Heating for Hunter 376

[Gabor15908]

I am contemplating to do a DIY (do it yourself) installation of an Espar Heater for my 376 Hunter.
My only concern is the fuel (diesel) tank connection.
Is it something I can do myself?
Gabor

 

[Guest]

Wallas Furnace

I installed a 40D forced air furnace on our 1991 Passage 42 four years ago to extend our PNW cruising season. It does a wonderful job keeping the boat warm. Two weekends ago we spent three days on the hook in freezing temperatures and never had the thermostat set above five, with six being maximum.

Installation was pretty easy with the right tools. I wrote an article about the installation that is worth reading in the 42 Knowledge Base. The unit is quiet and very stingy with fuel and electrical consumption. BTW, the fuel tank connection was the easiest part of the job.

Terry

 

[Frenchie3958]

Gabor,
This part of the job is easier if you compare the time spent for drilling holes, running the heater pipes all over the boat, joining all the elements together, installing the exhaust pipe and the heater engine (I don't even mention the electrical cables....)
For us it took 1 hour to do this specific job with the ESPAR installed on our H36.
If you need more explanations I can send you pictures and details.
Marc

 

[Franklin]

I think I would just T it into the line in the engine compartment, just after the water/fuel seperator.

 

[Seattle Scott]

Gabor, make sure you don't locate the furnace "too high" relative to the fuel tank, check the furnace specs as to how much lift you can get out of the furnace fuel pump. I have an old Ardic furnace, that uses a separate 3 gallon fuel tank a couple of feet above the engine tank, for this reason.

 

[Steve Dion]

Gabor:

I think your biggest challenge is the duct work. These are very large and may be very difficult to deploy in certain areas. I assume that you are considering forced air vs. hydronic?

 

[Guest]

Furnace

If it were my boat I would not tee the furnace fuel line into the existing engine fuel line.

Terry

 

[Bill Roosa]

Use of your heater

Hi Gabor
What do you envision using your heater for. Just taking the chill off during spring or fall or winter time heating?

I've done the live aboard thing and have found electric heat much more cost effective. At $3ish /gal for diesel, you can expect to go through about 0.5 gal per hour on a 20 degree night. or 12 gal per day. That is $36 per day or $1080 per month. My electric bill is only about $100 per month on a 40' boat! Add to that the cost of installing a heater vs the cost of an electric space heater you can't really justify buying one. Perhaps on a work boat that HAS to be out away from dock power but not a dock bound live aboard.

The use of a clay flower pot on the stove is a much cheaper and space saving way to heat your boat while out on the water.

 

[Franklin]

If it were my boat I would not tee the furnace fuel line into the existing engine fuel line.

Terry

Care to provide a reason?

 

[Franklin]

Hi Gabor
... you can expect to go through about 0.5 gal per hour on a 20 degree night...

Wow....they really go through that much diesel? I was thinking I'd put one on my boat so when I'm cruising and got stuck in a cold area, I wouldn't have to run the generator and sleep in the V-berth instead of the aft cabin. Maybe I should think about getting a quieter generator then

 

[Don12364]

My 376 Eberspacher Setup

I have an Eberspacher DI3 installed professionally in my boat since new in 1996. The fuel feed is from the top of the tank next to the main engine feed and it appears to be on an existing moulded in boss.

The furnace is in the port lazarette with the exhaust leading upwards into the stern locker adjacent to the walk through passageway from the cockpit and the exhaust outlet comes through the transom.
I chose the DI3 (3KW) model because it uses 3" diameter air ducting and rejected the 4KW version because it needed 4" ducting and we couldn't see a way to get this through the boat.
Though we have slept aboard in -7°C (19°F) outside ambient, I needed to insulate the air duct runs to prevent the warm air losing its heat and just warming the lockers it passes through and, truth be told, I would have preferred the higher output unit.
It all depends on your location and how low a temperature you expect to need to live in. We are on the South Coast of the UK.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Kinda scarry ain't it

Hi Franklin
While it is almost a necessity for someone out on the water for extended periods like a work boat, it would get old lugging all those fuel cans every day. It would also not be an option, IMHO, for a cruiser as it would severely limit his motoring range.
I considered this for my boat but after crunching the numbers they kept coming out to around a thousand dollars a month. Even with the drop in fuel prices it still is a lot more expensive than electric.

