TWL: Diesel Heaters
I recently heard talk of a forced air diesel heater. It was described as a
diesel heater and electrical fan system that only used about an amp of power
(and diesel fuel) to heat the boat.
Does anyone know anything about these? How much are they? Is the air they
put out dry or humid?
Tom Mahowald
Redondo Beach, CA
Noticed last week that a local RV dealership had some good prices on a 2.5KW
StatPower inverter. Anyone have anything good or bad to say about using a
StatPower inverter on a trawler? Is the sine wave close (or pure enough)
for TV watching (yeah, we do want to watch TV/VCR while on the hook)? I
realize that, unlike Heart, this unit does not include a charger, but, we
already have a suitable charger.
Please reply to me off-line so that the listmeister does not get upset with
me.
Thanks -
Mick
M/V Salty Dog (Krogen Manatee)
Post of San Francisco
We have a diesel heater - came with the boat. Unfortunately, I don't know
the brand name on the unit but it does a good job of heating the trawler.
It does put out a dry heat, however. In San Francisco, this is not really a
problem as we have plenty of warm-enough time during the day to capture some
humidity. In a really cold climate, I suppose that this could be a problem
and require a humidifier. It runs on12 volts, but, I suspect that the
amperage drain for the fan would exceed one amp, but then, I've never tried
to measure it.
Regards
Mick & Laurelyn
M/V Salty Dog (Krogen Manatee)
Port of San Francisco
----- Original Message -----
From: Mahowald, Thomas Thomas.Mahowald@kpcmm.com
To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Sent: Monday, December 27, 1999 10:11 AM
Subject: TWL: Diesel Heaters
I recently heard talk of a forced air diesel heater. It was described as
a
diesel heater and electrical fan system that only used about an amp of
power
(and diesel fuel) to heat the boat.
Does anyone know anything about these? How much are they? Is the air
they
put out dry or humid?
Tom Mahowald
Redondo Beach, CA
Mike ~ Please don't take any discussion of inverters offline. We would be
very interested in this dialogue as we are considering the same type system.
Pat Rice
Amblin
Prairie 29
I have no objection, but, I understand that discussing pros (and
particularly "cons") of specific brand names is a no-no on this list
Mick.
Mike ~ Please don't take any discussion of inverters offline. We would be
very interested in this dialogue as we are considering the same type
system.
Pat Rice
Amblin
Prairie 29
I had a nasty confrontation with the Stat service people and their customer service / relations rep.
I will never buy another one of their products again.
Seems as tho merely breathing heavily on one of their products voids the warranty.
Regards,
Capt. Jim Weidner, K2JXW - X-10 #4365
www.waterw.com/~weidner/lighthouses.htm
Member:
US Lighthouse Society, Chesapeake Bay Chapter
Delaware Bay Lighthouse Keepers Association
USA Coordinator for Ham Radio Lighthouse Weeks
Editor-in-Chief, Weidner & Sons Publishing
www.waterw.com/~weidner
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mick Coleman" mick@ricochet.net
To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Sent: Monday, December 27, 1999 1:52 PM
Subject: TWL: Inverters
Noticed last week that a local RV dealership had some good prices on a 2.5KW
StatPower inverter. Anyone have anything good or bad to say about using a
StatPower inverter on a trawler? Is the sine wave close (or pure enough)
for TV watching (yeah, we do want to watch TV/VCR while on the hook)? I
realize that, unlike Heart, this unit does not include a charger, but, we
already have a suitable charger.
Please reply to me off-line so that the listmeister does not get upset with
me.
Thanks -
Mick
M/V Salty Dog (Krogen Manatee)
Post of San Francisco
At 12:11 PM 12/27/99 -0600, Tom wrote:
I recently heard talk of a forced air diesel heater. It was described as a
diesel heater and electrical fan system that only used about an amp of power
(and diesel fuel) to heat the boat.
