----- Original Message ----- From: "Noel Russell" <[email protected]> > Look into Hydronic Heat/Radiant flooring. 3 good names webasto (we do > not have), ITR Hurricane (we do have), and Kobala (very nice unti, needs > a large area in engine room though). Insulate using a concrete barrier > type insulation which involves bubble wrap on 2 sides plus mirrored > aluminum foil stuff (which I am installing)
REPLY Upstate NY gets really cold. Good insulation is a must. However diesel fired heaters will become expensive to operate. Depending on how much fuel costs escalate it could be double or triple the cost of heating electrically. Depending on boat construction and deck layout it may be possible to use a solid fuel heating appliance. Remove for summer sailing. One guy I knew put the stove pipe out a porthole on an old schooner. I will be the first to admit this is not a clean option. Obviously the pocket book is going to dictate what options are going to be viable. Much also depends on the actual location of the dock the boat is moored at for the winter. An urban location such as Noel has is not going to tolerate a solid fuel heater but a rural location may. And solid fuel could in fact be more readily available out in the country compared to in the city. Something many people do not remember to take into consideration. All hydronic heaters regardless of make does require power. Most of them run from ships DC battery supply. However this also has problems. Many of these units are designed to run from a 13.6V DC supply. If the DC voltage drops down to 11.0 V at the battery the line losses could result in even less at the heating appliance. While I was a tech help person at Xantrex we had numerous calls concerning this issue. We were also fortunate to have in our engineering staf someone who had worked for Espar in Germany for seven years. He was imtimately familiar with the problems associated with low voltage and diesel fired furnaces of all description. Best bet is to provide a dedicated power supply for the heating unit. This guarantees a steady and elevated voltage so th eunit burns clean and runs smoothly. When voltage drops the ignition circuit tends to have mis fires. This in turn makes for a sooted up combustion chamber. Smoky exhaust and frequent calls to a service guy to come and "fix it". The other mattter to consider is the fact many of the normal boat / RV /vehicular heaters are fitted with regular sleeve bearing fans, pumps, and ventilation blowers. These typically have a 3000 to 5000 hour lifetime. Afte that the bearings are worn out.. Either get ball bearing motors fitted or else make sure you can replace the motor and/or bearings. I installeed a brand new propane furnace. The fan quit one month past the warranty period. Bummer! New fan $169.95 Arild _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
