Best Heater-Diesel, Propane or other?

[DDW]

An Olympia or Kabola is going to be way overkill for that size boat, have to be mounted CL or it would list too....

 

[Bkay]

Adopo,
Congrats on your Scout. I owned SHADOW FAY, one of the last ones made.

My boat had an Espar heater, one of the smallest ones made. It was way overkill and I couldn't run it for long before it became stiflingly hot in the cabin. If I were doing it again, I'd probably go with the propane Cozy Cabin since the exhaust is smaller than a similar diesel heater or I'd go with a solid fuel. That's because I didn't spend days on end at anchor in the winter and you really only have one space to heat on a Scout.

If I did spend a lot of time at anchor, I'd consider a diesel bulkhead heater. Although I confess I don't have experience with the Wallas.

BTW, my Espar was in the lazarette and vented out the transom. That setup was acceptable.

Good luck with the new boat. The get a lot of attention!

 

[dhays]

I agree with DDW, a hydronic system is overkill on this boat. I'd stick with either a diesel stove or Wallas/Webasto air heater.

 

[DDW]

My boat had an Espar heater, one of the smallest ones made. It was way overkill and I couldn't run it for long before it became stiflingly hot in the cabin.

Another reason for the Wallas, they come in pretty small sizes and rather than cycle on and off (like Espar or Webasto) they can ramp the heat down to about 1/3 output.

 

[AKDoug]

I have an Webasto 3900, it draws it's fuel from the diesel the engine runs on downstream of the 1 micron fuel filter and has a shut off valve to isolate it just in case I need to. The max fuel consumption for my Yanmar is 1 gph so it's not likely to create enough suction to create problems for the heater.

If you draw your heater air from outside the cabin, as it heats it will absorb more of the moisture from inside the cabin. If you draw your heater air from inside the cabin, you get warmed air, with little additional moisture absorption capability. The heaters that run a stack pipe out the roof make it warm, but don't do much to dry the air inside, just warm it.
The greater the temperature differential between outside air and cabin temperature the more moisture it can absorb.

If you need to dry clothing and the interior of your boat, forced air is superior to hydronic and heaters that just heat the air inside the cabin. Firefighters and pilots have been trained to recognize the effects of dew point and how temperature increases change the ability of air to absorb moisture.

Just a point to consider... My Webasto is mounted inside the cabin under the sink, and while I can hear it run it isn't in any way annoying. I often leave it on all night, the clicking of the fuel pump is it's most significant noise, and it's not much.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Doug,
We also run our Waby all night. It’s not in the laz but tween the engine compartment and the laz. The ticking dossier pump is about 8’ aft of the engine. We leave the Waby on while uptown in port whenever it’s cool. Our system draws air from inside the boat in the “hold”.

Don’t you turn your Waby fuel off after turning the heater off?

DDW wrote;
“Another reason for the Wallas, they come in pretty small sizes and rather than cycle on and off (like Espar or Webasto) they can ramp the heat down to about 1/3 output.”

Yes I remember that now and considered it a plus.
The Waby cycles on and off and with each startup the electrical draw is much higher. I think there’s some control over the frequency of cycling or length of on periods and off periods. I suspect one could vary the efficiency that way.
Our Waby is the opposite of yours. A bit small so at about 35degrees f it runs constantly. But we got by in Alaska.

 

[AKDoug]

Eric,

No I shut the main fuel line down to the engine when I dock and that secures the heater fuel. I "teed" off the fuel line past the filter for convenience and added the valve just in case there was a need to shut down that line. Since the heater went online I have never closed the valve, I used it before I routed the copper line for heater fuel from the valve though.

My fall temperatures are into the high 30's and lots of 40's so I just leave the heater on most of the time when I am on board in the fall. May through August it almost never gets turned on unless I need to dry some clothing or have girls on board

 

[North Baltic sea]

I have no idea how well these Refleks diesel heaters work, but they have a long history on North Sea fishing boats and use no electricity:

https://refleks-olieovne.dk/en/

Hi,

They are reliable radiation radiators, such as a fireplace, but I like more devices that also change the fresh air, such as Ebersphäer, Webasto, and Wallas.

I have all 3 brand the experience and are ok, but require maintenance around 5-7 years about $ 300-400. It is good to equip these equipment with a good fuel filter line.

NBs

 

[George Harmon]

Please install a 12 volt CO detector/alarm.

 

[FF]

Starting is usually the hassle with repurposed truck or bus heaters.

