Heating

[pwl]

Planning the partial refit of In'Cha we are thinking about heating. At the mment the engine heats the calorifier and an Aldi (which is not working at the moment) in theory heats the boat and also the calorifier. The plan is to replace the Aldi with a stove but as he refit is a 'spare time' job the Aldi will come out long befoe the stove is fitted. Result = cold boat. Many years ago when we first started hireing narrowboats we had a few where the engine could proved internal heating as well as the Aldi and I was thinking of setting up something like that when I rework the plumbing to remove the Aldi.

As I see it I have 2 options

 

1. short out the two calorifier coils and add a pump so the engine water directly heats the rads with a control so I can shut the heating off when not needed

Pros

- Easy

- The hot water is not affected (see later)

Cons

- If the engine is hot and you open the heating control the engine may not like it

 

2. Keep the heating circuit and the engine calorifier seperate using the calorifier as an break in the system. When internal heating is needed the pump is activated and the old 'Aldi' coil takes heat from the calorifier (the engine putting it back via its own coil)

Pros

- Even easier

- The calorifier acts as a thermal 'break' so demanding heat when the engine is hot does nor flood the engine witth cold water

- Easier to drain either system

Cons

- The water in the calorifier will be cooler

- The heating will take langer to get warm

 

I would be interested in others experiences / opinions. (I guess the third option is dont do it)

 

P

Edited December 4, 2008 by pwl

[Iain_S]

Copperkins has an Alde a the back of the cabin which can feeds 3 radiators, and also can heat the calorifier. When the engine is running, the output pipe from he Alde gets hot, due to the heat exchange between the calorifier coils and, if the pump is on, warms the radiators. (as per your Option 2)

 

The radiators get warm, but can't be described as hot. This system is OK for warming the boat while travellng, but I haven't tried it for more than 20 minutes or so once the engine has stopped. I don't think the hot water would stay hot for long. To be honest, I use this "feature" more as additional engine cooling than cabin heating

 

Iain

[RobinJ]

Many years ago when we first started hireing narrowboats we had a few where the engine could proved internal heating as well as the Aldi and I was thinking of setting up something like that when I rework the plumbing to remove the Aldi.

If the radiators already exist, I don't see a major problem. Simply treat the calorifier as the first radiator without any controls, you can always put valves on the radiator circuit to switch it off (ie in summer).

I have four radiators running off the heater connection on mine and generally only use the pump to provide extra circulation when its really cold or I need to cool the engine quicker (ie on rivers). I have small valves on the feed and return to the radiator circuit so it can be isolated.

[pwl]

Sounds like option 2 is the way to go

 

Iian

 

Iwe dont intend to use the engine heating if the engine is not running. That will eventually be the role of the stove but the engine heat can put some background into the boat on colder days when we are running.

 

RobinJ

 

I intended to add some valves to allow me to shut the system down in summer. What pump do you use. The existing pump (i think) is part of the Aldi so will go when the Aldi is removed.

 

P

[RobinJ]

I intended to add some valves to allow me to shut the system down in summer. What pump do you use. The existing pump (i think) is part of the Aldi so will go when the Aldi is removed.

I used the pump that was originally fitted to the shower, however it turned out to be a fuel pump and took a lot of juice, so I purchased one of the cheap plastics pumps designed for central heating, it reminds me of the old aquaflow water pump. The heavier pump actually stopped the water flowing unless it was running, the new one doesn't stop convection, so had to fit the valves.

[david and julie]

I would be interested in others experiences / opinions. (I guess the third option is dont do it)

If the Alde is in good order keep it, they may be a bit thirsty, but they're very reliable and its always best to have an alternative.

 

If you want to warm the boat from the engine use a cabin type fan heater instead - off the calorifier return circuit. This is the type of thing I mean.

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-...ries/aircon.php

If money is an issue, you will get a similar thing from a taxi breakers, they are fitted in the back of black cabs and in some smaller minibusses.

 

I went this route and whenever the engines hot it warms the boat very well.

 

You can if you wish install one of this heaters so that the hot water can be turned off in summer and use the fan for cooling the boat - much like a car heater works really.

Edited December 5, 2008 by david and julie

[OptedOut]

If you want to warm the boat from the engine use a cabin type fan heater instead -

 

This option is a better set up as you will not have the possible problem of too big a primary circuit.

Depends on type of engine cooling and expansion header?

[ditchcrawler]

Planning the partial refit of In'Cha we are thinking about heating. At the mment the engine heats the calorifier and an Aldi (which is not working at the moment) in theory heats the boat and also the calorifier. The plan is to replace the Aldi with a stove but as he refit is a 'spare time' job the Aldi will come out long befoe the stove is fitted. Result = cold boat. Many years ago when we first started hireing narrowboats we had a few where the engine could proved internal heating as well as the Aldi and I was thinking of setting up something like that when I rework the plumbing to remove the Aldi.

As I see it I have 2 options

 

1. short out the two calorifier coils and add a pump so the engine water directly heats the rads with a control so I can shut the heating off when not needed

Pros

- Easy

- The hot water is not affected (see later)

Cons

- If the engine is hot and you open the heating control the engine may not like it

 

2. Keep the heating circuit and the engine calorifier seperate using the calorifier as an break in the system. When internal heating is needed the pump is activated and the old 'Aldi' coil takes heat from the calorifier (the engine putting it back via its own coil)

Pros

- Even easier

- The calorifier acts as a thermal 'break' so demanding heat when the engine is hot does nor flood the engine witth cold water

- Easier to drain either system

Cons

- The water in the calorifier will be cooler

- The heating will take langer to get warm

 

I would be interested in others experiences / opinions. (I guess the third option is dont do it)

 

P

I have something similar to number two.

The engine water goes through the lower coil and the rad is fed from the upper one by a pump. The pump is controlled by the tank stat so only runs when the cylinder is very hot. The reason for this is I also have a diesel cooker that heats the water, this is on a direct loop through the cylinder so when the cooker is on in the winter and the engine is running the water can get very hot, so the pumped system dumps excess into the radiator up the bows.