heating: reverse cycle vs electric

Slipmate has this real small charcoal heater pot belly cast iron stove thing, and it has a vent pipe runs out the boat.
He says it heats extremely well in winter.
It sits on ceramic tile on a shelf and might be 6 or 8 inches across and tall.
I had never seen such a thing before.

He does not have these as they look bigger.
http://www.shipmatestove.com/Results.cfm?category=6
http://www.marinestove.com/sardineinfo.htm

sdowney717 said:

Slipmate has this real small charcoal heater pot belly cast iron stove thing, and it has a vent pipe runs out the boat.
He says it heats extremely well in winter.
It sits on ceramic tile on a shelf and might be 6 or 8 inches across and tall.
I had never seen such a thing before.

He does not have these as they look bigger.
ShipMate Stove Company Inc. - your source for classic solid fuel boat stoves, heaters and sinks.
SARDINE STOVE INFO & SPECS.

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I would be looking to move as far as possible from his boat.

WesK said:

I would be looking to move as far as possible from his boat.

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boat is 5 slips down from me. He does not seem to worry about a fire. His looks like a miniature pot bellied stove. Has a little door and can burn bits of wood or charcoal briquettes.

sdowney717 said:

Slipmate has this real small charcoal heater pot belly cast iron stove thing, and it has a vent pipe runs out the boat.

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I think they are called ...
CO Producing Oxygen Depletion Systems.

sdowney717 said:

boat is 5 slips down from me. He does not seem to worry about a fire. His looks like a miniature pot bellied stove. Has a little door and can burn bits of wood or charcoal briquettes.

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I don't doubt he doesn't seem to worry about a fire but if I was near his boat, I would be worried about a fire. Marina fires often hop from one boat to the next until they are all burning.

And of course. as someone else pointed out, a charcoal fire emits a lot of carbon monoxide. That might not be a concern for you but it indicates that your slip neighbor is pretty ignorant about these things.

WesK said:

I don't doubt he doesn't seem to worry about a fire but if I was near his boat, I would be worried about a fire. Marina fires often hop from one boat to the next until they are all burning.

And of course. as someone else pointed out, a charcoal fire emits a lot of carbon monoxide. That might not be a concern for you but it indicates that your slip neighbor is pretty ignorant about these things.

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I talked with him about the co, etc... he just thinks it is not ever a problem. It is a risk, he does have a co alarm.
I asked him what happens when the wind blows, if it still works ok, and he says yes.

Marina fires are bad, I think his stove being solidly attached is pretty safe. The fire risk would be sparks when opening the door something falls out.

What is the main causes of fires, likely they are electrical? Of course not many have wood stoves in their boats.

To me the main risk would be getting burned bumping into a stove.
I have Cruisair heat pump and 2 electric heaters. One heater pulls 7 amps, the other 10 amps. the heat pump 12 amps. I have 2 30 amp plugs. But our marine offers free power so I just use one 30 amp plug. With 2 electric heaters on, heats ok the boat.

Heat pump works in 40* water, but water in 30's, it does not heat as good. It does heat a little with water in 30's.

My boat has so much glass area, cabin heats up a lot by solar radiation. In winter can 30's outside and 60 in the boat from sun. Makes for very hot summer days in the cabin. Like yesterday, I go to boat, air temp is low 70's, cabin inside 98* in bright sun as measured by a digital thermometer located under the front forward sloping windows..

And have large twin engines in under the sole. I could run the engines and lift a hatch and a lot of heat will come in, if I was desperate for heat, which I am not.

I actually prefer cooler air, I am very happy with upper 40's, as long as it is not too humid. That humid air can make it feel real cold.

I had a solid fuel burning stove aboard my first liveaboard sailboat. The previous owner had it on there and had used it 5 years as a full time liveaboard, and me another 2.

It was wonderful on a chilly damp night....had the right smell (versus diesel) and set the atmosphere.

That was back before CO/smoke detectors were even common.

The sailboat next to me had a beautiful Dutch tile fireplace...it was the boat Walter Cronkite chartered out of FT Lauderdale in the day.

While boatpoker is correct that they can be hazardous....like all the other things we seem to dwell on done incorrectly in the boating world....they are just another wonderful thing that needs close risk management.

A fireplace or solid fuel burning stove can be great.... just use it as smartly as the next system on your boat that can cause a fire, explosion, sinking, asphyxiation, etc...etc...

Enough manufacturers think they are safe enough to accept the liability...they just expect you to risk manage so you can enjoy their product.

sdowney717 said:

I talked with him about the co, etc... he just thinks it is not ever a problem. It is a risk, he does have a co alarm.
I asked him what happens when the wind blows, if it still works ok, and he says yes.

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He does know about oxygen depletion .... right ?
He does realize his insurance policy is worthless .... right ?
And his dock neighbors know that too ..... right ?

boatpoker said:

He does know about oxygen depletion .... right ?
He does realize his insurance policy is worthless .... right ?
And his dock neighbors know that too ..... right ?

