Diesel heater install on Hunter 45CC

[Bogart]

G'day all

I'm looking for some advice about installing a diesel heater in our 2007 Hunter 45CC. While we have lived aboard for 5 years, we have always spent winters in a warmer climate - that is, northern Australia. We now want to be able to extend our cruising range to the southern regions of Australia and want a simpler way to heat the boat than running the generator and aircon.

Has anyone put in a diesel heater in a 45CC? What did you use - a cheap (Chinese) unit or a "recognised" brand? What size unit did you use? Where did you install it? Any tips on particular aspects of the installation?

Look forward to hearing some info.

Cheers, Tony

 

[Terry Cox]

Hi Tony, different model boat here, but similar. Wrote an article some time ago about how I installed a diesel forced air furnace to extend our cruising season. Made a huge difference in boating comfort during those colder winter times on the water. Hunter 42 Owner Modifications and Upgrades

 

[jssailem]

Hello Tony.
My Cal35c is a little smaller than your boat. I installed a Wallas 40DT diesel heater. Why select a heater designed and built in Finland? Well with their cold winters I figured they would know a thing or two about heating their homes or boats. It works well in my climate. I’ve had it in the boat since 2016. In temps from -6 to 13 Celsius it keeps my boat comfortably warm.

I self installed the unit and duct work. There are limits to the length of the heat ducts and recommended air volume that the heater can supply. I spent time considering the best location on my boat for the unit, way to route the heater air ducts, fuel and electrical lines, and exhaust pipe. On your boat this may mean you limit some of the heated spaces. Boats typically leak heat like a sieve. Insulating the boat is as important as heating the boat.

The Wallas has proven to be miserly on the consumption of power and diesel. This has been a bonus discovery.

I’d recommend the unit.

 

[Captain Mateo]

Tony,
I liveaboard full time on my H 460 in the Chesapeake Bay. Last summer, I installed a Webasto Airtop Evo 50 and WOW what a difference. We used it all winter and the cabin was always warm and dry. We even went out on Christmas day and New Years Eve! I could crank that heater up if i wanted to and make it easily over 80 degrees F inside. I added mine in the aft starboard locker because it was close to fresh air inlet, easy to run the exhaust, easy to tap into the fuel tank, and a straight shot to run the ducting.

I used the 90mm ducting from the heater into the aft cabin and all the way through to the Salon. Did a branch off of 60mm ducting into aft cabin, aft head, and forward cabin. I highly recommend the silencer on the exhaust too. My neighbor has a cheap knockoff without a silencer and it sounds like a jet engine. Also, he has had nothing but problems with it: leaking fuel, setting off smoke alarms. It could have been installer error, or the unit itself. Either way, he went back to using ceramic space heaters. I will NOT be going back to using space heaters. It was truly life changing.

Like @Terry Cox above, I am writing a detailed article of the install, with photos. If you'd like to chat more about it, feel free to PM me. I can give you some additional tips and tricks i ran into while installing in the mean time. Here is a diagram of the ducting and my layout, for reference.