Diesel stove/heater???

Were needing a more efficient way to heat our 35 than our wood burning stove. It's mounted too high and the back takes up alot of room in the head. I've looked into Dickenson and Sigmar heaters but was wondering about the stove/heater models since we are live aboards here in the NW. Any advice would be great. Steve

I made a huge improvement on my little Dickenson solid fuel heater by putting heavy metal pieces on top (to act as a hot mass radiating) and a fan mounted off to the side blowing over the whole thing to move air around. This made a huge difference in what I got out of it and warming the cabin. Perhaps you've already done this, but just a thought to try before giving up on it.

diesel stove

Thanks for the suggestion. My wood stove does heat up the boat quite nicely, however the soot and having to have auxiliary fans running all the time. I was wondering if anyone has placed one of those Dickenson diesel ovens in there Ericson. And if so how much trouble was it to install???

We have a propane heater built in our boat and quite like it. It heats the boat well, doesn't take up much space, and we always have propane on board for our propane stove/oven in the galley. The only down side of propane is that it seems to create moisture when it burns, so for extended use in the winter it would create more moisture in the boat than you may want, especially if you are planning to live aboard. I have heard that diesel stoves add a bit of diesel fuel smell inside the cabin, but I don't have any experience with that to know if that's true or not.

Frank

I've also heard that the propane stoves create moisture and that diesel stoves smell..... Sounds like I need to drag out my duct tape and bailing wire and event a better solution...lol

Quite a few boats in our moorage have the newer Dickinson bulkhead propane heaters/fireplaces.
Model P-9000 or P-12000)
These draw in outside air for combustion and exhaust to the outside. The visible fire is behind a glass window.
None leaves moisture inside the cabin from the fuel combustion.

Galley ranges are different, whether propane or alcohol, the open burner will add water to the air in the boat.

This design of heater wil not put moisture inside the boat.

The "old fashioned" diesel galley range uses and outside stack for exhaust. Heavy ss, solid mounted, and the fishing boats in Alaska run 'em non-stop for weeks at a time. It would be challenging to find room for one of these in most boats under 38 or 40 feet long.


Loren

We had a Newport Diesel heater in our old 32-2. It was more than adequate for chilly NW nights. At its lowest setting we were popping open hatches to get rid of some of the heat, and it used very little fuel. I think it would be a good match for liveaboards on the 32's big sister. If you can find a small tea kettle you can actually use the heater to boil water, which was pretty neat.

We generally had no issues with diesel smell in the cabin - other than when I scewed up some fittings.

All that being said, we will probably eventually install a Dickinson propane heater on our 35-3. For our usage, the fuel economy won't matter as much, and now with small children, we no longer go to the boat in the dead of winter and now just want something to take the chill off. Plus installation looks WAY easier.