Boat heating webasto or eberspacher?

[Stu penny]

Hi

Were looking to install a heating/ hot water system so Webasto or Eberspacher? No dodgy Russian or Chinese systems though!😀

[cuthound]

11 minutes ago, Stu penny said:

Hi

Were looking to install a heating/ hot water system so Webasto or Eberspacher? No dodgy Russian or Chinese systems though!😀

 

What information do you want from the forum, installation costs, running costs, experiences?

[Tracy D'arth]

Don't pass over the Chinese or Planar systems, they are good and reliable.  And cost effective. Most of everything is made in China anyway.

 

I used to say Webasto but the newer Ebers are better than they used to be.

 

Personally I prefer a solid fuel stove, quieter. And have you seen the price of diesel?

 

[Stu penny]

Hi everyone 

i’m after experiences living with them and preferences etc.

[blackrose]

3 hours ago, Stu penny said:

Hi

Were looking to install a heating/ hot water system so Webasto or Eberspacher? No dodgy Russian or Chinese systems though!😀

 

The Webastard or Ebersplutter will both do the job if correctly installed and are much of a muchness. They both go wrong but the Webasto might be a bit more user serviceable. 

 

As long as it's not your primary heating system. That would be a mistake.

Edited May 3, 2022 by blackrose

[booke23]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

The Webastard or Ebersplutter will both do the job if correctly installed and are much of a muchness. The Webasto might be a bit more user serviceable. 

 

As long as it's not your primary heating system. That would be a mistake.

 

^^^^^This. They're not nicknamed Webastard and Ebersplutter for nothing. Perhaps the Eberspacher is slightly more reliable, but there isn't much in it.  

[MtB]

1 hour ago, booke23 said:

They're not nicknamed Webastard and Ebersplutter for nothing.

 

Correct, and the reason being they dinn't like running on the old high-sulfer red diesel, now discontinued. 

 

 

[Stu penny]

Hi

we have a stove in the living room but no heating elsewhere and our hot water system doesn’t work so what’s the alternative for a live aboard boat?

 Thanks 

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, Stu penny said:

we have a stove in the living room but no heating elsewhere and our hot water system doesn’t work so what’s the alternative for a live aboard boat?

 

What do you have currently for hot water (the not working one)?

[Stu penny]

It’s a Heath robinson system the previous owner used, we have a calorifier that doesn’t work which feeds into a tank under our bed with an immersion heater on it that plugs into the socket when needed and feeds the shower but nothing else. 

[Tony Brooks]

9 minutes ago, Stu penny said:

Hi

we have a stove in the living room but no heating elsewhere and our hot water system doesn’t work so what’s the alternative for a live aboard boat?

 Thanks 

 

For simplicity and reliability once installed a stove with back boiler and gravity CH circulation, but that does not help in summer so:

Gas instant water heater

Gas boiler (either just for calorifier hot water or central heating as well)

Hurricane diesel boiler.

 

As this is a live aboard narrow boat You may not have enough roof space for adequate solar charging plus solar hot water but I think @Jen-in-Wellies has successfully deployed solar hot water.

6 minutes ago, Stu penny said:

It’s a Heath robinson system the previous owner used, we have a calorifier that doesn’t work which feeds into a tank under our bed with an immersion heater on it that plugs into the socket when needed and feeds the shower but nothing else. 

 

In that case then providing it is not an air cooled or direct raw water cooled engine I would suggest that you do away withe the extra tank, fit a twin coil calorifier with immersion heater for shoreline use.

[Idle Days]

22 hours ago, Stu penny said:

Hi

Were looking to install a heating/ hot water system so Webasto or Eberspacher? No dodgy Russian or Chinese systems though!😀

What makes you think that they don't originate in China?

[Idle Days]

Our Webasto has now been in use for a year. In that time it has required a new fan unit, combustion chamber, and latterly a new heat exchanger. The fan unit was replaced under guarantee, the other items are apparently "consumables".  I shall leave you to decide if I can recommend this make of diesel heater!

[cuthound]

6 minutes ago, Idle Days said:

Our Webasto has now been in use for a year. In that time it has required a new fan unit, combustion chamber, and latterly a new heat exchanger. The fan unit was replaced under guarantee, the other items are apparently "consumables".  I shall leave you to decide if I can recommend this make of diesel heater!

 

Conversely my boat is 15 years old this year and still on its original Webasto Heater and has not required any spare parts.

 

It has not been serviced in the last 8 years as my surveyor advised that if used for periods of 1 hour or less the heater doesn't drip into low mode and thus doesn't soot up.

 

It is only used for the odd chilly morning or evening though as my diesel stove provides the main heating.

[Idle Days]

12 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Conversely my boat is 15 years old this year and still on its original Webasto Heater and has not required any spare parts.

 

It has not been serviced in the last 8 years as my surveyor advised that if used for periods of 1 hour or less the heater doesn't drip into low mode and thus doesn't soot up.

