Cabin Heating System

[sastanley]

alberg,
I find the same so far...lifting the cushions, etc.. to cool her off after a heard day is SOP. However, my and the wife are planning to spend the night on the boat this evening...the coolest we'll have had here all summer,we may enjoy that 'free' heat tonight

A good place to mount the heater core in my boat is where I want to put a second water tank.

[phrf201]

Cabin Heating System

Yes, I would be very interested. I sail in the northeast and it would be very handy to have a cabin heater on those chilly Spring and Fall evenings. I've read about boat owners retrofitting bus heaters, which run off engine hot water, so why not one that is more suitable for the Atomic 4?

Steve

[keelcooler]

Under cabin sole radiant please.

[sastanley]

yeah!

now we're talking there, keelcooler!

The floor was a little chilly this weekend, and it was 55 degrees when we woke up

[lat 64]

Keelcooler,
I seriously thought long and hard about how I could do that.
I've put a couple of those systems in houses over the years and that type of system would be terrific in a boat.
I think this would be best left to new construction though. It would be so easy to put in while the boat is being built. Imagine padding around in bare feet on the cooler evenings. And the bilge would dry out and corrosion would be reduced. and...and...and...

[Jesse Delanoy]

Shawn,

I would have contacted you, but had no way to do so! We anchored in Mill Creek on a Sunday evening (across from the tugboat facility, and just a little farther up the creek), expecting to move farther south on Monday (Labor Day). Went out and it was so rough we came back in - had a water in the gas tank issue (someone who shall remain nameless forgot to put the gas cap on after fueling that morning, and we took a LOT of splash over the deck), so we tied up at Zahnisers, had Billy pull the water out of the tank next morning (never having had any engine trouble from the water - not enough water to get sucked up the pickup tube), and due to forecasts of gale winds and five foot seas, stayed on the pier until Saturday, then headed home. On a nine day trip, we sailed about one and a half days.

[67c&ccorv]

Yep, interested - how much?

[sastanley]

Shawn,

I would have contacted you, but had no way to do so! We anchored in Mill Creek on a Sunday evening (across from the tugboat facility, and just a little farther up the creek), expecting to move farther south on Monday (Labor Day). Went out and it was so rough we came back in - had a water in the gas tank issue (someone who shall remain nameless forgot to put the gas cap on after fueling that morning, and we took a LOT of splash over the deck), so we tied up at Zahnisers, had Billy pull the water out of the tank next morning (never having had any engine trouble from the water - not enough water to get sucked up the pickup tube), and due to forecasts of gale winds and five foot seas, stayed on the pier until Saturday, then headed home. On a nine day trip, we sailed about one and a half days.

Hi Jesse! Just saw this post...don't know how I missed it before. I think that October weekend we were in the "other" Mill Creek north of the Solomons Bridge, although your anchorage by the tug boat hangout is the final stretch on my way to the dock. I seem to recall from my 'boat notes' that I pulled the stick the next weekend.

Billy is on the "Good Guy" list here at Moyer and apparently the local resident A-4 professional if I ever need him. The dockmaster as Zahniser's is a friend of mine, she could have found me, except she works M-F.
We'll have to coordinate better next time. I remember working on my radio that weekend too, I might even have had the VHF on.

[ArtJ]

I would think most boats get more than enough heat from the engine
itself. In my case, a Classic Tartan 34C sloop has the engine in the
middle of the main saloon which provides (sometimes) more heat than
one would ever desire or wish for.

[Out Patient]

Heater

What do you have in mind?

I currently have the Force 10 Diesel heater in my CAL 29, it is finniky and cloges up after a lot of use. Other than that, it will warm up the cabin and maybe the V berth on a 36 degree evening. I have one of those fans from Cabellas that as it gets hot it circulates the hot air.

It runs off a pressurized tank, you can not run it all night long. It will run out of pressure and soot up.

[romantic comedy]

heat and hotwater

i had a force 10 catalytic propane heater in my tartan from 96 till recently. I rarely used it but was nice for the ICW run which i did several decembers ago.
dont ever sleep with the heater on-you may not get a chance to sail the next day
Hot water would come in handy for both heating the cabin and for washing -showers. I have a heater core from a ford van (1979) it is simple and could be plummed in with the fwc side. but that really only blows heat. what could be done is a tank with copper pipe running thru it. Taking the hot water off of the engine and returning it can be tricky to keep the engine at 180.
I built a tank on a van that took radiator water and some approx 1/2 -5/8 tubing maybe 10 feet long coiled (big coil) in the tank. it got hot quick.
also i dismantled a store bought 6 gal dual water heater. the coil for water heating was so small it was laughable but compact.
now that i live in florida i need air condition- i am working on that. i need to take a household 5000 btu unit and rework it to cool my vee berth and run on a honda or other quiet generator.
just another project. I would like to find a water cooled coil (condenser) instead of the standard air cooled fan that blows out of all house and window a/c units. The col side (expansion) would seill be fan driven (ducted maybe)
After charley I put a 10000 btu a/c unit in the betroom and the tag says it draws 7.5 amps (at 110-125). i was on a few boats that had counter mounted a/c units they had the water cooling option. Also there are units that just circulate seawater into a coil (radiator) and just blow a fan. for milider temps that could work. not here in the state of moderate oven

but I am heading north again permanently soon and heat may once again be my concern. it seems that when it it too hot to sail in fl then people dont sail-n=mostly the wind also dies. we had up o 30 knots this weekend- it was great washed off the rail and cabin

[msauntry]

Heater Craft sells a "marine" heater core and a standard heater core. I think a standard one would work fine since a heater shouldn't get much splashing inside your cabin anyway. Plus, the only difference seems to be the shroud (alum vs. steel) which would be easy to touch up if you get corrosion.

The heater core in my van isn't worth replacing when it clogged up, so I ordered a core from Summit Racing, the "house" brand. They ended up sending me the Heater Craft standard unit. It is well built. Cost under $140. When the van goes, I'm keeping the unit and putting it in the boat, after I get FWC of course.

[wlevin]

What about cutting out the extra step of piping hot engine water to a heater with fan. Is it reasonable to install some sort of small fan in the engine compartment that can blow warm air out of the compartment into the cabin through holes or louvres cut in the engine box? Of course, electric fans and gas fumes play poorly together, so is there some sort of special spark protected fan or remotely mounted fan-and-hose system that might work?

Bill and Jeanne
T-34C #453
Otter

[msauntry]

Not safe enough since CO2 could blow into the living areas.

[hanleyclifford]

I'm not exactly sure how this got resurrected but I would make the following suggestion. There are a number of forced coolant heaters available for boats and RVs. I have a Red Dot on board Destiny but it has a weakness in that the core mesh over the copper tubing is aluminum, a big no-no in galvanic series-intelligence-land. If Moyer Marine developed a unit with all marine grade materials (ie electromagnetically compatible), I would get in line to buy one.