foot trawler is perfect combination and more than enough for a full time liveaboard in new England if that helps anyone out

[Island Time O25]

Thanks for the info.

I've been thinking of ways to make my 36' sailboat liveable in the MA winter. I assume all your insulation is removable for the summer? Do you also install clear shrink wrap or some kind of tenting for the winter? De-icer under the boat?

[Nord Sal]

2 gallons per day actually sounds a bit high. My stove, not a Dickinson but similar, burns about 1-1/4 gallons per day running 24-7 in winter. Friends who own Dickinson report similar their fuel consumption as similar to mine.


I fully agree about the virtues of not needing electricity to produce heat!

[Lostsailor13]

To answer both of you with one reply the insulation and reflectix stay on year round because its also a radiant barrier so it reflects the sun and heat away and with air conditioning it helps tremendously,my slip will never freeze cause of the current so dont need de icer and havent shrink wrapped in 2 winters because i use boat all winter,there are still some absolutely beautiful days driving from heated cabin, and for reply number 2 directly from Dickinson website for calibrating my oil metering valve is 60 seconds to fill teaspoon on low setting so there are 1440 minutes in a 24 hour day bringing that to 1440 teaspoons and 1 gallon equals 768 teaspoons so the math equals 1.875 gallons on low for 24 hrs with properly calibrated valve

[Nord Sal]

My valve is graduated in cc/minute and has a range from 1 to 9 cc/min. I normally keep my stove set on about 3.5 or 4, and with ~5cc/teaspoon, is 3.5/5 to 4/5 (70% to 80%) of your rate of 1.88 gal/day, or 1.3 to 1.5 gal/day, pretty much like yours. I guess mine just uses a little less. My stove's top is solid bronze so the heat transfer to the cabin is excellent.

My hull is insulated from about a foot below the waterline throughout as well. Cozy even with our nasty winter weather.


I like the idea of routing coolant heated with the stove's coil to the engine for preheating. I use my boat in winter and even though my engine starts easily enough in cold weather, preheating would make for a quicker warm up with much less smoke. I already have a coil in the stove and circ pump for a hydronic heater plus the engine is set up to allow for water heating. I suppose I could just add a couple of tees, some valves and hose create another circuit to route it to the engine. Just another project!

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Lostsailor13

To answer both of you with one reply the insulation and reflectix stay on year round because its also a radiant barrier so it reflects the sun and heat away and with air conditioning it helps tremendously,my slip will never freeze cause of the current so dont need de icer and havent shrink wrapped in 2 winters because i use boat all winter,there are still some absolutely beautiful days driving from heated cabin, and for reply number 2 directly from Dickinson website for calibrating my oil metering valve is 60 seconds to fill teaspoon on low setting so there are 1440 minutes in a 24 hour day bringing that to 1440 teaspoons and 1 gallon equals 768 teaspoons so the math equals 1.875 gallons on low for 24 hrs with properly calibrated valve

Just a bit higher than the specs. dickenson newport diesel heater comsumption
Specs, 1.3 to 3.2 gals per 24 hrs low to high.
6500 btu,(L) 12000 btu (H)

Is low adequate at those temps?
If so, you got the good insulation value.
I love my Newport, it's very cozy.
Boatyarddog

[Mike Banks]

Diesel is the cheapest and best.

[Bowdrie]

The Dickinson Pacific stove is running as I type this.
It runs 24/7 several months a year, and depending upon outside temps the valve setting is usually in the 1.7>2 range, and fuel consumption is ~ 1.3>1.6 US gallons per day.
It probably averages ~1.5 per day, but it's not so cold here as it is where you guys are.
The shorter periods when temps fall below freezing, (32F,) will get the consumption up to ~1.8 per day.
In warmer weather I'm able to set the valve at ~1.3>1.4, and then their is just a small ring of blue flame visible, and little more than a gallon per day.
Wouldn't be without it, a warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Fatbob]

The previous owner of my boat (Southern Cross 35 w/Airex cored hull) installed a Navigator Wood Stove. I've never used it because we live in FL but I suspect it would heat a 35 foot boat nicely.

[Smokeys Kitchen]

FWIW

We lived on our boat in Petersburg AK for one winter and we averaged @ 5 gal of diesel per week for our Webasto diesel heater. I could sit around in shorts and a t shirt if I desired

[psk125]

Originally Posted by Fatbob

The previous owner of my boat (Southern Cross 35 w/Airex cored hull) installed a Navigator Wood Stove. I've never used it because we live in FL but I suspect it would heat a 35 foot boat nicely.

It probably would until about 01h45, when the fire would die down and you'd need to get up to add logs to it if you didn't want to freeze in the morning.

[Lostsailor13]

My Dickinson is the older model Antarctic,the top plate is cast iron and the veiwing window is the 4×6 mica and its adusted pretty good on low i get a nice blue flame,i know the the Antarctic and lofoten are the 2 biggest heaters,my Chinese diesel heater burns alot less than the Dickinson,but love the glow of the fire through the viewing window it creates that cozy winter fireplace glow,i also have the Alaskan model and Bristol stove model as well but cant put the double turn coil in either of them,and can tell you 100 perfect the double turn hooked up to my detroit with a thermostat bypass and circulating pump works awsome,it keeps the block at about 70 on low and keeps engine compartment plenty warm

[Bowdrie]

Been a couple of weeks since the last post in this thread, but with the cold snap here in the PNW I'm not too sure that a boat owner could find a Dickinson for sale for love nor money.
Jeepers it's nice, others around me are spending more than the cost of diesel on their electric heaters and still have damp interiors.
And, if the power goes out,, you get the picture.

[Fatbob]

Originally Posted by psk125

It probably would until about 01h45, when the fire would die down and you'd need to get up to add logs to it if you didn't want to freeze in the morning.

Perhaps. I don't think he ever used it much either, so I can't really tell you. Here are some photos so you can see the set up.