Gerry underwood Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 Our widebeam only has a wood/coal burner at the moment. Thinking of having central heating installed. Any suggestions on good reliable systems and also cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) Webasto Thermotop C seems to be the best choice. See Ebay for deals but about £1400 retail Edited October 10, 2019 by Midnight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paringa Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 Lot of barges use these... https://www.harworthheating.co.uk/product/pj230vacbhmax/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacka Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 8 minutes ago, Paringa said: Lot of barges use these... https://www.harworthheating.co.uk/product/pj230vacbhmax/ Worth noting that it runs on 240V ac and uses an average of 180W which with inverter losses is 20A. Can't see many narrowboats using one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 The cheapest, most reliable, and most energy efficient (no electricity needed) is a back boiler and thermosyphon radiator system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 On 10/10/2019 at 14:55, Gerry underwood said: Our widebeam only has a wood/coal burner at the moment. Thinking of having central heating installed. Any suggestions on good reliable systems and also cost. I think you have had little advice because you are so sketchy about your requirements from a CH system. Let's start with what fuel you envisage running it from. And how many radiators? Do you want every part of your widebeam to be maintained at 25c or just the chill taken off? Are you keeping the wood burner? And do you expect it to provide hot water too? What do you current have for hot water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 I'd be inclined to suggest a separate system from your solid fuel rather than go down the back boiler route to provide you with 2 sources of heat. My diesel Eberspacher powered radiator central heating system is great at getting the boat warmed up quickly whilst the solid fuel stove gets up to speed. After that, the solid fuel stove keeps the boat cosy. Diesel is the obvious choice as its cheaper than gas and you have a ready supply aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 23 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said: I think you have had little advice because you are so sketchy about your requirements from a CH system. Let's start with what fuel you envisage running it from. And how many radiators? Do you want every part of your widebeam to be maintained at 25c or just the chill taken off? Are you keeping the wood burner? And do you expect it to provide hot water too? What do you current have for hot water? Probably looking at a diesel system with no more than 3 radiators. We will be keeping the burner. The water is heated through an immersion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 2 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: Probably looking at a diesel system with no more than 3 radiators. We will be keeping the burner. The water is heated through an immersion. Ok so 'sketchy' remains your style....! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 17 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: The water is heated through an immersion. Is this a 'mobile' boat or a fixed installation ? I simply ask as I cannot see how you would power an immersion heater without a shore-line. I left my immersion heater 'on' once (by accident) after we left the mooring, so it was being powered by the inverter - it flattened the 1200Ah battery bank very quickly. How do you power your immersion ? How big is your battery bank ? How do you generate power to replace that used from the batteries ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markinaboat Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 Have you got an absolute budget in mind and are you connected to shore power for the majority of the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 3 rads, they will need to be quite large to work the diesel fired heater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Todd Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 9 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said: Is this a 'mobile' boat or a fixed installation ? I simply ask as I cannot see how you would power an immersion heater without a shore-line. I left my immersion heater 'on' once (by accident) after we left the mooring, so it was being powered by the inverter - it flattened the 1200Ah battery bank very quickly. How do you power your immersion ? How big is your battery bank ? How do you generate power to replace that used from the batteries ? Our system only powers the immersion when on shore line. Wish it did the same with the fridge and freezer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 11 hours ago, Mike Todd said: Our system only powers the immersion when on shore line. Wish it did the same with the fridge and freezer! We have a hook up for power as we have a permanent mooring. We have 4 batteries but we will be having solar panels fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackman Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 What you propose in having a different heating system to give diversity is very sensible. For that reason we have a solid fuel stove & a diesel one on our NB. We use the first for long term heat, the diesel as back-up & for a quick burst of warmth when that's all we need. Do you not have your calorifier heated by your engine cooling system? This is a great source of free hot water when you run the engine, but probably not important if you don't do that a lot. We also use it to heat the radiator system sometimes as when the engine is going the calorifier acts as a heat exchanger, warming the heating circuit quite effectively. Good when boating when it's not worth lighting a stove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 22 hours ago, Markinaboat said: Have you got an absolute budget in mind and are you connected to shore power for the majority of the time? Looking at £1500 hopefully. Normally hooked up but we will be cruising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 4 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: Looking at £1500 hopefully. Normally hooked up but we will be cruising. That should just about cover the webasto and radiators then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 23 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said: Ok so 'sketchy' remains your style....! Please excuse my sketchy Ness. Not yet moved onto the boat so we are learning a much as we can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 (edited) On this boat I have a webasto thermo thingy, it is exellent and reliable. The proper heating is done by a multi fuel stove which is the ONLY way to do the job properly. We use the webasto for an hours blast for showers in the morning or when we have been off the baot for quick warm up on return such as yesterday after a weekend away. One observation is you say 3 radiators, this is not enough unless they are humungous as the webasto or similar will soon cycle as it gets up to heat, cycling on and off buggers them up. My system is four double rads various sizes, about a dozen fin rads, a large cauliflower and about 200 feet plus of 22 mil pipe. I am more than happy to show you the instalation which is first class if you are ever nearby. It never cycles and gets very hot. Edited October 14, 2019 by mrsmelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 21 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: Looking at £1500 hopefully. Normally hooked up but we will be cruising. With a budget of only £1,500 I think your only chance is to add a back boiler to your wood/coal burner and some convection radiators. This assumes you are looking to employ someone to install it rather than DIY. Even then you will be up against it on budget I suggest as installation alone is likely to be three days at £300 a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said: With a budget of only £1,500 I think your only chance is to add a back boiler to your wood/coal burner and some convection radiators. This assumes you are looking to employ someone to install it rather than DIY. Even then you will be up against it on budget I suggest as installation alone is likely to be three days at £300 a day. What kind of cost would we be looking at for everything including fitting if we went for a Webasto system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 Just now, Gerry underwood said: What kind of cost would we be looking at for everything including fitting if we went for a Webasto system? I'd guess about £3.5k, provided your existing diesel tank is suitable. If you want a separate diesel tank so you can burn (cheap) red diesel in the webby, add a further £1k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry underwood Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 1 hour ago, mrsmelly said: On this boat I have a webasto thermo thingy, it is exellent and reliable. The proper heating is done by a multi fuel stove which is the ONLY way to do the job properly. We use the webasto for an hours blast for showers in the morning or when we have been off the baot for quick warm up on return such as yesterday after a weekend away. One observation is you say 3 radiators, this is not enough unless they are humungous as the webasto or similar will soon cycle as it gets up to heat, cycling on and off buggers them up. My system is four double rads various sizes, about a dozen fin rads, a large cauliflower and about 200 feet plus of 22 mil pipe. I am more than happy to show you the instalation which is first class if you are ever nearby. It never cycles and gets very hot. Where are you moored? And what kind of cost is involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 50 minutes ago, Gerry underwood said: Where are you moored? And what kind of cost is involved? I'm pretty sure (Smelly being such a nice guy) that he will not charge you too 'have a look at his installation'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 2 hours ago, Gerry underwood said: Where are you moored? And what kind of cost is involved? I am on the south Oxford near Banbury. If you want a look feel free. As to cost that will depend on if u are doing it yourself or if you have someone do it, there is quite a lot of parts required and time to do it all, especialy if its a retro fit which takes much longer than if thought about and done from new. If you want a full breakdown of costs pm me and I will go through it with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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