What is your hot water set up for a bath onboard?

[Kristina]

We are fitting out a boat so its bare bones and one thing we have the space for and really feel like we would get plenty of use from is a bath. We have a 1000L watertank. I am just trying to get to grips with what the hot water set ups are in boats. We do have a diesel heater which came with the boat which needs to be set up. I dont fully understand it that would need a calorifier to have the water stored in or can have instant hot water. Main thing im worried about is having to have two large calorofiers to fill the bath. I know also theres LPG boilers you can get. perhaps having the bath hot water run off that would be the best option? 

What sort of set ups do you bath owners have? 

[Rob-M]

We don't have a bath as it uses too much water.  I would think you will need to make sure you have sufficient hot water in the calories to fill the bath. The water is heated either from the engine, a diesel heater of an immersion.

[bizzard]

Tin bath on the bank, on bricks and light a fire beneath it to heat lovely clean and fresh canal water.

[TheBiscuits]

11 minutes ago, Kristina said:

Main thing im worried about is having to have two large calorofiers to fill the bath.

 

No.  The very very hot water in the calorifier (80 degrees ish - scalding your skin off temperature!) gets mixed with cold water to bring it down to a sensible temperature before it reaches the hot tap if it's plumbed correctly.

 

This means that you get a lot more "hot" water than the size of the calorifier would suggest.

[Mad Harold]

3 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Tin bath on the bank, on bricks and light a fire beneath it to heat lovely clean and fresh canal water.

Soft Nancy Boy!

A real man would just jump over the side and scrub up in the canal.

[Jerra]

We have no bath just a shower.  As Rob-M implies they use so much less water.

[Tony Brooks]

A so called A or sit bath. The sides apart from the step over are not far short of waist height with a seat at one end and a shower over, no taps. you can shower and then the water that has gathered in the bottom can be easily used to wash your feet whilst sitting down.  Only about 3ft or a bit less long.

 

[Cheese]

A typical "standard" bath uses about 80-100 litres of water, at around 40-45 degrees.  If your hot water is at 80ish, then even if your cold tank is near freezing a roughly 50/50 hot/cold mix is okay, so you would need around 40-45litres of hot.

[bizzard]

8 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

A so called A or sit bath. The sides apart from the step over are not far short of waist height with a seat at one end and a shower over, no taps. you can shower and then the water that has gathered in the bottom can be easily used to wash your feet whilst sitting down.  Only about 3ft or a bit less long.

 

And finally for the washing up.

[mrsmelly]

When I fitted a new shell I wanted a bath so fitted a full size standard domestic bath with a shower fitting above and seperate controls. I fitted a large cauliflower heated via engine and my BIG mistake a diesel stove. Anyway we soon realised that we hardly ever used the bath as the shower was much quicker and obs used much less water. I now never have a bath on my boats and in fact nearly never use one if in one of those house things or hotel etc. I wouldnt thank you for one now, tis strange how views sometimes change on what you need on yer boat.

[BEngo]

A bath is the water equivalent of a big inverter, a pile of batteries and loads of house type kit.  Just as you still have to make all the electricity you use regardless of the size of the batteries,  you have to put all that bathwater back in the tank.  Given the flow rate of most canal side taps a frequent bath routine is going to mean spending a lot of time  filling up, which will not win friends and influence people in busy spots or anywhere near London.

 

As said above, making very hot (80C )  water and blending it to reduce to soaking temperature minimises cauliflower size  but realistically for a bath each, you will need a calorifier each, and that will not leave much over for other hot water needs.  Getting water that hot really requires a dedicated heater.  Engine thermostats tend to be about 82C, and some much less) so the stored hot water is going to be cooler than that unless you are using the engine hard for quite a while every time you want a bath, or have a heater.

 

Better to get a really good shower with a choice of water heating devices.

 

N

 

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, BEngo said:

A bath is the water equivalent of a big inverter, a pile of batteries and loads of house type kit.  Just as you still have to make all the electricity you use regardless of the size of the batteries,  you have to put all that bathwater back in the tank.  Given the flow rate of most canal side taps a frequent bath routine is going to mean spending a lot of time  filling up, which will not win friends and influence people in busy spots or anywhere near London.

 

As said above, making very hot (80C )  water and blending it to reduce to soaking temperature minimises cauliflower size  but realistically for a bath each, you will need a calorifier each, and that will not leave much over for other hot water needs.  Getting water that hot really requires a dedicated heater.  Engine thermostats tend to be about 82C, and some much less) so the stored hot water is going to be cooler than that unless you are using the engine hard for quite a while every time you want a bath, or have a heater.

 

Better to get a really good shower with a choice of water heating devices.

 

N

 

 

back to her in first then him then.

[bizzard]

The scientific way would be to heat up lots of buckets of water over a fire of sticks on the bank, bring em in and tip em into the bath.

