Showering on the go

Why didn't I figure this out before?! In the past, we would turn on the engine heat near the end of the trip for the day so we would have washing up water for the galley. Anything left over and one of us might shower. But we decided, why not turn on the engine heat sooner and we could shower on route? No problem doing that during calm conditions. It works well and we each can get a shower while we are running. Using the inverter while running the admiral can use her blow dryer. It's free heat and free power.

Jim

JDCAVE said:

Why didn't I figure this out before?! In the past, we would turn on the engine heat near the end of the trip for the day so we would have washing up water for the galley. Anything left over and one of us might shower. But we decided, why not turn on the engine heat sooner and we could shower on route? No problem doing that during calm conditions. It works well and we each can get a shower while we are running. Using the inverter while running the admiral can use her blow dryer. It's free heat and free power.

Jim

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Yes - done this many times. With five of us on the crew down from Ketchikan to Anacortes we would depart at around 7am each morning and then take it in turn to have our morning showers underway. Then there was still plenty of hot water for dishes in the evening at anchor.

Richard

We always had the recirculating engine "coolant" heating the hot water tank when the engine was running. Electricity was only for back-up when anchored or docked for an extended period. Our 20 gallon Raritan held the temperature pretty well for 24 hours, depending on usage, and the engine heated the water to 180 degrees, so needed to be careful. 20 gallons always seemed to be enough.

Further to previous answer, I guess if you have a much bigger (than 2) crew then you would run out of HOT water!!!

Our tank is 12 gallons. I typically have a very short shower. The admiral has liner hair, ergo, more water.

Chrisjs said:

We always had the recirculating engine "coolant" heating the hot water tank when the engine was running. Electricity was only for back-up when anchored or docked for an extended period. Our 20 gallon Raritan held the temperature pretty well for 24 hours, depending on usage, and the engine heated the water to 180 degrees, so needed to be careful. 20 gallons always seemed to be enough.

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Yes, to the OP, you may want to check your system. Our engines heat the water in our H2O heater. So, it really is "free".

20 gallon Raritan WH with tempering valve and coolant loop heat exchanger on my boat. Almost endless hot water for 2 or 3 people.

Ted

six gallon isotherm. Heat the water every day when we run the generator. With just two of us there is enough hot water for showers and dish washing.

JDCAVE said:

Our tank is 12 gallons. I typically have a very short shower. The admiral has liner hair, ergo, more water.

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We have a 6 gal but the water is so hot that we use very few. We have enough everyday for shower for 2 person, dishes in the evening and following morning. We will replace the heater with a 11 gal so we have enough for 2 days. Water conservation is easy, shower head can be replaced for a low consumption one so you don't waste.

L.

lowcountry said:

Yes, to the OP, you may want to check your system. Our engines heat the water in our H2O heater. So, it really is "free".

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Nothing wrong with the system, just conserving water.

I didn't mean it like something was wrong with your system, just saying check to see if your already running engines provide heat without turning on the hot water heater.

Showers underway are the best, especially when there are whales and mountains and icebergs visible out the porthole!

Not really sure what it means to "turn on the engine heat." Most systems are hooked up so that the engine jacket water circulates through the water heater whenever the engine is running. There may be bypass valves for emergencies, but when would you NOT want hot water?

As for showering underway, been doing that ever since we first got a boat with a shower. Especially when motoring a long way through protected waters to an anchorage for the evening, or any time on a long inland run like the ICW. Either way, you arrive at your destination with a full tank of hot water, which cuts down on the genset run time.

CaptTom said:

Not really sure what it means to "turn on the engine heat." Most systems are hooked up so that the engine jacket water circulates through the water heater whenever the engine is running. ...

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That's how the Coot is plumbed. ... My sister's reaction: "you have hot water?!"

CaptTom said:

Not really sure what it means to "turn on the engine heat." Most systems are hooked up so that the engine jacket water circulates through the water heater whenever the engine is running. There may be bypass valves for emergencies, but when would you NOT want hot water?

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We don't seem to have hot water unless we switch on the engine heat. I seem to remember the PO confirming this. And yes, there is a by-pass valve.


