Garry McKevitt
We have had a Force 10 cabin heater for about 14 or 15 years. It was
for diesel at first. That worked fair to middling but I found it
tedious to get started. We converted to propane in 1993 and used
during a year of cruising (and since then). The propane was a dream to
use. Many a night we dried out clothes and stuff from a cold wet day,
on a clothesline in the forward cabin. Added a little fan too which
helped.
You MUST have a sniffer in the bilge if you install propane. This is
moderately expensive but they work well.
A question is where to put the propane tank. We made a locker above
the poop deck to hold two tanks. This was handy as the box sealed and
was vented overboard by gravity. It did add some undesirable weight to
the stern. Also had to move the vents already there, out to the sides.
We must be pretty close, if you wanted to have a look.
John Sprague. No. 1492. Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 13:39:29 -0800
From: "JenCluff ~ G.McKevitt" Garry_McKevitt@...
Subject: Cabin Heaters
The local chandlery is offering, at the moment, a very good price on
Force 10 "Cozy Cabin" heaters. Have any of you on the list had
experience with this particular heater. Is it adequate for a boat the
size of the Vega. I live on Vancouver Island on the southwest coast
of Canada which has winters, I would say, similar to the south of
England. I'm also interested in your opinion on the difference
between diesel and propane as fuels for a cabin heater. I tend to
favour diesel just because it's safer, already available on the boat
and, I'm led to understand, drier. The salesman, however, favours the
propane because it's clean and quick. He says the diesel can be sooty
to start and takes a long time to get up to temperature and may not
burn properly when underway because of draught problems depending on
sail configuration. I'd appreciate any advice on this.
Garry
Vega 2427 "Raven"
We have had a Force 10 cabin heater for about 14 or 15 years. It was
for diesel at first. That worked fair to middling but I found it
tedious to get started. We converted to propane in 1993 and used
during a year of cruising (and since then). The propane was a dream to
use. Many a night we dried out clothes and stuff from a cold wet day,
on a clothesline in the forward cabin. Added a little fan too which
helped.
You MUST have a sniffer in the bilge if you install propane. This is
moderately expensive but they work well.
A question is where to put the propane tank. We made a locker above
the poop deck to hold two tanks. This was handy as the box sealed and
was vented overboard by gravity. It did add some undesirable weight to
the stern. Also had to move the vents already there, out to the sides.
We must be pretty close, if you wanted to have a look.
John Sprague. No. 1492. Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 13:39:29 -0800
From: "JenCluff ~ G.McKevitt" Garry_McKevitt@...
Subject: Cabin Heaters
The local chandlery is offering, at the moment, a very good price on
Force 10 "Cozy Cabin" heaters. Have any of you on the list had
experience with this particular heater. Is it adequate for a boat the
size of the Vega. I live on Vancouver Island on the southwest coast
of Canada which has winters, I would say, similar to the south of
England. I'm also interested in your opinion on the difference
between diesel and propane as fuels for a cabin heater. I tend to
favour diesel just because it's safer, already available on the boat
and, I'm led to understand, drier. The salesman, however, favours the
propane because it's clean and quick. He says the diesel can be sooty
to start and takes a long time to get up to temperature and may not
burn properly when underway because of draught problems depending on
sail configuration. I'd appreciate any advice on this.
Garry
Vega 2427 "Raven"