[PhilR]

1 hour ago, Kristina said:

We are fitting out a boat so its bare bones and one thing we have the space for and really feel like we would get plenty of use from is a bath. We have a 1000L watertank. I am just trying to get to grips with what the hot water set ups are in boats. We do have a diesel heater which came with the boat which needs to be set up. I dont fully understand it that would need a calorifier to have the water stored in or can have instant hot water. Main thing im worried about is having to have two large calorofiers to fill the bath. I know also theres LPG boilers you can get. perhaps having the bath hot water run off that would be the best option? 

What sort of set ups do you bath owners have? 

Will you be permanently moored in a marina with water and electricity available? If not, I suggest you might find that showers are the best option. If you are out boating you might get fed up of replenishing water tanks on a very frequent basis and running the engine to heat the water.

[LadyG]

Alan Denman uses filtered canal water, it's a serious set of filters, with a potable final product, he's on youtube.

[Captain Pegg]

Until last weekend I had a 4’ x 2’ bath in a bathroom that’s only 3’ 10” x 2’ 8” in plan view.
 

The hot water set up on board is an instantaneous gas water heater and I suspect that was a reason for the previous owner fitting a bath rather than a shower.

 

The plan is to replace it with a shower for which I’ll be fitting a calorifier.
 

JP

[TheBiscuits]

3 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Until last weekend I had a 4’ x 2’ bath

 

They work quite well as deep shower trays if you can drop them low enough.  No trap, stand it on the baseplate and insulate underneath it.  Add a folding shower screen and Bob's your mother's brother.

[Captain Pegg]

7 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

They work quite well as deep shower trays if you can drop them low enough.  No trap, stand it on the baseplate and insulate underneath it.  Add a folding shower screen and Bob's your mother's brother.

 

It wasn’t on the baseplate and the shower attachment was configured at a low height for rinsing hair within the capability of the water heater. It couldn’t sit in the baseplate as it wouldn’t have fitted between the transverse hull stiffeners as it was lengthways along the boat. The drainage also needed to run above them as it will for the replacement shower.
 

One of those sit baths as above would work OK but it won’t quite fit (and they do have a 1970s vibe).

Edited November 17, 2020 by Captain Pegg

[Dr Bob]

1 hour ago, BEngo said:

  you have to put all that bathwater back in the tank.  Given the flow rate of most canal side taps a frequent bath routine is going to mean spending a lot of time  filling up, which will not win friends and influence people in busy spots or anywhere near London.

What he said!

Having a big water tank is hopeless if it takes forever to fill it up. A lot of the water points do not have good water pressure so filling up a tank that size could take an hour or more. Bit antisocial.

[dmr]

Baths and boats don't go well together, just forget it and get a good shower. Not having a bath is the only downside of boat life, after a hard day locking a hot bath would be good. However a standard bath is not much good, a really good big corner bath is the only way to go for all sorts of reasons and these just don't work on a boat.

 

.................Dave

[doratheexplorer]

If I were fitting out from scratch and had the money to spare, I would install a canal water filtration system to keep my tank full.  Then I'd have a hot water system connecting to a calorifier AND an instant water heater (Morco type thing).  Then I could have a great big bath and no worries about how to fill it.

[Dr Bob]

5 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

If I were fitting out from scratch and had the money to spare, I would install a canal water filtration system to keep my tank full.  

Wow, where are you going to get the power to operate that? Watermakers are very power hungry using high pressure membranes to clean the water up. Thank goddess we don't have to use them anymore!

[doratheexplorer]

18 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Wow, where are you going to get the power to operate that? Watermakers are very power hungry using high pressure membranes to clean the water up. Thank goddess we don't have to use them anymore!

Technology has moved on.  Reverse osmosis isn't the only option, filtration would be sufficient.  And remember, this wouldn't be water suitable for drinking, just for bathing.  2 tanks:  One filled from tap for drinking.  One filled from canal for everything else.  It would be quite possible to devise a perfectly good system using a gravity filter.  Then the only power needed would be to run an automatic pump to lift the water to the height of the top of the tank.

 

Or just use a cocooned diesel genny, for your system.  The main purpose of a watermaker appears to be desalination.  That wouldn't be needed on a canal.

Edited November 18, 2020 by doratheexplorer

[mrsmelly]

10 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Technology has moved on.  Reverse osmosis isn't the only option, filtration would be sufficient.  And remember, this wouldn't be water suitable for drinking, just for bathing.  2 tanks:  One filled from tap for drinking.  One filled from canal for everything else.  It would be quite possible to devise a perfectly good system using a gravity filter.  Then the only power needed would be to run an automatic pump to lift the water to the height of the top of the tank.

 

Or just use a cocooned diesel genny, for your system.  The main purpose of a watermaker appears to be desalination.  That wouldn't be needed on a canal.

Dont be daft Dora  remember in nine years from now we will all have all electric boats running entirely on sunshine delivered for everything in december january and february and stored to use the rest of the year 

[dor]

It might help to get constructive comments if you let us know why you want a bath.  99.99%+ of boats have a shower rather than a bath;  there is a good reason for that.

 

If you need something to wash the dog or duvet in, then get a 4'x2' sit bath, but still use it as a shower.