Heater safety with an atomic 4 engine?

[W2ET]

Cooking only, Joe.

+1 on fiberglass burning. Maybe 3-4 years ago, my volunteer fire company and several mutual aid companies threw everything we had at a brand new million dollar+ powerboat on fire at the dock. Despite our best efforts, she burned right to the waterline.

Bill

[Mo]

Butane works.

Around here most people with small boats have a butane unit that stows after use. Most don't use alcohol stoves which came with the boats because they are slow. So what they do is make a wooden cover over their stove and use the butane stove on there to cook. I did it on my C&C 24 for the 9 years I owned that. I'd be BBQ-ing on the back rail and Melinda would be cooking whatever we were having with the steaks. Fast, boils water quickly etc. Again, much safety in stowage required and we never left the bottle in the unit and the butane bottles were in the rail bag.. We used about 3 of those little butane cans per year...that was it. They last a long time.

I know of lots of people on smaller boats that still use them. We are talking pocket cruisers that overnight here and there. These are the ones that have a butane stove and propane lantern for light and a bit heat...very common up here. Everyone ventilates with a hatch open and no headlines.

In 1995 I was in Hampton Va doing a Paramedic preceptor-ship with Hampton Fire and Rescue. A multi million dollar yacht burned very nearly under a bridge one night. This thing was anywhere from 70 to 100 feet long...don't recall. I was on the Ambulance and we were about 3 rd on scene. While hauling hose one of the guys commented and I looked around to see the superstructure fold in on itself in slow motion and then the flames lit up the area.

Same as Bill said, we couldn't put it out. Foam going into it as well as water from multiple engines and ladders trucks...it went out when it sank. I do believe they found a body in that...pretty sure in bed but can't really remember that clearly. This place blocked up with arriving apparatus and the foam supply was called after initial scene assessment. A truckload of foam showed up. My job on that one was one of the guys wheeling the plastic barrels of foam out to a forward engine with a two wheel dolly. The foam supply truck was about 1500 feet back and I had two of those foam containers on each resupply run, hose over hose up to the front of the line. There were quite a few of us hauling foam to the front.

If you ever smell fiberglass resin in your yacht club look for smoke...when fiberglass starts to heat up it gases off and smell almost like new resin being laid. I've heard people smell resin when it hasn't flashed yet...anyway, something for the back of the mind.

[joe_db]

http://www.dellabarba.com/sailing/gor/GOR.html

Scroll down to see the photo of a burning boat and the story. IMHO nothing is as dangerous to cook on as a pressurized alcohol stove.

[Mo]

I just spent a little while on the boat and had the heater going. Boat is a mess, but it is on the hard. What you can see though is how a heater can be tucked into a spot that is fairly safe from interference or contact of flammable material. For this particular boat that's a common sense spot for a portable heater with the hatch cracked open. I have a wood burning stove for the boat but it would be too close to everything. The chimney would have to go through and be close to the cabin top, I'd lose space of cupboard and settee seating and it would be right in the middle of the actual place where people are. One other consideration of my solid fuel stove is that you just don't flip a switch to shut it off and kill the heat. This isn't the premier solution for a boat, but it works and has worked a long time. Not every boat is set up the same. I'd love to have a bigger bulkhead space and mount something there. I thought of the espar type heaters but I wouldn't run the exhaust and intake from the top, which means it has to run the length to the stern...not doing that either. So I stayed with practical and it goes away when not in use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWMEEt1tV2M

[Mo]

http://www.dellabarba.com/sailing/gor/GOR.html
Scroll down to see the photo of a burning boat and the story. IMHO nothing is as dangerous to cook on as a pressurized alcohol stove.

Exactly why I took my pressurized alcohol cooking stove out and replaced it with propane. I could never get it to just light up without this big flash and out of control burn. Once my wife saw it a replacement had instant approval. She did like the old butane we had on our old boat. I'm not really sure where that is now, I might have given it to someone or it might be in the garage. I ended up putting a propane stove with oven in the year we got the boat and ran it and the BBQ from a steel 20 lb tank on the stern. After a couple of years I was getting fouling of the propane fuel from rust within the tank itself. That rusty fuel also fouled my burners. The solution was a 20lb fiberglass tank. No problems since.
I also tape all of my propane hose that is subjected to sunlight...just white electrical tape protects from UV damage to the rubber.

[ndutton]

Historical reading again:

https://www.moyermarineforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=106319&postcount=8

[roadnsky]

Another way to go is to install a "central air" AC/HEAT system.
Of course, not the cheapest. BUT certainly safe and efficient.

Where I live, I absolutely NEED the Air Conditioning part of the unit
but this time of year the heater side really is a nice benefit.
Push a button and instant warm air blowing in the main cabin and forward berth.

I'm writing this post from the boat.
Woke up this morning... outside temp 35f... inside a toasty 72f

[Mo]

Is that a heat pump you have there? That is wicked. My house main heat here in Nova Scotia is a heat pump. I love the friggin thing but never knew they made them small....I'd do that in a heartbeat.

[joe_db]

Is that a heat pump you have there? That is wicked. My house main heat here in Nova Scotia is a heat pump. I love the friggin thing but never knew they made them small....I'd do that in a heartbeat.

Be aware there is a lower limit for them. The discharge water is colder than the inlet water by a few degrees, so when it gets close to freezing the water freezes up in the coils.

[roadnsky]

Be aware there is a lower limit for them. The discharge water is colder than the inlet water by a few degrees, so when it gets close to freezing the water freezes up in the coils.

I haven't had that issue here. (Water never gets below about low 50's)
I guess if you were in freezing climate I could see that happening.