Living on River Severn or Kennett & Avon

[Slow and Steady]

I wonder how he's planning to heat this magical non-polluting ccing widebeam through the winter without burning one thing or another.

[GUMPY]

16 minutes ago, Slow and Steady said:

I wonder how he's planning to heat this magical non-polluting ccing widebeam through the winter without burning one thing or another.

Water source heat pump😉

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

 And if you're going to sit in a marina almost all the time plugged in and rarely move, then why bother with solar and electric at all?

 

Why bother with a boat. there are lots of canal side mobile homes parks and you don't have to have them blacked or buy a licence

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Water source heat pump😉

I expect you know why that won't work for heating in winter... 😉

[GUMPY]

4 minutes ago, IanD said:

I expect you know why that won't work for heating in winter... 😉

It will go well with the solar and LA batteries 🤭

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Why bother with a boat. there are lots of canal side mobile homes parks and you don't have to have them blacked or buy a licence

If it's next to the River you would be better buying a boat and parking it in a mobile home park🤭

 

[IanD]

7 minutes ago, Loddon said:

It will go well with the solar and LA batteries 🤭

...but probably not through bridges without biting chunks out of them, and losing the stovepipe... 😞

Edited March 14, 2022 by IanD

[MtB]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

...but probably not through bridges without taking chunks out of them... 😞

 

 

Or that stove flue sticking out the side!

 

Stove!!!!

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

Or that stove flue sticking out the side!

 

Stove!!!!

Already noted -- and the aerial on the other side too... 😉

 

But they have the heating sorted out -- and the toilet...

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by IanD

[MtB]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

Already noted -- and the aerial on the other side too... 😉

 

Why on earth would they have fitted a stove, I find myself wondering.

 

And where is all the fuel for it!! 

[Tracy D'arth]

30 minutes ago, IanD said:

Already noted -- and the aerial on the other side too... 😉

 

But they have the heating sorted out -- and the toilet...

 

 

Oh, high speed composting too!!!!   What a plethora of untruths, the advertising standards authority should be informed.

[Mike Hurley]

That boat is just the worst i have ever seen, what a hideous thing.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Mike Hurley said:

That boat is just the worst i have ever seen, what a hideous thing.

 

I think I've seen fuglier, just. But still by the same builder!!

[Mike Hurley]

10 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I think I've seen fuglier, just. But still by the same builder!!

Everyone has the right to build an ugly boat but some abuse the privelige,😁

[cuthound]

Given the high carbon footprint of a new steel boat and the typically low diesel consumption of the average boat I wonder what the typical breakeven point for an electric or diesel electric hybrid boat is. Decades I guess.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

Given the high carbon footprint of a new steel boat and the typically low diesel consumption of the average boat I wonder what the typical breakeven point for an electric or diesel electric hybrid boat is. Decades I guess.

Hybrid I would say never

[IanD]

32 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Hybrid I would say never

Very probably, unless you do an *awful* lot of cruising -- and even then a fuel cost saving of maybe a pound an hour would probably take at least ten years to pay back the higher installation cost. There is a fuel/emissions saving compared to diesel (even using HVO) but given the fact that boats use far less fuel than cars (and there are 100x fewer of them in the UK) this is also really a conscience issue, not a climate change one.

 

But then I don't think anybody is going the electric/hybrid route to save money -- they're doing it because they want silent cruising and "home-style" 230V onboard. It's a luxury that you have to be willing to pay for, just like getting a boat from an expensive high-class builder not a cheap budget one.

 

A similar tradeoff (but for different reasons) applies to replacing gas boilers with heat pumps -- this makes a lot of sense from a green/climate change point of view, but very little from a financial one given the installation costs vs. running cost saving. People do it because they can afford to and want to reduce their emissions, not to save money.

 

Money saving isn't always the #1 priority, there are other perfectly valid reasons people do things... 😉

[cuthound]

20 minutes ago, IanD said:

Very probably, unless you do an *awful* lot of cruising -- and even then a fuel cost saving of maybe a pound an hour would probably take at least ten years to pay back the higher installation cost. There is a fuel/emissions saving compared to diesel (even using HVO) but given the fact that boats use far less fuel than cars (and there are 100x fewer of them in the UK) this is also really a conscience issue, not a climate change one.

