I am going to replace my Ardic 041D furnace with a Webasto AT5000 furnace. Has anyone had this experience already? Is there a better choice? It appears that the Ardic 041D burns about 12000 btu while the 37.5 should be requiring about 16000-17000 btu in the Pacific Northwest. Any comments? Thanks
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041D Should Work OK
That's quite an expense to change out an otherwise good heater. Sure, the 12K BTU may not warm the boat up really quickly when the artic express is blowing and you show up on a cold boat, but if it doesn't warm up fast enough what one could do is to supplement it with something like the West Marine electric heater. Working the two together would knock the chill off fairly quickly. As for maintaining the cabin temperature after the boat has been warmed up I'd think the Ardic should do that okay. Also, are you a liveaboard? Or someone who is on the boat a lot in the winter? If so, and running two heaters for a bit is too much of an inconvenience then maybe the larger heater would be the way to go. However, there may be problems like larger duct size and larger heater (takes away more room in the lazarette - if it would even fit there). My 35 has a 041D and it works fine for the 35. I've been down on the boat checking things out in the dead of winter and it'll warm the cold boat up in a reasonable amount of time - especially with the assist of the electric heater when it doesn't take much time at all. Another thought - try closing off a cabin or two. Going this route you'd probably want a couple duct outlets in, say, the main cabin and close of the aft and forward cabins until the main one is up to temperature, then open the outlets in another cabin. Editorial comment: Before poking holes for ducts in the bulkheads or floor grid be sure to get an okay from Hunter on the location. The floor grid is structural and I've seen people drill large holes right at the grid haunches for their duct pipe - probably not a good idea. Check with Hunter first and get their okay. You don't want to ruin the boat's resale value with the "improvement".
That's quite an expense to change out an otherwise good heater. Sure, the 12K BTU may not warm the boat up really quickly when the artic express is blowing and you show up on a cold boat, but if it doesn't warm up fast enough what one could do is to supplement it with something like the West Marine electric heater. Working the two together would knock the chill off fairly quickly. As for maintaining the cabin temperature after the boat has been warmed up I'd think the Ardic should do that okay. Also, are you a liveaboard? Or someone who is on the boat a lot in the winter? If so, and running two heaters for a bit is too much of an inconvenience then maybe the larger heater would be the way to go. However, there may be problems like larger duct size and larger heater (takes away more room in the lazarette - if it would even fit there). My 35 has a 041D and it works fine for the 35. I've been down on the boat checking things out in the dead of winter and it'll warm the cold boat up in a reasonable amount of time - especially with the assist of the electric heater when it doesn't take much time at all. Another thought - try closing off a cabin or two. Going this route you'd probably want a couple duct outlets in, say, the main cabin and close of the aft and forward cabins until the main one is up to temperature, then open the outlets in another cabin. Editorial comment: Before poking holes for ducts in the bulkheads or floor grid be sure to get an okay from Hunter on the location. The floor grid is structural and I've seen people drill large holes right at the grid haunches for their duct pipe - probably not a good idea. Check with Hunter first and get their okay. You don't want to ruin the boat's resale value with the "improvement".
John
Thank you for your reply. We stay aboard the boat at Sucia quite a bit. Thusly electric heaters are not a solution. We have found that the heater runs continuously off and on while keeping the temperature at 55 degrees at night. I had the unit refurbished by Scan Marine 2 years ago and the unit is again smoking and dripping diesel mysteriously. Am I missing something obvious?
Thank you for your reply. We stay aboard the boat at Sucia quite a bit. Thusly electric heaters are not a solution. We have found that the heater runs continuously off and on while keeping the temperature at 55 degrees at night. I had the unit refurbished by Scan Marine 2 years ago and the unit is again smoking and dripping diesel mysteriously. Am I missing something obvious?