Does anyone know anything about these? How much are they? Is the air they
put out dry or humid?
Tom Mahowald
Arild replies:
Several makes of diesel burning heaters are available. ESPAR, WEBASTO
and PROHEAT to name three brand names with which I'm familiar. I have
seen several installations of each and they do work well; provided they
are installed by competent technicians according to a carefully thought
out plan.
Generally speaking they burn the fuel in a small fire chamber and
circulate air or water around this fire chamber.
The models differ mainly in how they atomize the fuel in order to get
them to burn.
As far as I know ESPAR currently makes the smallest heater. This also
proves to be the biggest challenge in fuel metering.
The smaller quantity means the metering pump and fuel nozzle is smaller
and much more precise.
I have had personal experience with Webasto and a bit with the Proheat
hot water heater. I have never worked on the Espar models but have seen
installations using them.
As for the power consumption; 1 amp seems a bit low unless the air fan
is very small which in turn suggest that the BTU rating is also very
small. You need a lot of air flow to keep the fire pot from getting
too hot and possibly being damaged.
In some ways the hot water heaters are safer that way. If you get a
leak in the heat exchanger you could get combustion products into the
forced air ducts but if a leak developed in the hot water types you would
leak water into the fire pot and blow steam out the exhaust before
getting any combustion products into the living spaces.
The specific pros and cons will largely depend on your particular
requirements, access to a competent dealer/installer and possibly the
location in which you want to install the heater unit.
cheers
Arild
We're looking at diesel heaters, and my co-captain's biggest concern is
that they would smell of diesel fuel, or fumes. Do they? Are some more
prone to that than others? We like the looks of the little stove-like
units that mount on a wall in the cabin. Are they good? We won't be in
really cold climates very much; we're heading the other way, so this
won't be called upon to heat in zero weather.
Russ
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Russ and Donna Sherwin |
| "Four Seasons" |
| 1981 Marine Trader DC44 |
| Sunnyvale, Ca 94087 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
russ@trawlerdogs.com writes:
co-captain's biggest concern is
that they would smell of diesel fuel, or fumes. Do they? Are some
more
prone to that than others? We like the looks of the little stove-like
units that mount on a wall in the cabin.
You'll love the little drip-feed Dickinson heater with the glass in
front. It'll not only provide heat but also de-humidifies on those
clammy days. Just make sure you provide a vent (chimney) to the
outside. If there is any diesel/kerosene smell at all, use PARAFIN
oil. It's a litle more expensive, but has more BTU's and smells
exactly like candles burning. I use it in my oil lamps without
venting. Even the admiral likes it!
George of Scaramouche
----- Original Message -----
From: Russ Sherwin russ@trawlerdogs.com
To: trawlerworldlist trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2000 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: TWL: Diesel Heaters
We're looking at diesel heaters, and my co-captain's biggest concern is
that they would smell of diesel fuel, or fumes. Do they? Are some more
prone to that than others?
I swear by the drip feed diesel heaters. They give good heat (needed her in
UK in winter!!) and are very reliable with few working parts to go wrong.
They are silent in operation and don't use any elecrical power. I have
never found that they smell as long as you vent them with a flue outside the
cabin, if you can get a balanced flue then all the better, if not you may
experience problems with strong winds being blow back down the flue causing
fumes to enter the cabin.
To over come this fit a H shaped cap on the top of the flue this helps to
stop the wind blowing back down the flue.
Taylors do a very good wall mounted diesel heater which are very well made
and will last for may years. The smaller wall mounted heaters do not have a
great output and would be used to heat a single cabin. Make sure you mount
them as low as possible as heat rises.
The larger floor mounted heaters are excellent for the larger vessels Reflex
and Dickenson both do very good units.
Martin Chinery
"M.Y Freedom"
40' Hartley Motor Sailer
River Medway
Kent U.K
martinc@mchinery.fsnet.co.uk
"Live the dream, live the cruising lifestyle"