Forced air heater duct routing on an Oceanis 400?

[Geste]

Survey willing, I will take possession of a clean Oceanis 400 in a week or so.
One missing accessory is a diesel forced air heater. I plan to acquire a Webasto heater locally, but I am a bit at sea as to where best to mount the heater and how to route ducting to 3-4 outlets inside the boat.

Is anyone on the board in possession of a 400 or similar (like 393) that has a Webasto or Espar installed? If so can you offer some insight as to installation and ducting route/s?

Thanks in advance!

Jim

 

[SoSound]

We have (I've been told) the last of the most recent Oceanis 34s that was built. It had a Webasto heater installed when it was built. The heater was installed on the back side of the bulkhead between the aft cabin and the transom. The exhaust is vented behind a large scoop shaped cover on the port side of the transom, above the swim platform. There is one heat vent in the aft cabin, and most of the rest of the heat duct is run up the port side of the boat, with a vent in the main salon (just forward of the galley), and one in the v-berth. There is a short branch below the platform in the aft berth which takes heat to the head on the starboard side. The thermostat is installed near the nav desk and the electrical panel. We lost most of the small storage area below the stove in our galley, but the system works great!

 

[jssailem]

Jim, Wabastos are nice but also take a look at the Wallas. ScanMarine on Westlake Ave N is the dealer. They are very helpful folk. Love my 40Dt unit. Converts my salon to a warm and comfortable space even in the January cold. Love the low electrical draw. A bit more silent than the Wabasto on my friends boat.
Good luck with your install. I did a lot of examining the how and where to locate. Then I made sure that the open space ducts were well insulated. It bumped up the temps at the vents by 18-22 degrees,

 

[Geste]

Dave,
This is helpful. One of the routes through the 400 would be through the port/aft head/shower, but I am not sure that will fly, but it seems to line up better with a port-side transom install of the heater itself.
This is going to be a much nicer boat than any I have owned (three), so I am going to keep the hole saws locked up intin I have really thought this through.

Jim

 

[Geste]

John,
My quest starts with Webasto in great part because I really like the folks at Sure Marine in Ballard. But I'll no doubt visit Scan Marine as well. I'll likely keep 1-2 oil-filled electric heaters for "base heat" in the boat and just use the diesel to bring up heat quickly when I come aboard during the winter.

Interesting, I see a new lower-cost unit at Fisheries Supply. (Calaer?) but no idea of how it rates.

Anyhoo, new boat. Time to obsess

Jim

 

[jssailem]

Jim... New boat... It is a great time. Good on you.

I have used the Oil Electric heaters during the shoulder season. But mid winter, the Wallas sipped fuel, used minimal electricity and kept me toasty.

It helped to insulate the hull in the V-berth with the bubble foil. I found this maintained a warm place to sleep.