Forced air/vs hot water heat

[Rick B]

Our Yamaha 33 has a solid fuel fireplace which I think is adequate but my wife wants me investigate other options such as thermostatically controlled heat. Anyone have either forced air or hot water heat in their boat? We usually anchor so electric energy is a concern. We have a total of 140 watts solar panels. We have a 2GM diesel with the standard alternator/regulator.

Rick

 

[palacegrand]

Our Yamaha 33 has a solid fuel fireplace which I think is adequate but my wife wants me investigate other options such as thermostatically controlled heat. Anyone have either forced air or hot water heat in their boat? We usually anchor so electric energy is a concern. We have a total of 140 watts solar panels. We have a 2GM diesel with the standard alternator/regulator.

Rick

Hey Rick.
My Yamaha 30 has an Espar forced air unit. Which I would like to replace.
It works alright, but takes a while to get heat output, is somewhat noisy (fan, furnace & fuel pump tick-ticking), is noisy to others at anchor & uses battery.
Others seem fine with the noise issue, but I like quiet and hate not knowing what it's doing to the battery level.
When I can get around to it, I'll be going to the Dickinson Newport. Like the idea of the warm flame look, would be able to get immediate heat to my hands on a wet day, would get more heat into the boat quicker, and I could direct the heat where I wanted to with fans.
Still trying to decide whether diesel or propane. I've got propane on board with solenoid shutoff, but the stove would be up front close to the diesel tank. Lots of plumbing required with diesel, and/or daytank. Propane would mean running long line, but I'm thinking it may be the way to go.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

 

[Rick B]

Holes

We had a rear engine Yamaha 30 ten years ago and the 33 layout is very similar. We have wooden frames under the settees and don't have the sling arrangement. How does the hot air distributed in your yamaha 30? Do you just have one vent under the Nav station or are there are additional runs forward? If we ever get diesel heat I would probably go for water as it requires smaller holes for the runs. I might even be able to run the hoses up the conduits in the keel grid. The problem with hot water heat is that you need cold air return for each radiator. If I draw the air from inside a locker or liner area that is open to the bilge then the return air will be very moist and I won't have the drying ability of forced air where the return air is more easily drawn from a high point in the cabin. The way I understand it is that for hot water heat each forced air radiator must have a cold air return from the cabin (two holes and maybe not easily routed) or the cold air return comes from the bilge.

With hot water heat we can have a hot water tank with a stern shower. Originally the boat had cold pressure water for cold showers etc. Raw water cooled diesel so no heat there so the original owner removed the pressure water system to save electrical energy. I still have the pump.

The solid fuel fireplace really puts out the heat but you have to keep feeding it.

I am putting shore power on the boat this month so maybe we'll just tie to a dock and use electric heat in the shoulder seasons and save a bunch of cash.

Really just wondering about the heat distribution possibilities in a Yamaha 33.

Thanks,

Rick

 

[Edhavana]

Hey Rick.
My Yamaha 30 has an Espar forced air unit. Which I would like to replace.
It works alright, but takes a while to get heat output, is somewhat noisy (fan, furnace & fuel pump tick-ticking), is noisy to others at anchor & uses battery.
Others seem fine with the noise issue, but I like quiet and hate not knowing what it's doing to the battery level.
When I can get around to it, I'll be going to the Dickinson Newport. Like the idea of the warm flame look, would be able to get immediate heat to my hands on a wet day, would get more heat into the boat quicker, and I could direct the heat where I wanted to with fans.
Still trying to decide whether diesel or propane. I've got propane on board with solenoid shutoff, but the stove would be up front close to the diesel tank. Lots of plumbing required with diesel, and/or daytank. Propane would mean running long line, but I'm thinking it may be the way to go.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

We have a Eberspacher OSF201 Type DL3 251428 diesel heater on our Yamaha 33 that I am thinking of upgrading to an A/C Unit. In So. Cal. there is not much need for a heater that a small electric heater can't handle.

Let me know and I will keep you posted.

Regards,

Ed Serra
Sarah V
Yamaha 33

 

[palacegrand]

We had a rear engine Yamaha 30 ten years ago and the 33 layout is very similar. We have wooden frames under the settees and don't have the sling arrangement. How does the hot air distributed in your yamaha 30? Do you just have one vent under the Nav station or are there are additional runs forward? If we ever get diesel heat I would probably go for water as it requires smaller holes for the runs. I might even be able to run the hoses up the conduits in the keel grid. The problem with hot water heat is that you need cold air return for each radiator. If I draw the air from inside a locker or liner area that is open to the bilge then the return air will be very moist and I won't have the drying ability of forced air where the return air is more easily drawn from a high point in the cabin. The way I understand it is that for hot water heat each forced air radiator must have a cold air return from the cabin (two holes and maybe not easily routed) or the cold air return comes from the bilge.

With hot water heat we can have a hot water tank with a stern shower. Originally the boat had cold pressure water for cold showers etc. Raw water cooled diesel so no heat there so the original owner removed the pressure water system to save electrical energy. I still have the pump.

The solid fuel fireplace really puts out the heat but you have to keep feeding it.

I am putting shore power on the boat this month so maybe we'll just tie to a dock and use electric heat in the shoulder seasons and save a bunch of cash.

Really just wondering about the heat distribution possibilities in a Yamaha 33.

Thanks,

Rick

I've got the front mounted engine, looking at mounting the Dickinson on the Port bulkhead. (Would need a bracket mount to stand it off to allow for the tabletop wall mount)
The Espar is way up in the port stern quarter. Access is through the removable panel at the foot of the quarterberth. In the end of the quarterberth ceiling is a return air vent. Then there is only one heating duct, about a foot off the floor behind the companionway ladder. Nothing going any further forward. Which is partly why it takes a while to heat up, and is also an inconvenient place if you're trying to get your wet hands warmed up! Not sure if adding any more ducting would add any heat or just spread the overall btu's. BTW, the air is never "hot", mostly just warm.
Also, the heater will not operate while the diesel is running, so warming the cabin while motoring to the mooring is not an option. With the Dickinson (and I imagine with your solid heater) at least there's the placebo effect of seeing "fire".

jcm