Question re Runs Continuously
With regard to "the heater runs continuously off and on while keeping the temperature at 55 degrees at night" I understand that the unit cycles "on" and "off" continuously and not that it runs continuously? If it cycles continuously it may be that the thermostat settings for on and off are, temperature-wise, very close together. I've never adjusted the thermostat but most thermostats have an adjustment to vary the temperature difference. If the difference is only a degree or so then when it's cold, and our boats are not insulated, then the inside temperature will drop fairly quickly which would probably be responsiblle for the frequent cycling. It wouldn't matter what heater was used as they would all cycle. If the temperature range delta between on and off is increased a few degrees then the cycling would decrease which is what you want. However, increasing the delta may mean that at night you wouldn't notice the difference but during the waking hours you probably would, going from, say, warm and comfortable to chilly or cold. In trying to strike a balance between not cycling too often at night but keeping the temperature range during the rest of the day within a comfortable range may become a challenge. Plan B may be to have two thermostats with a switch so during the night you can have the large delta thermostat and during the day a thermostat with a small delta. A plan C is to take more blankets and use a lower night time setting like, say, 45º. This will also reduce cycling, reduce running, and conserve battery Amp-Hrs. By the way, do you have an owners manual? Hope this helps. Ahhhh, Sucia in the winter - that must be really, really, nice.
With regard to "the heater runs continuously off and on while keeping the temperature at 55 degrees at night" I understand that the unit cycles "on" and "off" continuously and not that it runs continuously? If it cycles continuously it may be that the thermostat settings for on and off are, temperature-wise, very close together. I've never adjusted the thermostat but most thermostats have an adjustment to vary the temperature difference. If the difference is only a degree or so then when it's cold, and our boats are not insulated, then the inside temperature will drop fairly quickly which would probably be responsiblle for the frequent cycling. It wouldn't matter what heater was used as they would all cycle. If the temperature range delta between on and off is increased a few degrees then the cycling would decrease which is what you want. However, increasing the delta may mean that at night you wouldn't notice the difference but during the waking hours you probably would, going from, say, warm and comfortable to chilly or cold. In trying to strike a balance between not cycling too often at night but keeping the temperature range during the rest of the day within a comfortable range may become a challenge. Plan B may be to have two thermostats with a switch so during the night you can have the large delta thermostat and during the day a thermostat with a small delta. A plan C is to take more blankets and use a lower night time setting like, say, 45º. This will also reduce cycling, reduce running, and conserve battery Amp-Hrs. By the way, do you have an owners manual? Hope this helps. Ahhhh, Sucia in the winter - that must be really, really, nice.
Webasto Unit
I am not sure how far ahead you are in the project, but I have a Webasto DBW 2010 heater (45,000 BTU) that I no longer use (moved to Florida after living in Boston as a liveaboard). The unit was removed 1 month ago as I needed the space for a generator. The unit was installed new and used only one winter season. This unit might be an overkill for your needs, I am not sure. It allowed us to keep the boat at 70 degs F in the middle of winter, only requiring to supplement with electrical heaters when the atmospheric temp went below 20-25 degs. Water temp in Boston Harbor gets to about 35 degs at it worst in winter. The unit consumed 50 gallons of diesel about every 3 weeks at the peak of winter. At this point I just want to get rid of the unit so if you are interested in it let me know (gnarvaez@att.net). Let me know if you have any questions regarding this topic, as I researched it well before deciding to liveaboard in Boston through a winter. Gil
I am not sure how far ahead you are in the project, but I have a Webasto DBW 2010 heater (45,000 BTU) that I no longer use (moved to Florida after living in Boston as a liveaboard). The unit was removed 1 month ago as I needed the space for a generator. The unit was installed new and used only one winter season. This unit might be an overkill for your needs, I am not sure. It allowed us to keep the boat at 70 degs F in the middle of winter, only requiring to supplement with electrical heaters when the atmospheric temp went below 20-25 degs. Water temp in Boston Harbor gets to about 35 degs at it worst in winter. The unit consumed 50 gallons of diesel about every 3 weeks at the peak of winter. At this point I just want to get rid of the unit so if you are interested in it let me know (gnarvaez@att.net). Let me know if you have any questions regarding this topic, as I researched it well before deciding to liveaboard in Boston through a winter. Gil
HUNTER SAYS NO INSULATION IN BOAT
I got a response back from Hunter Marine. They do not factory install furnaces. Nor do they put insulation in their boats. I will be installing a Webasto AT5000 to replace the Ardic 041D. At 7 amps per hour when on full, I think I'll be running my Honda 2000i often. What a price for roughing it that we pay.
I got a response back from Hunter Marine. They do not factory install furnaces. Nor do they put insulation in their boats. I will be installing a Webasto AT5000 to replace the Ardic 041D. At 7 amps per hour when on full, I think I'll be running my Honda 2000i often. What a price for roughing it that we pay.
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