tom1983

I've not got a thermometer, but it's cold. My friend used to live here, and in the depths of winter he used to struggle to get it above 14-15C even when burning lots of coal/wood. Edit to add: Yes, I do have an alarm but the problem with the glass should be sorted soon, the catches that hold the glass in place are broken so it can be sorted with a couple of small metal plates I'm waiting to be made.

Thanks for the ever so quick reply rusty. In answer to your questions: 1. Burning wood (fence posts and smallish seasoned logs) and smokeless coal from Aldi. 90% of the wood is dry, if I have a wet log I bung it on when the fires going well. 2. Lighting with firelighters and kindling, always start with dry wood and add coal after 3. Fairly sure the chimney is clear, unless I have the door open I never get any smoke coming back into the boat and all the smoke and heat seems to be escaping through the chimney. I not sure what you mean by baffle plate. No boiler attached. 4. When lighting/getting the fire going, I have the door open or all airwash/vents open. Once going, I have the top vents open if it's mostly wood at the start of the night, then switch to opening the bottom vents when it's mostly coal. Unfortunately, I also have a gap at the top of the glass which I'm in the process of fixing with new brackets. 5. No radiators etc, it's just for ambient heat Edit to add: no.4, meant say I keep the bottom vent open when burning mostly coal, not mostly cold!

I've recently moved into a boat for the first time, renting my mate's spare boat and am considering buying it from him when my house is sold. I'm really struggling to keep it warm the last few days though. I have an Aarrow Acorn 4 multifuel stove and it isn't putting out anywhere near as much heat as the similar size stove on my mate's other boat. The main difference we can see is that there's a flue damper on the good stove. The manufacturer doesn't supply a combined flue spigot and damper for my stove as they say it's not really required on those with a 4" flue, only when you have a larger flue. I have found a generic flue damper that seems like it can be fitted to any 4" flue. Has anyone experience with these and are they likely to improve the heat output? The installation manual also suggests using a draught stabiliser but these seem to do pretty much the same job except they're automatically controlled with a counterweight and move when there is a change in pressure, as opposed to the damper which is adjusted manually. Any advice and suggestions would be appreciated, please bear in mind you're talking to a complete newbie who has used radiators in a house up until the last few weeks!