We like to work on the boat during the winter. The full cover makes it tolerable to do short amounts of deck work. The sun warms up the air inside the cover but the cabin always starts out much colder. When the bilge or engine covers are pulled off, the temperature just plummets along with my desire to work on the engine. We were using an electric and Mr Heater portable buddy heater. Unfortunately our Buddy heater died. Two replacements of the same model have been ordered and both gave off some heavy fumes, made us both very tired (yes, big sign of CO poisoning and low oxygen) even with the hatch opened a bit. The electric heaters are helpful but don't do much to keep the cabin warm on its own. The yard has GFCI outlets but I'm not sure how many circuits are by us. What do you use to stay warm in the winter?
Keeping warm for winter boat work
- Thread starter Project_Mayhem
- Start date
Dress warm. Pick warmer days. Expect shorter work days. Take home what can be taken home. And use a small ceramic heater.
When using an electric heater use an extension cord that is up to the job of carrying 12-15 amps over a long distance. You'll need at least a 12 ga cord, 10 gauge is even better. Even with my 12 ga cord, the plugs get warm. The bigger wire will offset the line loss reducing the fire hazard and improving the heaters efficiency.
When using an electric heater use an extension cord that is up to the job of carrying 12-15 amps over a long distance. You'll need at least a 12 ga cord, 10 gauge is even better. Even with my 12 ga cord, the plugs get warm. The bigger wire will offset the line loss reducing the fire hazard and improving the heaters efficiency.
I use an electric heater. Not all electric heaters are the same. While they all are rated at 1500 watts, some of them, like oil heaters, cannot put out 1500 watts continously.
I find the "utility" heaters you can get cheap at hardware stores put out the most heat but are loud and bulky. For less demanding times I use a compact ceramic heater.
I connect my 30A shore power cord and use the outlets in the boat for one heater. I know people who like 2 heaters and they run a separate heavy extension cord for that so as not to set their boat on fire.
I find the "utility" heaters you can get cheap at hardware stores put out the most heat but are loud and bulky. For less demanding times I use a compact ceramic heater.
I connect my 30A shore power cord and use the outlets in the boat for one heater. I know people who like 2 heaters and they run a separate heavy extension cord for that so as not to set their boat on fire.
I used an electric plug in heater most of the time working on Tally Ho over the winter. If it was really cold, or I needed more heat, I could light the stove burner and cook something (or boil some water) or put a ceramic flower pot over the top. I was able to get the temp up enough to paint the inside of the hull under the water tanks and in the engine bilge.
The only time I had an issue was when trying to do some fiberglass repair (drill & fill some winch bolt holes and repairing a crack in the rudder).
I could not get the epoxy to kick in the holes, so I had to get a heat gun and give it some direct heat to the area to get it to kick. For the rudder, I had to build a little cardboard tent over the rudder, and put a heat gun with the trigger locked on, under the cardboard to get the epoxy to kick.
Greg
The only time I had an issue was when trying to do some fiberglass repair (drill & fill some winch bolt holes and repairing a crack in the rudder).
I could not get the epoxy to kick in the holes, so I had to get a heat gun and give it some direct heat to the area to get it to kick. For the rudder, I had to build a little cardboard tent over the rudder, and put a heat gun with the trigger locked on, under the cardboard to get the epoxy to kick.
Greg
Greg,
You may be on to something. I looked up the specs of a similar marine stove and was surprised at what I found.
BTUs:
• One 3400 BTU Simmer Burner
• One 9200 BTU Top Burner
• 5100 BTU Oven
• 5500 BTU Broiler
If this works, this would definitely save money on propane and be much more convenient. I'm guessing a contraption like this might make it more efficient?
My tank is stored in a locker in the stern so it's exposed to the cold. At what temperatures does propane have issues flowing out of the tank?