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Old 12-29-2020, 12:38 PM   #21
backinblue
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City: Stratford, CT
Vessel Name: Blue Moon
Vessel Model: Mainship Pilot 355
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 3,937
Quote:
Originally Posted by rsn48 View Post
What does the marina owner think of onboard heaters? Not much, I would guess. Dangerous and expensive, for someone.

The one fight I had with a marina - Sewell's Marina to be exact - with an electrical bill for my Catalina 27 which was a 1974 (translation: very little electrical stuff on the boat, period). I had the equivalent of the heater I just turned on and set for automatic shut on and off at roughly 4C. Realize this is Horseshoe Bay (for you locals) and the winters are not long and extended even when they do happen, winds are another story.

I got this crazy bill for two months of electrical use in the hundreds of dollars. What these idiots would do is take a reading of about ten seconds and extrapolate that as to your usage over 24/7. I told the woman I had a heater, set at 600 watts that was off most of the time. I told her it was like me coming to her house, testing and seeing the furnace was on and assume the furnace was one 24/7 and charging that way. I won that battle.

Heaters are used on boats all over the planet, not sure where the comment is coming from. When I popped the main circuit breaker for my spot, I talked to the manager who had to come and show me how to throw it back. She thought it was because of a heater I had on, but she didn't say anything like "don't do it."
Heaters are not very common here in New England. Almost all boats are pulled for the winter, winterized, and stored on land. My marina has a strict rule about no boat being plugged in when nobody is on board. Electrical fire hazard. If the boat is winterized there is no need for a heater. And even with a heater, it would be prudent to winterize in case of power failure. Even indoor heated winter storage places winterize boats for that reason.
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