Multifuel stove w/ back boiler

[dankenning]

Me and my partner have just put a deposit down for a 45' by 10' sailaway from DT Marine.

 

We need to decide on a stove so that we can get a hole for the flue cut to the right size.

 

We are thinking about getting a 5kW Aarow stove (ecoburn or acorn) with back boiler. This gives 3kW heat out the front (so to speak) and 2kW (6840btu) to the boiler.

 

Any advice on the following points would be much appreciated...

 

 

Would this be suitable to run a small radiator and 55l calorifier and heat the boat?

 

Is a radiator much better than an ecofan blowing down the corridor (all rooms will be on one side, stove at the front). I've heard a radiator can drain the heat from the calorifier over night?

 

Is there much difference in the efficiencies of an ecoburn and acorn (or anything else)?

 

Finally, does anyone know of any other suitable stoves?

 

 

Many thanks, Dan.

[alan_fincher]

Sounds like you have already got your layout decided, and stove position fixed.

 

In my opinion, by far the best way of heating a boat with a multifuel stove is to try and locate it somewhere towards the middle of the living accomodation, (perhaps with a bias towards the living area, if you prefer your bedroom a little cooler).

 

As you have a 45 foot wide beam, this will work even better than it does in (say) a 60 foot narrow boat. My guess is that with a more central positioning, you could dispense with radiators althogether in a boat that long, and still be warm as toast.

 

The favourite boater's back boiler stove, of which I have no direct experience, is without a doubt the Morso Squirrel.

 

They are hugely popular, and undoubtedly sell in greater numbers than any of the others. One can only assume they must be one of the best, because they are certainly not one of the cheapest.

 

I'm sure some others will pop up with their own particular favourite models.

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Dan,

 

Welcome to the forum. We've got a 57ft widebeam with an Evergreen stove which has an output of about 5Kw with no backboiler. That has kept us very warm over a couple of winters after we fitted it to replace our expensive diesel central heating. We have our lounge/kitchen at the front end of the boat, with the stove about 15ft from the front doors. We thought about an eco fan, but decided that we would try a £4 computer case fan first to take warm air down the boat. That has proved highly successful and we have discarded the idea of the eco fan. We have the disused radiators still fitted on the boat and we considered the idea of a back boiler and pump, but we have been warm enough as we are and won't bother with the rads.

 

We have decided to add some form of secondary double glazing as well this year, as our experiments with plastic film gave us a huge difference in heat loss from the windows and a big reduction in condensation and draughts from convection movement.

 

Roger

[Ernie]

Have a read through this thread:

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...0bunny&st=0

 

We started off looking at the Squirrel but after advice from other forum member we ended up with a Becton Bunny.

 

We are well pleased with the Becton, it was running 24/7 from October to April and quite a lot of the time outside this period (it’s on now burning Ash).

 

I agree with the posts above, the stove alone is sufficient to heat the full length of our 60 foot narrow boat and the stove is situated right at the stern end. The only thing I would like to have is the ability to heat the water from it but it would be difficult to fit a back boiler and plumb it all in due to it’s location.

 

If we should ever be lucky enough to commission a new boat build, I would arrange the internal layout such that the stove was more central in the boat rather than right at one end. To heat the bedroom which is right at the front of our boat, we have to have the stove quite hot and the windows in the living room cracked open (during the day/evening) as it is right at the other end from the bedroom (we have a reverse layout).