 

It is only used for the odd chilly morning or evening though as my diesel stove provides the main heating.

All that demonstrates to me is that the Webasto build quality was much better 15 years ago.

[Sea Dog]

53 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Conversely my boat is 15 years old this year and still on its original Webasto Heater and has not required any spare parts.

 

It has not been serviced in the last 8 years as my surveyor advised that if used for periods of 1 hour or less the heater doesn't drip into low mode and thus doesn't soot up.

 

It is only used for the odd chilly morning or evening though as my diesel stove provides the main heating.

My experience with my Eberspacher is similar. Roomstat turned up full so it never cuts the heating in and out; used in one hour bursts (which a single press of the controller button gives); listen for it dropping into low power and if it does let it have a burst in full before switching off; don't break it by taking it apart for servicing which, if run as above, it seems to be entirely happy with. My unit is now 14 years old and remains undisturbed.

[Idle Days]

On 03/05/2022 at 16:44, Stu penny said:

Hi

Were looking to install a heating/ hot water system so Webasto or Eberspacher? No dodgy Russian or Chinese systems though!😀

The moral of this tale seems to be that you should find a new heater at least 15 years old and only run it flat out in short bursts.

[Alan de Enfield]

My Eberspacher was fitted 2003. 

We have used it as a primary heat source simply using the room thermostat. It is switched on when we go onto the boat and switched off when we leave the boat, be it two days later or five months later. It cycles as it wishes and we leave it to it,

 

(No doubt now asking for trouble............) Since we have had it it has never been serviced and never failed to start.

 

We have done exactly the same with previous boats and irrespective of them being water, or, hot air systems we have never had this so called carbonisation problem. They are designed for use on 'long distance coaches' etc - do you really think that the coach driver will announce to his passengers "Ladies & Gents, your one hour heating allocation is up, please don you warm jumpers and coats whilst I allow the heater to cool down and we will start it up again in about one hour".

[Sea Dog]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

My Eberspacher was fitted 2003. 

We have used it as a primary heat source simply using the room thermostat. It is switched on when we go onto the boat and switched off when we leave the boat, be it two days later or five months later. It cycles as it wishes and we leave it to it,

 

(No doubt now asking for trouble............) Since we have had it it has never been serviced and never failed to start.

 

We have done exactly the same with previous boats and irrespective of them being water, or, hot air systems we have never had this so called carbonisation problem. They are designed for use on 'long distance coaches' etc - do you really think that the coach driver will announce to his passengers "Ladies & Gents, your one hour heating allocation is up, please don you warm jumpers and coats whilst I allow the heater to cool down and we will start it up again in about one hour".

You make an interesting point, and your illustration may be as pertinent as it is amusing.

 

My "burst" usage pattern came after I read Eberspacher's report following their investigation (in the late noughties?) into early failures. I tbelieve I posted it here some years ago, but I think it's still somewhere in the bowels of their website.  Their conclusions seemed to make sense and my experience has seemed to bear out their advice, however, your experience is rather different.  Maybe it's the "reliability centred maintenance" approach we share that has paid dividends?  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies here methinks, whether that's in not disturbing it for routine servicing or not changing a usage pattern that it seems happy with.

[LadyG]

I too leave mine on, thermostat controlled, and give it a blast once or twice a month in summer.

I also used a diesel boost  at max concentration to stop it whining , which it did at first.

It usually warms cabin up within an hour, then turns off.

I then filled the tank up, and have not used any additive since then, though I would like to suck our stuff from bottom of tank again, but I don't have a pump

Stove is on 24 7 in winter

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by LadyG

[PNB116]

I have an Autoterm (Planar) Diesel heater running rads and hot water. It has worked perfectly for two years now, and there is an option of  controlling it via your phone when you are away. There is a blown hot air option (for smaller boats)
 

They have an excellent FB help page to assist you with any problems, and are somewhat cheaper. Worth considering.

 

But I also have a coal stove.

 

 

[blackrose]

16 hours ago, Idle Days said:

All that demonstrates to me is that the Webasto build quality was much better 15 years ago.

 

Not necessarily, there are other variables such as the central heating setup for example. If the C/H system doesn't dissipate most of the heat and the water returns to the boiler hot it can cause lots of problems. 

[Idle Days]

13 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Not necessarily, there are other variables such as the central heating setup for example. If the C/H system doesn't dissipate most of the heat and the water returns to the boiler hot it can cause lots of problems. 

Why should it cause any problems, that's how central heating system are designed to work and the reason we have modulating systems. 

[cuthound]

3 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Not necessarily, there are other variables such as the central heating setup for example. If the C/H system doesn't dissipate most of the heat and the water returns to the boiler hot it can cause lots of problems. 

 

As can not having sufficient corrosion inhibitor in the central heating system.

[Andy Br]

I have just swapped my Eberspacher 5kw for a 4kw Webasto. The 5kw was too big and cycling on and off. There is not a noticeable difference in heat output but the Webasto is sooooo much quieter!