Good voltage and 50/50 #1 diesel and kerosene seem to minimize the repair calls.

 

[Adopo]

Thanks guys, really good discussion thread on this.

 

[Moonfish]

The smaller Wallas forced air units would be perfect.

We've had our 40 Dt for four years and are very pleased with its performance (low amp draw/minimal fuel burn and heat output) and reliability (we do get the unit serviced annually as we typically run it 24/7 from late Oct through May).

And it's so quiet our neighbors are surprised to find out it's been running.

 

[Joe Pica]

Same as Henry D Installed an ITR Hurricane Diesel hydronic heater. Excellent service Had 2000hrs on the unit without any maintenance. The spec says to clean the nozzle and boiler chamber however I didn't and the unit still ran cleanly. It is very end user serviceable as opens up for easy R&R of internal components. Great reliable units!

https://www.stevestonmarine.com/itr-hurricane-boat-heaters

Itrheat

 

[poczatek]

Just an additional thought. I use a Sunbeam heating blanket which uses about 50 watts. Very little power needed and nice and warm. I know this is not a direct answer to your question about heaters, just thought I would mention it. With this the main heater can run at a lower setting.

 

[Restitution]

I'm interested in this as well as we are planning an inside passage trip next spring. What about some sort of heat exchanger on one of the engine's cooling systems? Has anybody done this or heard of a methodology?

Sam

 

[O C Diver]

Just an additional thought. I use a Sunbeam heating blanket which uses about 50 watts. Very little power needed and nice and warm. I know this is not a direct answer to your question about heaters, just thought I would mention it. With this the main heater can run at a lower setting.

+1

I use an electric blanket on cool evenings. Regarding power consumption: The rated wattage of the blanket is for the highest setting. Mine offers a scale of one through ten and low. The scale roughly corresponds to percentage of power consumed. So, a 50 watt rated blanket consumes roughly 15 watts on the number 3 setting. I use mine over a thin blanket and under a bedspread, usually between 1 and 3 settings. Works very nicely off my inverter.

Ted

 

[O C Diver]

I'm interested in this as well as we are planning an inside passage trip next spring. What about some sort of heat exchanger on one of the engine's cooling systems? Has anybody done this or heard of a methodology?

Sam

While you can certainly add a heat exchanger, most of the bus style heaters are run off the water heater loop. On my boat, I plumped them after the water heater. There is a Y valve, so that I can disable the heat loop during the summer. There is more information in my earlier post in this thread. If you need additional information or want to see some pics, just ask.

Ted

 

[Billyfeet]

Congrats on the Scout! I own hull number 2 of the Fairchild Marine boats. Looks like yours is a California boat too. As to keeping warm my only experience with heaters on boats was a bulkhead mounted diesel Dickerson Newport on my Westsail 32 sailboat. It looked beautiful but I never got it to work worth a damn.....and I was in Florida at the time. I solved the cold issue by sailing to the BVI......where are you going to be boating?

 

[Screaming04]

Dickinson Newport with the little window to the flame. Great ambience and incredible heat. Check btu on wallas, I doubt they’re close to the dickinson. Note sig and Dickinson as well as the cozy are the same company. Call them direct for a price. ?

 

[dhays]

Same as Henry D Installed an ITR Hurricane Diesel hydronic heater. Excellent service Had 2000hrs on the unit without any maintenance. The spec says to clean the nozzle and boiler chamber however I didn't and the unit still ran cleanly. It is very end user serviceable as opens up for easy R&R of internal components. Great reliable units!

https://www.stevestonmarine.com/itr-hurricane-boat-heaters

Itrheat

Nice furnaces, but I am having problems with mine currently. Failure to start. I spent a couple hours on it on Friday but need to spend more time. I get a trouble light that indicates that it may be a compressor issue and I borrowed a new compressor from a dockmate that I'll swap out and see if it works. Fantastic unit, but I've found that sometimes it can be difficult to troubleshoot.

 

[Sangraal]

Any recommendations for hydronic systems? I think it maybe an easier retrofit for me.

 

[dhays]

Any recommendations for hydronic systems? I think it maybe an easier retrofit for me.

Well, the Hurricane II Hydronic furnace is pretty nice (despite my current non-start problem). Mine came with the boat I bought so I didn't choose it, but have been pleased with its performance.


A dockmate (same one that lent me the compressor) ended up replacing an 18 year old Hurricane with a new one. Like me, his came with the boat he bought a couple years ago. He could have chosen anything, and has done a number of installed of other systems, but has liked the Hurricane so much that he went with it again.