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Boats are not that tightly sealed? His is an older boat, so is mine. I have sliding 10 sliding windows each window set has 2 sliding windows, except front cabin has one sliding window on each side and a sliding door and they are not well sealed. His boat is just like mine.
I have a 1970 Egg Harbor 37 extended salon sedan cruiser, and his is a 1968 model. I like my layout much better than his layout.

I wonder about the insurance issue, likely either does not have any, or they don't know.
I do have insurance with Boat US.

The dock neighbors, anyone can see the small stove pipe, marina is not uptight yet about very much. The marina owner knows about it and has no problem with it.

Our marina does not require boats to be insured, that is likely unusual.
About a third of the boats here are owned by waterman, with Chesapeake Bay deadrise boats, and those guys are not well off.

sdowney717 said:

Our marina does not require boats to be insured, that is likely unusual.

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It is unusual and a little scary, at least to me.

boatpoker said:

It is unusual and a little scary, at least to me.

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If Ehrlin, the owner demanded insurance on the boats, I think he would lose half his paying customers. :lol:

What I like about the place, no problems with DIY yard work. Easy relaxed atmosphere, nobody super pretentious, people just seem like honest hard working folk. there is a mix of vary nice looking boats and run down looking boats. This yard also demolishes and crushes old boats which is fun to watch. And sometimes I get free stuff.

here it is near LAFB in Hampton. We pay $150 per month.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/M...b2cc065fe4281b!8m2!3d37.0933207!4d-76.3138461

The owner has a metal working business with the area shipyards, but the marina he seems to run for the fun of it. He really enjoys it, he is there all the time working on projects.

Another advantage he will haul out any wooden boat even if falling apart. A lot of marinas wont do that. My boat is in great shape, but when I called 4 marinas, Dandy Haven, York River Yacht haven refuse to haul wood boats. Belle Isle and Marina cove will.

Being in Alaska, we heat boats year round.

Big boats and small... They all use some form of diesel heat. Even the smallest outboard powered cuddly cabins will generally have a diesel furnace of some kind.

Some prefer hydronic.
Some prefer forced air.
Some prefer Espar
Some prefer webasto
Some prefer Wallas

The common denominator with all the systems is that they use diesel.

No need to run the generator, as they use DC power. They are perfectly safe as they exhaust outside the boat. They are reliable, and they are very efficient.

I'll be on the boat tonight. Although the temperature will be in the 30's the boat will be perfectly warm and cosey.

Folks, you can choose whatever you want. You can run your generator 24X7 if you want. You can poision the air you breath by using non vented heaters if you want. You can get cold, and wear heavy jackets onboard, and sleep under layers of blankets if you want. Thats up to you.

But...If you want to stay warm. If you want to stay dry. If you want to stay safe. Invest in a diesel furnace.

sdowney717 said:

If Ehrlin, the owner demanded insurance on the boats, I think he would lose half his paying customers. :lol:

What I like about the place, no problems with DIY yard work. Easy relaxed atmosphere, nobody super pretentious, people just seem like honest hard working folk. there is a mix of vary nice looking boats and run down looking boats. This yard also demolishes and crushes old boats which is fun to watch. And sometimes I get free stuff.

here it is near LAFB in Hampton. We pay $150 per month.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/M...b2cc065fe4281b!8m2!3d37.0933207!4d-76.3138461

The owner has a metal working business with the area shipyards, but the marina he seems to run for the fun of it. He really enjoys it, he is there all the time working on projects.

Another advantage he will haul out any wooden boat even if falling apart. A lot of marinas wont do that. My boat is in great shape, but when I called 4 marinas, Dandy Haven, York River Yacht haven refuse to haul wood boats. Belle Isle and Marina cove will.

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I also prefer a laidback type of place but given what I see on a daily basis I'm a little unsettled about putting my boat (home) at risk based on the often poor judgement of a neighbour. It is rare that if one boat goes it's the only one. I've been involved the the investigation of several major marina fires and witnessed two boats go up in flames. It is truly amazing how fast they go.

How is that little bay for anchoring, I'll be passing that way in a week or so after Matthew goes away and it looks like a convenient overnighter.

boatpoker said:

I also prefer a laidback type of place but given what I see on a daily basis I'm a little unsettled about putting my boat (home) at risk based on the often poor judgement of a neighbour. It is rare that if one boat goes it's the only one. I've been involved the the investigation of several major marina fires and witnessed two boats go up in flames. It is truly amazing how fast they go.

How is that little bay for anchoring, I'll be passing that way in a week or so after Matthew goes away and it looks like a convenient overnighter.

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Oh very nice for anchoring. There are many little coves well protected.

Right behind that long arching sand spit, is a pleasant spot, you can anchor very close to shore. People pull their boats right up to the sand and walk around and also fish. It can be very wavy elsewhere, and very calm water in there. On that map called north end point.

During the week, fighter jets from LAFB can roar overhead only during the day. They show an impressive amount of power and noise. some days nothing, some days they are flying. Most days is quiet.