practical winter cabin heater?

[shamblin]

sailors,  im anticipating learning some winter liveaboard skills in the up coming nc cold months.  could a radiant propane heater ONLY ON WHEN PEOPLE ARE AWAKE be effective and safe in the cabin? there are many stories of dead people who didnt turn such oxygen consuming/monoxide producers off.  i wont have electricity and want the cabin about 50-60f. thanks for any advice.    ignorant in nc

[Shawn]

How long at a time are you planning on living aboard and needing heat?

Like you said O2 depletion and CO are very real concerns. Using something like the Mr. Buddy heaters (rated for indoor with O2 sensors) and CO detectors in the boat will give some safety there. There are other considerations as well, unvented you will be adding moisture to the cabin which I have read can get to the point of being a problem.

As far as fulltime live aboards the preferred heat (by far) seems to be the diesel drip cup burner systems. They can be gravity fed from a tank and run all day using only a gallon of diesel.

For smaller heating needs I put a solid fuel heater in Serenity.





For occasional use it is very nice. A few brickets heats the cabin and drys it out very nicely Fulltime liveaboard it would take too much tending to keep the heat.

Shawn

[shamblin]

impressive.  id like to be ready  for weeks at a time.  bill

[wes]

Bill - lucky for you, there won't be any more cold winters in NC. Better to spend your $ on air conditioning  .

Wes (in Durham)

[Shawn]

For Propane a Sig Marine Cozy Cabin would heat it and that has the benefit of a 1" flue so the hole in the deck is considerably smaller. Still have the concerns of propane inside the boat but since it is vented it will be dryer heat and less chance of CO problems. The Dickinson P9000 is a nice setup with a dual walled flue that takes the combustion air on the outer tube and exhaust out the inside of the tube. Really dry heat and avoids O2 depletion issues since it is fed from external air. That flue stays cool to the touch which is really nice too as you don't have the potential for heat damage from the flue. Again the safety issue with propane inside the boat though.

For diesel units might fit but getting enough flue height may be a bit of a challenge. You want the heater mounted as low as possible as you get a very strong thermal grade from any of the heaters. To have no electricity these would need to have a fuel tank above the level of the heater so you could gravity feed it.

Be sure to factor in any additional expenses such as fuel tanks, fuel lines, flue, deck plate and flue and insulation.

Shawn

[BobK]

When I had my 23 I would spend one night every weekend year round.  I used a little buddy propane heater.  I would run it untill bed time then light it up again in the am before I started the coffee.  Lake Hartwell hardly gets below 50 degrees in the winter and there is so much of the boat below the water level it seldom got below 45-50 degrees in the cabin without the heater.  I did have a carbon monoxide detector in the cabin.
I will get a bigger propane Mr. buddy heater for my 27 this winter.
BobK