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solid fuel Cabin heater.

Dferr

Member II
I noticed the earlier E-38s came with a solid fuel cabin heater. Are any of you guys using them? Are they safe?
 

WhiteNoise

Member III
Another option

I have been looking into Espar and Webasto heaters.

They use fuel from your present diesel tank, use very little fuel, use forced air 12V (also supposed to be very little), can be thermostat controled, and do not require a flu pipe through the top of your deck above the unit (less to catch your lines on). They can be exhausted from the transom it seems. The forced air can be ducted to different portions of the boat and the dry forced air I would imagine would be great for moisture control. Also you can place the heater unit anywhere (in the interest of space) rather that having to mount it on your bulkhead.

I have been toying with the idea of putting a duct into the head with the ability to isolate the air to that one duct, making it a sort of dryer for towels, etc.

http://www.espar.com/htm/applies/marine.htm
http://www.webasto-us.com/am/en/am_marine_heaters.html

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences with any of these units? I realize they are a bit more expensive but seem to have some advantages.
 

footrope

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Nice propane unit

The old woodburner we took out (see the thread Loren referenced) had a single wall chimney and needed to be mounted lower. Stronger possibility of CO poisoning, too. I was already attracted to the diesels and did not analyze propane much, but that is clearly an option worth considering. As you can see by the thread, if you can get through it, you have to figure out what your needs and goals are - what's important - and then buy whatever you can afford.

We are happy with the diesel hydronic, after a year of light to medium use. On our summer trip in 2006 we stayed on the hook for two consecutive nights a couple times (9 total) and always enjoyed a quick interior warm-up, made coffee or tea on the stove, and then had instant hot water for showers. No engine running and minimal power drain.

Looks like we have the same interior, Silver Moon.
 
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Kim Schoedel

Member III
Our boat came with the Espar. I replaced the old unit (was new when the boat was originally commisioned) with a new one and rewired as recommended by the dealer. The new unit came with the larger wire, thermostat, fuel pump. Fuel is drawn from the main fuel tank.

I would recommend the Espar or similar forced air furnace to anyone in the cooler climates needing a warm cabin. It is very dry heat and you just have to flip the switch on and she does her thing.

One register is in the v-berth and one in the main cabin. The outside temp and inside on Jan 6th for our frostbite race was 38 degrees F. It took about an hour to bring up the cabin temp to 65 degrees F.

In the Spring and Fall when we are out on the hook or at the dock, we just turn the unit on before bed time and during the night if the temp goes down, the furnace automatically comes on and maintains temp.

The thermostat is not calibrated in degrees but it doesn't take long to fine the right setting for your comfort level. We have never turned it up more than about 1/3. Well, we did once, right after I installed the new unit. Woke up in the middle of the night in an 80 degree sweat.

The unit can handle more registers. Would like to pipe in one to the head. But with the furnace, main trunk line on the starboard, I would have to somehow pipe under the v-berth to port where the head is. Big job, lazy captain!

I don't have a good grip on the fuel usage. But they are known to gobble a bit. Not an issue for us as we are on a large inland lake and I just make sure we have enough diesel in the tank for a long outing. Same with electrical power, we just run the m25 for a bit if the batteries are getting low. It does have an automatic shut down at some point if the power gets low.

All in all, very happy with ours. Spoiled sailors we are.
 
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