 

But then I don't think anybody is going the electric/hybrid route to save money -- they're doing it because they want silent cruising and "home-style" 230V onboard. It's a luxury that you have to be willing to pay for, just like getting a boat from an expensive high-class builder not a cheap budget one.

 

A similar tradeoff (but for different reasons) applies to replacing gas boilers with heat pumps -- this makes a lot of sense from a green/climate change point of view, but very little from a financial one given the installation costs vs. running cost saving. People do it because they can afford to and want to reduce their emissions, not to save money.

 

Money saving isn't always the #1 priority, there are other perfectly valid reasons people do things... 😉

 

I was thinking in terms of carbon footprint, not cost.

[ditchcrawler]

21 minutes ago, IanD said:

 But then I don't think anybody is going the electric/hybrid route to save money -- they're doing it because they want silent cruising and "home-style" 230V onboard. It's a luxury that you have to be willing to pay for, just like getting a boat from an expensive high-class builder not a cheap budget one.

 

My view is a lot think its "Green" plus all the home comforts which probably negates the green bit any way. Its all choice, I have a noisy old engine and there are times when I think a silent one would be nice.

[IanD]

8 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I was thinking in terms of carbon footprint, not cost.

Same applies, as I said.

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

My view is a lot think its "Green" plus all the home comforts which probably negates the green bit any way. Its all choice, I have a noisy old engine and there are times when I think a silent one would be nice.

If you just look at fuel/emissions saving then it is definitely green. If you look at the total lifetime emissions of the boat including the CO2 burden of battery manufacture it's much less green or maybe not green at all, depending on how much the boat is used, the fuel/solar mix, and how long the lifetime is. This may change in the future when the CART unicorn delivers network-wide charging stations... 😉

 

But even this "green benefit" only applies on a personal level not a countrywide one, unlike cars the CO2 emissions for canal boats in the UK are tiny (about 100x smaller IIRC).

 

Silence plus home comforts is the reason people are buying these boats, certainly not money -- and if they're being honest, not going green either...

[Slow and Steady]

A silent electric narrowboat passed me as I was walking along the towpath last year, it was really nice to be able to say hello and have a short chat and the steerer actually hear me and reply at normal speaking volume - none of the cupping hand to ear and shouting "pardon!". Count me impressed.

[GUMPY]

1 hour ago, Slow and Steady said:

A silent electric narrowboat passed me as I was walking along the towpath last year, it was really nice to be able to say hello and have a short chat and the steerer actually hear me and reply at normal speaking volume - none of the cupping hand to ear and shouting "pardon!". Count me impressed.

That's the joy of having a noisy engine, you don't have to talk to people on the towpath.  If it's a silent power unit you can't ignore them without seeming rude 😱

[Jen-in-Wellies]

55 minutes ago, Loddon said:

That's the joy of having a noisy engine, you don't have to talk to people on the towpath.  If it's a silent power unit you can't ignore them without seeming rude 😱

The worst combination is a diesel engine with a very quiet silencer. Mine has been mistaken for an electric powered boat before. People on the bank think the boat is silent, as they hear almost nothing and try to talk to you, but you can't hear what they are saying as what engine noise there is drown them out.

"Your boat is very quiet. Is it electric?"

What?"

"I said, your boat is very quiet. Is it electric?"

"Pardon?"

 

and so on.

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

The worst combination is a diesel engine with a very quiet silencer. Mine has been mistaken for an electric powered boat before. People on the bank think the boat is silent, as they hear almost nothing and try to talk to you, but you can't hear what they are saying as what engine noise there is drown them out.

"Your boat is very quiet. Is it electric?"

What?"

"I said, your boat is very quiet. Is it electric?"

"Pardon?"

 

and so on.

Sounds like you need better sound insulation under the deck boards and inside the engine compartment as well as a hospital silencer... 😉

[GUMPY]

Mine has a water cooled exhaust and loads of sound deadening so it's quiet, probably, apart from the splosh splosh, quieter than a hospital silencer, I just lift my hand to my ear signifying I can't hear and carry on regardless.

Misanthropic moi ?