Going Hydronic...pulled the pin today.

[VanIslandGuy]

http://www.suremarineservice.com/Heat/6400-Series/

Would these work for your needs?

 

[Hayden Watson]

Thanks Lurker. I ended up going with the 6200 series http://www.suremarineservice.com/Heat/6200-Series/ I am getting a 6214 for the main cabin and a 6223DF for the head and toe of the vee berth. The DF is really 2-1 with two fans and baffles so you can get heat from either side independently.
I have ordered the Espar S3 D5E boiler that provides stepless heat output from 8k to 17k BTU's in the boxed version so that it will have protection from all of the other stuff that goes into the port cockpit locker.

 

[VanIslandGuy]

D5 should be a good one for you. It's better to have a right sized unit working hard than to have a bigger unit that doesn't need to. You get way less carbon issues in the burner unit when the machine is working hard. Good luck with the installation. Boxed version you ordered sounds like a smart choice.

I really recommend getting hose insulation from home depot and using it everywhere on your coolant lines where you don't want to lose heat. The coolant will warm up faster, meaning the fans will turn on faster and your hotwater tank will get hot much faster too. The only place I didn't insulate the lines was under the sole by the galley as heating the floor area here is a nice bonus.

Also consider taking the power lead off the Espar that powers the fans to a terminal strip, and lead all the fan units to it. The wiring from Espar would have the the fans all wired in series. By setting them up in parallel you will be able to have one fan on high, another off, and another on low.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Thanks Lurker. I have been reading the specs on the S3 and it is really impressive for such a tiny unit. It is only 8.5" x 5.5" x 3.5" and weighs about 5 pounds. I also found out that they have eliminated the atomization screen in the firebox which is what usually gets plugged up with carbon. They claim that it is 85% efficient which is very impressive.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Even in the box, this boiler is tiny. The box measures 12" x 8.5" x 9" tall.

 

[SVPardonMyFrench]

Using the coolant loop that normally runs from the engine to the hotwater tank. You can either run the loop from the hotwater tank to the engine, the hydronic line running through the boat to the various heater cores, or both depending on the complexity of installation you go for. We're keeping it simple. The hotwater tank will be heated via electrics, or hydronic only. It will no longer get heat from the engine loop.

This is the set-up I have on my 40.5. It was connected to the engine when I purchased the boat. We disconnected it to simplify after we found some leaks. I do like and enjoy the simplicity and makes maintenance easier - yes hot water on the hook is a plus.

 

[Hayden Watson]

Here is how my install is going. We are hoping to fire the boiler tomorrow. We have one 10k BTU fan coil under the Quarter berth and a second under the V-berth. The V-berth fan coil has two fans / ducts that are kept separate with baffles. One of the ducts goes to the heat with its own thermostat, and the other duct goes to the main cabin and is controlled by the same thermostat as the quarter berth coil. The heater loop is controlled by a coolant thermostat that keeps all of the hot water for the heaters until the temp gets to 70C when it starts sending it to the water heater and engine loop. That way we should get cabin heat much quicker on cold starts.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I got my system fired up today and like it. It is no louder than my old Arctic but runs on less amps for a longer time instead of the 10/20 on/off short cycle.