boat heaters

J

jhazmar

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Joined
Mar 3, 2007
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25382
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25
I am in the middle of purchasing a 1967 33ft. Chris Craft. We live in the NW and would like to put a heater in the cabin. We have gas engines. We were told that propane burns wet. Does anybody know of any diesel heaters that have their own resevoir, or would propane be the way to go anyways.

Jeff
 
I have friends up Seattle way who live on their 35 ft sailboat. They installed a diesel heater which works great! But they also have a diesel motor.......

google GoToMarine
 
quote:
Originally posted by Flutterby

I have friends up Seattle way who live on their 35 ft sailboat. They installed a diesel heater which works great! But they also have a diesel motor.......

google GoToMarine

Click to expand...


Thanks i'll try it out
Jeff
 
Jaz there's lots of little Diesel and Kerosine space heaters. You need a seperate tank for the fuel is the only problem.

The product of a Propane/Butane flame is Water. I had a Camper (I lived in Seattle) that had a Propane Catalyic heater.
We never noticed any dampness problem when we used it.

You can defeat Dampness with a Fan. That's the cheapest way to distribute your cabin heat as well. Low speed fan, that just barely keeps the air moving will keep it dry and wont cause any drafts to stir up dust. (yup, even in a boat)
 
Thanks I was hoping somebody would say that since there is already propane on the boat.

Jeff
 
quote:
Originally posted by jhazmar

Thanks I was hoping somebody would say that since there is already propane on the boat.

Jeff

Click to expand...


I live in the great wet north and boat all year around. Winter is my favorite time....no people, no wakes, plenty of dock space. But you have to solve the heat problem and we did so using a combination of Coleman's Pro Cat heater, a Mr. Buddy cat heater (for quick warmup), and a ceramic heater attached to a Honda genny. All have their pluses and minuses, but are a cheaper solution than a Wallas stove.
 
Good for you Greg.
I had a big Cedar Skiff. Just a big open boat, no cabin to get in my way!
I put a Car heater in the hot water exhaust for the engine.
It kept me warm while cruising Puget sound at 10 Mph.

I've also seen an interesting version of a "Stack Robber" that pumped out Hot air off the engine manifolds for heat while underway.
And heard of a couple others. One had a copper coil wrapped around the Exhaust which he used to circulate hot water though the cabin.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Thudpucker

Good for you Greg.
I had a big Cedar Skiff. Just a big open boat, no cabin to get in my way!
I put a Car heater in the hot water exhaust for the engine.
It kept me warm while cruising Puget sound at 10 Mph.

I've also seen an interesting version of a "Stack Robber" that pumped out Hot air off the engine manifolds for heat while underway.

Ah....a Seattle convertable in July. Top down...heat on...parka...

And heard of a couple others. One had a copper coil wrapped around the Exhaust which he used to circulate hot water though the cabin.

Click to expand...
 
If you're taking heat from the engine cooling system, the "Red Dot" brand of heaters is the best. They're made up in the PNW somewhere. Red Dot heaters are heavily used in the trucking industry. Be careful with CO2 with space heaters.
 
I also live in Pacific Northwest. I just installed a Wallas 40 diesel heater. Simple to install and so far has worked very well with no exterior noise like many of the other heaters. If you don't have diesel a small tank could be installed.

Dave

Faster now but still steady
 
At 33' you have a variety of possibilities.

ABYC rated systems are the safe bet for a permanent, vented heating installation that will work well at anchor or underway. These vented heating systems are designed for marine use. A 4,000-9,000 BTU heater should work fine for your boat. I've done a lot of searching for these systems to make one work on my 26' cruiser (in vain), but you should have no trouble making one work on a 33'.

Dickinson Marine makes compact propane or diesel fueled radiant heaters.

Force 10 makes the same.

The NS-2700-2 Toyoset is a jewel of a unit. Small, forced air, diesel, a thermostat and low power draw. The North American distributor is in the Pacific Northwest.

Any of these systems will cost you well over a grand to purchase and install, but you get what you pay for.
 
I found this web site a few years ago and it has the most comprehensive set of links that i have found to heater manufacturer's sites. It also includes solid fuel heaters.

http://cruisenews.net/db/pagetemplate.php?cat_id=8

Some heaters have a innner and outer tube flue where the inner is the exhaust for the burned gases and the outer provides insulation and is the inlet for air supply to the stove. This takes care of the ventilation and condensation problems. Some others have an inlet pipe and an outlet flue.
 
The burning of any fuel is going to produce water as a byproduct. The burning process is also going to consume oxygen. The only truely safe heater is one that properly vents the combustion products out of the cabin, which will also eliminate any moisture issues.

Rod
 
quote:
Originally posted by yzer

At 33' you have a variety of possibilities.

ABYC rated systems are the safe bet for a permanent, vented heating installation that will work well at anchor or underway. These vented heating systems are designed for marine use. A 4,000-9,000 BTU heater should work fine for your boat. I've done a lot of searching for these systems to make one work on my 26' cruiser (in vain), but you should have no trouble making one work on a 33'.

Dickinson Marine makes compact propane or diesel fueled radiant heaters.

Force 10 makes the same.

The NS-2700-2 Toyoset is a jewel of a unit. Small, forced air, diesel, a thermostat and low power draw. The North American distributor is in the Pacific Northwest.

Any of these systems will cost you well over a grand to purchase and install, but you get what you pay for.

Click to expand...
 
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