 

[eheffa]

Another Vote for the Wallas Diesel Heater.


We've had the 40Dt version for the past 3 years. It's been very reliable.



The Thermostat has an infinitely variable control so dialling in a comfortable temperature is quite easy. Unlike many other forced air furnaces, that sound like a jet engine running, the Wallas is totally inaudible outside the boat when it's running. The only time you can smell any diesel exhaust is outside the boat when it's starting up or shutting down.


Inside, the sound of the air flow inside the boat is quite audible but not obtrusively so...


Highly recommended.



-evan

 

[PNW Drifter]

Nice boat, and to answer the original question, I don't think there is a one best heater.

There is some great input here, and for myself, being in the pacific northwest, I'd want some way of providing warm airflow to defrost/defog the windshield. My vote would be for a forced air system, such as the Wallas, but also the diesel parking heaters like Espar Airtronic D2 or D4.

One fuel, forced air, and flexible mounting options, thats what i'd be keeping in mind.

 

[DDW]

Nice furnaces, but I am having problems with mine currently. Failure to start. I spent a couple hours on it on Friday but need to spend more time. I get a trouble light that indicates that it may be a compressor issue and I borrowed a new compressor from a dockmate that I'll swap out and see if it works. Fantastic unit, but I've found that sometimes it can be difficult to troubleshoot.

If you continue to have difficulty, call ITR in Richmond and ask to speak to Marcello. He is very knowledgable on what makes them tick and also installation problems.

 

[FF]

The "Best" is both owner ,location and boat specific.

To me on a boat that can be heated with 15,000- 20,000 BTU and has few cabins an oil range or oil furnace (diesel) with a gravity fed burner is "best" as it can be turned on in Nov and off in May , after the water warms a bit.

No electric required almost no maint that takes over 1 min.

For bigger boats the repurposed truck heaters with air blowers to move the heat are great dockside where good power to the batteries can be easily had.

For a long term liveaboard the hassle of installing baseboard heaters should be considered and a hydronic unit built for boats (works fine on lower DC voltage ) that can be powered with a single DC circ pump will give best hard winter 24/7, 6 month service.

 

[majnun]

Espar tricks

We have a GB36 equipped with a 40 yo espar which clogged up repeatedly. The new tech advised us to run it on high when starting and closing it down. Also run it high enough to keep it from recycling, as that would clog it also. So far, no problem. We plan to install a silencer. It is noisy. BTW, it's in the engine rum and exhausts through the side, just below the deck.

 

[ben2go]

I'm in Spartanburg, SC. Here's an idea. I've been looking into these to heat a bathroom addition on my shop. There is a lot of good videos on these heaters on youtube. Search diesel parking heater. They aren't loud and mounted in the ER they should be easy to plumb. They come with everything to set up and run. They can also be customized as far as plumbing everything for fuel, exhaust, and heat output ducting.


https://www.amazon.com/TABODD-Vehic...876ef41de44e25252135a3fedbbcc8&language=en_US

 

[Nomad Willy]

PNW Drifter wrote;
“Nice boat, and to answer the original question, I don't think there is a one best heater.”

I do think there is.
But one most likely won’t beable to sort out all the fiction and fact. I doubt if a $300 furnace built in Russia will be very good and Idoubt there’s much difference between an espar and a Wabasto but the Wallas is different. I chose the Wabasto but that was over 10 years ago and they may have improved since then. And then there’s the application. Water radiators or forced air. I suspect that some reject the Wabast and espar thinking they are too noisy. Andif the only place there is to mount them is close to sleeping places and they keep you awake then you’ve pretty much got to geta Wallas.

So I see it as a noise issue. Either you can’t stand the furnace noise or you’re OK w it. I suspect the reason I rejected the Wallas was that it just didn’t make enough heat. The Wabastos Ive had made enough heat on the Albin but are a bit shy on the Willard. But I have the smallest Wabasto.
Has anybody researched how much fuel the different heaters burn to produce “X” amount of heat? And how much electrical draw is required? Those two things would probably be facts that would probably go a long way to answering the question of what heater is best. Heaters aren’t anchors. Their performance can be quantified w numbers.

 

[DDW]

While heaters aren't anchors, like anchors each has unique characteristics. Those characteristics matched with the application (and owners preferences) will determine "best", and yes it will vary by person, boat, and application.

If you buy an eastern bloc or Chinese heater, make sure you add the cost of a CO detector and good fire insurance to the budget.