This is the "plumbing" and heat exchanger for heating the hot water tank, via either the Webasto Hydronic heating system or the engine heat. The Webasto heats the water to almost scalding temperatures.

JDCAVE said:

We don't seem to have hot water unless we switch on the engine heat. I seem to remember the PO confirming this. And yes, there is a by-pass valve.
View attachment 65055

This is the "plumbing" and heat exchanger for heating the hot water tank, via either the Webasto Hydronic heating system or the engine heat. The Webasto heats the water to almost scalding temperatures.
View attachment 65056

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On a side note: I wish my ER was as much clean as yours, I am jealous of this outrageous cleanliness!!!

L.

Lou_tribal said:

On a side note: I wish my ER was as much clean as yours, I am jealous of this outrageous cleanliness!!!

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I just like how accessible the plumbing is. Mine is hard to get at. I need to replace some hydronic heating hoses and keep putting it off because of that.

CaptTom said:

Not really sure what it means to "turn on the engine heat." Most systems are hooked up so that the engine jacket water circulates through the water heater whenever the engine is running.

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JD has the choice of switching between engine heated water while underway or diesel heated water with his Webasto system while docked or at anchor. I'm guessing the switch is for a 3-way solenoid valve but it's not shown in the photo of his pristine engine room.

I'm going to be the odd man out, erring to the side of caution.
I disconnected all external plumbing from our Cummins cooling system. I have heard of too many folks that had the main diesel engine destroyed because a hose or coil blew and drained all the coolant.
To me it is not worth risking your $35,000.00 engine to heat water.
IMHO

Jim,

Beautiful Engine room. I am jealous.

I'm not sure why you would not have the engine heat always heating the water heater. Mine is plumbed to do so with no way to turn if off. But I've never needed to.

Richard

One can worry about anything and everything on the boat.


simple...risk management...


You can delete the hot water circuit...or if that worried but like it's usefulness....every year or two or three....replace the hose and hose clamps for about $30 on the average boat.


Add a few shutoff valves for those times you don't think you will need hot water from the engine. More risk minimized....


At that point...the probability of dropping dead at the helm is about the same as the heater circuit failing.....


I like the hot water flexibility and just minimize the risk as I pointed out.

Our Tolly also heats water continually... when starboard engine is running. 8 gal [I think that' its capacity] water heater itself heats the water too hot and quite quickly under gen set or shore ac. We usually only need to heat water once per two days when on the hook for general dish wash etc. We swim for baths... MOF, in SF Delta we swim much of the time in warm fresh water!

I have had a coolant loop to the water heater fail. It did drain the coolant into the bilge and eventually set off the engine high-temp alarm. I patched up the hose, replaced the coolant and was on my way.

Easily one of the more minor "emergencies" I've ever dealt with. I replaced and re-routed the hose so it wouldn't happen again when I got back to port. I didn't even bother putting in shut-off valves, but if you're really paranoid, go ahead.

I just don't see any reason to fear a few extra feet of coolant hose. If it does fail, either the alarm, the steam, the anti-freeze smell or the engine temperature gauge should clue you in before you ruin your engine.

I get that you'd want to be able to switch over to a hydronic heater like a Webasto if you have one, but to me the "normal" setting would be engine heat, only running the Webasto if you needed it.

I get it now. Your HW is plumbed into your heating system, not directly to the engine. That's good for around here because when your heat is running, it also heats the water tank. Our system is like that too and we have never run out of hot water even with guests on board, as long as it's cool enough for the heat to run periodically.

Your engine coolant indirectly heats the heating system coolant via that heat exchanger in the foreground. That switch is identical to mine, and a product from Sure Marine is Seattle. In the engine heat position, it locks out the diesel boiler, but enables the circulator pump. Without the circulator pump, there is no way to carry the engine heat from the heat exchanger to the HW tank.

As an aside, Torrid makes tanks with optional dual loop head exchangers. So there are provisions for two separate external coolant loops that can be run through the HW tank to heat the water. The engine cooling loop connects to one loop, and the heating system connects to the other. That way either will heat the water.

It is beautiful. I wish that I had that kind of access.