Hi All -
Betty Lou is a 4-season boat, with intentions to spend a lot of time cruising north of Vancouver Island. Her current cabin heater is a Cozy Cabin propane fired bulkhead mount, just forward of the starboard settee. Its rated at 6000 BTU. When the outside air temperature is 30 degrees, if I run the propane heater for a couple of hours, and augment that with a pair of 1500 watt ceramics, I can get the upper half of the cabin to about 67 degrees, but at deck sole were still in the 40s. Its time for an upgrade.
My ideal criteria are: simple system, low electrical budget, modest fuel consumption, drive you out of the cabin at freezing, and reasonably comfortable into the teens.
The simplest upgrade would be a Dickinson P-12000 bulkhead mounted propane fireplace. Its rated at 9700 BTU and lists for about $1300. My worry is that is won't be enough of an increase in heat output to do the job.
The next option would be to go to a diesel-fired bulkhead mounted fireplace like the Dickinson Newport. It's rated at 16250 BTU, and is less expensive, at $1100. It will run with no electricity, although it does have a draft assist fan and a circulation fan, and burns 1.5 to 3.2 gals/day. The only problem with this option is that it requires at least 48 inches of stack, which would put it a couple of feet above the coach top.
Of course, there is just no room for a floor standing stove in our salons. I thought of replacing our Force 10 propane range with a Dickinson diesel range, but while Im sure that would be great in the winter months, cooking in the sumer would be pretty uncomfortable. Plus, the 4 inch stack would have to angle forward and take over the starboard dorade box.
That brings us to diesel forced air furnaces. Their main problem is 3 inch ducting, a major problem if you put the furnace in the lazarette. I think you could rout the ducts under the galley stove and reefer, and behind or above the starboard water tank, but would have to drill holes in several bulkheads, something I don't want to do. And thee is no way to run them through the bilge. I was looking at the Wallas units, which you could shoehorn into one of the hanging lockers, but then you need to do intake and exhaust out the cabin top (not to mention loosing a hanging locker).
Finally we come to the hydronic systems. Kind of a mixed bag here... definitely the most expensive, with the most complexity and highest energy budget, but easy to plumb, since you just run 3/4 inch hose. And you get the added benefit of diesel fired domestic hot water. But I've read a lot of stories of finicky operation, outright failures, and expensive repairs and maintenance.
So what have you all done to solve the drive me out of the cabin conundrum? The first mate says she needs a bit more winter comfort before she'll sign on for much winter cruising, so its a problem that must be solved.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
_________________ Jay and Muki Kerr Tartan 37 Betty Lou (formerly Rainbow) Hull # 118, fin keel St. Helens, OR Betty Lou's Blog
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