On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 18:03:13 GMT,
Brian Whatcott wrote:
On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 09:55:54 GMT, "Dennis Pogson"
wrote:

Courtney Thomas wrote:
How do the forced air units compare with the hot water ?

Thank you,
Courtney

I would guess that pumping hot water at low pressure through radiators and
associated piping requires a lot less power than forced-air blowing. At
least, that is our experience, and the heat is much more evenly distributed.
Also, those areas which didn't need heat were simply turned off, or the
radiator stat was turned low to suit the environment/occupants. The system
is silent, which makes for peace and quiet. Drilling through bulkheads etc.
is a darned sight easier when the holes are merely 1" dia. or less, against
the 3"-4" holes required for air tubing. Quickly drying wet clothing and
washed items is an absolute godsend, and this alone makes up for any
disadvantages of hot water heating.

The heating unit is very quick to achieve operating temperature, and for
cold the system started to be effective in about 15 minutes. If an en-suite
radiator is inadvertently left full on, the heads would become a sauna!

Although diesel-fired, our boat seemed to survive the winter on very little
fuel, admittedly, we had 2 * 60 gallon tanks, but the guage never seemed to
move much over winter.

I am completely sold on this form of heating against the forced-air systems.


Dennis.

Interesting observations. In countries where the need is for heating
only, nobody uses blown air. It's noisy, and its dirty.

But when the need is for cooling, circulating water systems are not so
popular.

As soon as I typed this I realised that when computer suites need
cooling, the system chosen is often circulating water chillers.
So even where cooling/heating systems are needed, there is room for
circulating water, seems to me.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK



Forced air also has some advantages. If your recirculating water heating
system springs a leak, it's a mess, and may even damage other systems.
If the forced air system leaks, then all it takes is a bit of duct tape
to fix, if you want to bother. No need to bleed air out of it either,
although that can also be avoided with a decent design in the water circ
system.

--
Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock
Strip Mining Prevents Forest Fires.