On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 18:02:37 -0600, Dazed and Confuzed
wrote:

CNG is not heavier than air???

=============================

No, it is lighter and will not accumulate in low places such as the
bilge. That has always been CNGs big selling point. For boats big
enough to have a generator/inverter/large battery bank, I'm a great
fan of electric stoves. I've owned an all electric boat for 4 years
now, do a lot of cruising "on the hook", and can't imagine ever going
back to a gas stove of any kind.

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 22:34:28 GMT, misia
wrote:

I agree electric heater might be the most energy hungry element, especially if
the water has to be retained and temperature maintained in the tank for 10
people onboard.

================================================== ====

To cruise with 10 people in the tropics, you're going to need a water
maker and lots of power. You might as well spring for a decent sized
generator with 110/220 volt power and not worry about finding 24 volt
appliances or stove fuel.

Wayne.B wrote:

For boats big
enough to have a generator/inverter/large battery bank, I'm a great
fan of electric stoves. I've owned an all electric boat for 4 years
now, do a lot of cruising "on the hook", and can't imagine ever going
back to a gas stove of any kind.

Just preference I guess, I have had my boat for about 7
years now and while it is big enough to have a couple of
gensets, an inverter, and a very large 120V battery bank I
love my propane stove and wouldn't give it up for anything.

Rick

"misia" wrote in message
ail.from.there...

I agree electric heater might be the most energy hungry element,
especially if
the water has to be retained and temperature maintained in the tank for 10
people onboard.

This is something that I'm considering to built around hybrid solution.

I came accross this Webasto heater:

http://www.navstore.com/pdf/webasto/Webasto%20TSL17.pdf

What do you think?

I did not check your link, but what you might want to ask your engineer for
would be a design for a water-to-water (Glycol based)heat exchanger to keep
your shower water HOT. This could be done with off-the-shelf electric
components if you have the space, and need only be configured to your space
by your architect and engineer. The electric would be your seldom-used
backup, and you could have your choice of 120, 240, or custom voltage
standard mount heating elements (check off-the-grid, solar, and wind power
resources for these items).

Rob
*
*
*

Rick,
If you use a water cooled muffler as a heat exchanger to heat your fresh
water, at some point your freshwater tank will be hot enough. You now must
have a mechanism to dump the absorbed exhaust heat or damage will occur
somewhere in the system. Most colorifiers use the engine's cooling water
circulating through an imersed exchange coil in the hot water tank. In that
way, the engine's cooling system itself is the energy dump. If the exhaust
system is used, another mechanism must be found.
Steve
"Rick" wrote in message
nk.net...
Steve Lusardi wrote:

If you use a
fresh water exchanger and your hot water tank is up to temp and you
continue
to run the engine, the exchanger overheats. So you need auxillary
cooling,
when your heat demand is low. I guess there is no free lunch.

??? Are you suggesting there are systems out there that use
the domestic hot water system as a heat sink for the engine
cooling requirements? Or that someone would install a heat
exchanger that is rated at a lower temperature than the
operating temperature of the engine cooling circuit?

Something is missing here.

Rick

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 06:42:21 GMT, Rick
wrote:

Just preference I guess, I have had my boat for about 7
years now and while it is big enough to have a couple of
gensets, an inverter, and a very large 120V battery bank I
love my propane stove and wouldn't give it up for anything.

=================================================

You're choice of course, but I'm not wild about having propane on a
boat, and the convenience of not having separate stove fuel to worry
about is kind of nice.

This is what I'm thinking too- if I have a large amount of electrical
connections anyway, why worry about a spark igniting a propane leak
somewhere in the bilge? Plus I have cruised in arribean a lot and
sometimes spent a whole day plus $50-100 on taxis to fillup $10 worth of
propane tanks. M


"Wayne.B" wrote:

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 06:42:21 GMT, Rick
wrote:

Just preference I guess, I have had my boat for about 7
years now and while it is big enough to have a couple of
gensets, an inverter, and a very large 120V battery bank I
love my propane stove and wouldn't give it up for anything.

=================================================

You're choice of course, but I'm not wild about having propane on a
boat, and the convenience of not having separate stove fuel to worry
about is kind of nice.

I agree. We actually will have the Spectra watermaker and these are extremely
efficient. I owned one for 5 years on a 31ft boat and with 5 people 2 120W solar
batteries are able to maintain it to provide enough water daily.

If we use spectra, the watermaker will consume approx the same amount of kwh as
the fridge.

We will have the generator as well

M

"Wayne.B" wrote:

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 22:34:28 GMT, misia
wrote:

I agree electric heater might be the most energy hungry element, especially if
the water has to be retained and temperature maintained in the tank for 10
people onboard.

================================================== ====

To cruise with 10 people in the tropics, you're going to need a water
maker and lots of power. You might as well spring for a decent sized
generator with 110/220 volt power and not worry about finding 24 volt
appliances or stove fuel.

The exchanger you mention is the engine exhaust exchanger or engine cooling
system exchanger? Do you maybe have any links to practical solutions?

I have found 24V water heater heating elements which could be used as auxiliary.

Regards M



I came accross this Webasto heater:

http://www.navstore.com/pdf/webasto/Webasto%20TSL17.pdf

What do you think?

I did not check your link, but what you might want to ask your engineer for
would be a design for a water-to-water (Glycol based)heat exchanger to keep
your shower water HOT. This could be done with off-the-shelf electric
components if you have the space, and need only be configured to your space
by your architect and engineer. The electric would be your seldom-used
backup, and you could have your choice of 120, 240, or custom voltage
standard mount heating elements (check off-the-grid, solar, and wind power
resources for these items).

Rob
*
*
*

Steve Lusardi wrote:

If you use a water cooled muffler as a heat exchanger to heat your fresh
water, at some point your freshwater tank will be hot enough.

Just curious, no one mentioned using the exhaust waste heat
for domestic water heating. I have never seen such an
installation and suspect it is pretty rare since for the
reasons you mention it is a cumbersome means to avoid using
heat from the coolant.

Rick