We have the forced air type (Espar) and are very happy with it. Matter
of fact it is my weekend project this weekend. I need to replace the
aluminum ductwork as it has corroded from the salt air (it seems to
be pretty old anyway). It burns about a quart of fuel per hour if running
continuously. Duty cycle obviously is a function of the temperature.

The water type has advantages (Espar, Webasto, etc). Easier to route
water tubing than to route ductwork. Also, it can be configured to run
off of engine water.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other heating
a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

every boat I have been on -- except one -- that had the blower-type diesel
heater had had serious, and damned expensive, maintenance issues, issues that
were not fixable in the field. That single boat that had had no problems had
the heater installed only the previous month.

Worked fine, but ran a fully charged, brand new Group 27 battery flat dead by
about 2:00 in the morning, every morning.

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Courtney Thomas wrote:
I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

We installed a Webasto Thermo-90 coolant type heating system and are
very happy with it.

http://www.webasto.us/press/en/am_tr...aters_821.html

The unit itself is amazingly compact, with a built in circulating pump,
combustion air fan, and control circuitry. I don't know if the system
overall is any more compact or easier to route than a forced air system;
the water piping & it's insualtion & expansion tank along with the heat
exchanger & fan, is quite bulky. With the added wiring & switches, I'm
sure it's more complicated & a bigger job to install.

Ours went on the aft engine room bulkhead where it is possible to access
the unit for maintenance (not that it should need any) and still have it
enclosed.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...42005030smuktF
(plus the next two)

It's extremely quiet, unless you listen for the clicking of the fuel
pump, you can't tell it's running. The heat exchanger fans are not that
quiet but they are not obtrusively noisy... we leave the forward heater
fan running on low all night. The system heats up in about 10 minutes
and is putting out good warm air in 5 ~ 6 min. The furnace unit draws
between 1 and 7 AH, the fans from 0.3 to 5; so we could run the unit all
night on batteries when anchored out.

I see a few advantages to the coolant type system. It's a bit more
efficient. The heaters can be installed in a wide variety of places...
we have 5... so we can have the heat on full in the head, for example,
and only a little warmth in the aft cabin. Ours is not (yet)
cross-connected to the engine to run on engine heat, but I also think it
would be a big advantage to be able to heat the engine up to operating
temp more often over the winter. BTW the mfg'er does not recommend this
cross connect as it can have flow problems not to mention air pockets or
leaks that would not damage the furnace but would be disastrous for the
engine.

Hope this helps.

Fresh Breezes
Doug King

Hey Jax- is there any Atomic 4 heater system?

JAXAshby wrote:
every boat I have been on

Have you ever actually been on a boat?


Worked fine, but ran a fully charged, brand new Group 27 battery flat dead by
about 2:00 in the morning, every morning.

Must have been a drag putting in a brand new battery daily.

DSK

Hey Jax- is there any Atomic 4 heater system?

ah, dooglies, an Atomic 4 is an _engine_, not a heater system. ask jeffies
wife to explain the difference for you.

Have you ever actually been on a boat?

oh, my yes. and I have actually been out in 2-1/2 foot seas. how about you,
dooglies, on either item?

Must have been a drag putting in a brand new battery daily.

no need, dooglies. there was this new fangled thing on the boat that actually
put the juice bugs back into the battery. Not sure how it was done, new
technology sometimes is baffling unless you have the design manual to review.
I think the gongset (that's what it is called, or something like that) ran from
the _engine_ where it lives back and forth to the Group 27 to stuff those
little juice bugs back in. I think the gongset carred three or fours bug each
trip.

DSK

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...


Courtney Thomas wrote:

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney


On the Mirage 33 I crewed on, was a propane furnace/water heater. We didn't
use it. In the 2nd year the skipper took it out for whatever reason and it
wasn't installed until he sold the boat this spring. When he was at the
dock he occasionally used shore power for an electric heater.

Courtney Thomas wrote:

I'm told that there are at least 2 types of boat heater, both of which
burn diesel; one using a blower to disperse the heat and the other
heating a circulating liquid.

What are the experiences of the group with both, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney


--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619