 

[Guest]

Furnace

Care to provide a reason?

Manufacturer recommends a dedicated fuel source. Teeing into an existing source poses potential fuel sourcing issues. But I figure you already knew that.

Terry

 

[Franklin]

Manufacturer recommends a dedicated fuel source. Teeing into an existing source poses potential fuel sourcing issues. But I figure you already knew that.
Terry

I didn't think one would be running the engine and the heater at the same time but maybe others plan to. And even if so, it only take about 5 minutes to fill a gallon jug via 6 inches of gravity (no pump) on the fuel line on the 376, so I do think the heater and engine can both run at full speed and still have plenty of fuel in line.

 

[Guest]

Furnace

FWIW, the Wallas 30D, which should work for a 376, consumes .07 quarts/hour on the low end to .26 quarts/hour on the high end. Hardly what I would call a fuel hog. Running an electric heater (impractical), stove burner (toxic), etc., sounds like an unpleasant time trying to stay warm while on the hook.

For those sailors who prefer to stay on their boat connected to shore power with electric heat as their heating source, sounds pathetic to me. A diesel or kerosene furnace makes more sense if you like being out on the water this time of the year like we do.

Terry

 

[Guest]

Furnace

I didn't think one would be running the engine and the heater at the same time but maybe others plan to.

Hmmm, well Mr. Franklin, when one spends time on the water this time of the year in PNW waters, one can expect to experience periods of running their engine and the furnace at the same time to help keep the boat warm while getting from one anchorage to another. One would expect fellow thinking sailors to know this, of course.

The same applies to teeing a toilet into the raw water engine cooling source. You can do it if you like, it may never become an issue, but not on my boat. But then again who would think someone would do something as dangerous as using the head while the is engine running.

Terry

 

[Franklin]

Hmmm, well Mr. Franklin, when one spends time on the water this time of the year in PNW waters, one can expect to experience periods of running their engine and the furnace at the same time to help keep the boat warm while getting from one anchorage to another. One would expect fellow thinking sailors to know this, of course.

The same applies to teeing a toilet into the raw water engine cooling source. You can do it if you like, it may never become an issue, but not on my boat. But then again who would think someone would do something as dangerous as using the head while the is engine running.

Terry

But if you say the heater at full blast uses 1/16 a gallon an hour and the engine uses at max 2 gallons an hour, but the hose can handle 12 gallons an hour just by a little gravity and no pump, then I'd say your concerns do not add up.

 

[Bill Roosa]

12 gal / day flow rate

I have to agree that away from the dock either use the engine and some hot water heat (like a car) or a dedicated diesel fuel heater for a work boat type of use.
That is why I asked "how do you plan to us the heater"
It makes a huge difference in cost and convenience.

BTW even at 12 gal/day that works out to a refill (40 gal tank) every third day of 12 * 3 = 36 gal or 6 or 7 five gal fuel cans. That would be a real pain when stuck at the dock by ice and cost 36 * $3 = $108 every three days or for a month 12*30*$2.00= $720

plus the $2000 for the unit and additional for the installation materials......and you loose the space the furnace and duct work occupy.
Electric is the way to go at the dock!
Stove heat and liquid paraffin lighting will do for Spring and Fall heating.
A dedicated furnace does make sense for someone that has access to a fuel dock all the time however. Assuming you can afford the cost.

From a $$$ stand point electric makes sense, from a convenience standpoint it does get in the way the first couple of days till you figure out how to run the electric unit with out overloading the circuits and get it out of the way.

My 40.5 uses 2-1500 watt electric heaters. One big radiator type in the main cabin and a small fan (hair dryer?) type for the vee birth. My TOTAL electric bill ran $400 for three months with this setup.

 

[Seattle Scott]

When motoring I use a "engine heat" Red Dot heater, just a radiator with a 12v fan pushing the air through.
http://www.rdac.com/Pages/product_pages/units_pages/254_255_256_unit.html

 

[Stu Jackson]

Some more details like Scott's idea

Works great when motoring. Other choices for when at anchor.

See: http://www.c34ia.org/projects/projects-cabin-heater.htm