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bigcol · January 22, 2009

Hi all

Here i am in spain looking forward to moving back to the UK.My wife and I had been in boating for 15 fun years on the lumpy stuff on the south coast.

Moved to spain 4 years ago, been ill for the last 12 months due to tescular cancer, 2 ops 240 hrs of chemo and now in remision.

Live life to the full !!.so weve and now sold the house bought a wide beam needs finishing off, just completed on the deal were moving back in 2 weeks cant wait to get stuck in.

SO ANYONE WHO CAN OFFER WISDOM AND ADVICE PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME.

Stupid questions coming

I have read more or less all postings and through your love of boating, this is somthing that my wife and I have missed so weve decided to live on the canals

We are going to be 90 % living on the boat and am greener than kermit.

Regards to power options,and not keen on mooring in Marinas the only thing my dear wife has put her foot down to is a washing machine and a porcline loo,

1)what size inverter/combi charger, and a cheap generator what size make gives value for money that will keep the W/M go around nicely

2)heating looking at a webasto water heating to run 3 rads, but do I need a calorfier as well is a 5 kw suficient?

3 there is a large chandeler selling a package deal heater and a bowthruster deal

http://www.boatcentralheating.co.uk/index_...ackage_deal.htm

4)Ive decided that i need excecise so weve opted to have a cassette toilet, and have seen porceline vacum loos with cassette waste but they are expensive, any clues to chanderlers that charge less than £600 !!

I know theirs folks who do without a bow thruster but Im sad and having one on a 40 ft boat beleive me i would feel a lot safer with one on a 60ftx10ft boat, safer for me my wife and maybe other users of the canal.

My son in law fits kitchens and bedrooms for a living, so im lucky here

Our new boat will be in the northants area, We havent got a lot of money,but whist the boat is ready for installing the above, we want to do it right but be carefull with not overpaying for items that can be bought more cheaper from places you folks who know the score and have your own experiances.

so anyone can give prices contacts web pages phone nos for the following it will be fantastic

complete heating system in hot water and rads what do we need cost of fitting

porceline cassette loos

bow thruster and cost of fitting

electric re inverter/charger generator cost of instalation

I have fitted my own air heating on a previous grp boat and taken the unit appart once a month for decoking urh urh

I have been good arround the house and boats in the past diy,!!! even made a nice rabit hutch that twas comdemed by the kids and wife for a few proud nails, rabit wasnt so keen either

Please be gentle with me

Col

i know my spellings not all that, but when i get back to the uk a pair of bifocals are the first item to get

Hi all

Here i am in spain looking forward to moving back to the UK.My wife and I had been in boating for 15 fun years on the lumpy stuff on the south coast.

Moved to spain 4 years ago, been ill for the last 12 months due to tescular cancer, 2 ops 240 hrs of chemo and now in remision.

Live life to the full !!.so weve and now sold the house bought a wide beam needs finishing off, just completed on the deal were moving back in 2 weeks cant wait to get stuck in.

SO ANYONE WHO CAN OFFER WISDOM AND ADVICE PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME.

Stupid questions coming

I have read more or less all postings and through your love of boating, this is somthing that my wife and I have missed so weve decided to live on the canals

We are going to be 90 % living on the boat and am greener than kermit.

Regards to power options,and not keen on mooring in Marinas the only thing my dear wife has put her foot down to is a washing machine and a porcline loo,

1)what size inverter/combi charger, and a cheap generator what size make gives value for money that will keep the W/M go around nicely

2)heating looking at a webasto water heating to run 3 rads, but do I need a calorfier as well is a 5 kw suficient?

3 there is a large chandeler selling a package deal heater and a bowthruster deal

http://www.boatcentralheating.co.uk/index_...ackage_deal.htm

4)Ive decided that i need excecise so weve opted to have a cassette toilet, and have seen porceline vacum loos with cassette waste but they are expensive, any clues to chanderlers that charge less than £600 !!

I know theirs folks who do without a bow thruster but Im sad and having one on a 40 ft boat beleive me i would feel a lot safer with one on a 60ftx10ft boat, safer for me my wife and maybe other users of the canal.

My son in law fits kitchens and bedrooms for a living, so im lucky here

Our new boat will be in the northants area, We havent got a lot of money,but whist the boat is ready for installing the above, we want to do it right but be carefull with not overpaying for items that can be bought more cheaper from places you folks who know the score and have your own experiances.

so anyone can give prices contacts web pages phone nos for the following it will be fantastic

complete heating system in hot water and rads what do we need cost of fitting

porceline cassette loos

bow thruster and cost of fitting

electric re inverter/charger generator cost of instalation

I have fitted my own air heating on a previous grp boat and taken the unit appart once a month for decoking urh urh

I have been good arround the house and boats in the past diy,!!! even made a nice rabit hutch that twas comdemed by the kids and wife for a few proud nails, rabit wasnt so keen either

Please be gentle with me

Col

i know my spellings not all that, but when i get back to the uk a pair of bifocals are the first item to get

NB Phoenix · January 22, 2009

Hi all

Here i am in spain looking forward to moving back to the UK.My wife and I had been in boating for 15 fun years on the lumpy stuff on the south coast.

Moved to spain 4 years ago, been ill for the last 12 months due to tescular cancer, 2 ops 240 hrs of chemo and now in remision.

Live life to the full !!.so weve and now sold the house bought a wide beam needs finishing off, just completed on the deal were moving back in 2 weeks cant wait to get stuck in.

SO ANYONE WHO CAN OFFER WISDOM AND ADVICE PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME.

Stupid questions coming

I have read more or less all postings and through your love of boating, this is somthing that my wife and I have missed so weve decided to live on the canals

We are going to be 90 % living on the boat and am greener than kermit.

Regards to power options,and not keen on mooring in Marinas the only thing my dear wife has put her foot down to is a washing machine and a porcline loo,

1)what size inverter/combi charger, and a cheap generator what size make gives value for money that will keep the W/M go around nicely

2)heating looking at a webasto water heating to run 3 rads, but do I need a calorfier as well is a 5 kw suficient?

3 there is a large chandeler selling a package deal heater and a bowthruster deal

http://www.boatcentralheating.co.uk/index_...ackage_deal.htm

4)Ive decided that i need excecise so weve opted to have a cassette toilet, and have seen porceline vacum loos with cassette waste but they are expensive, any clues to chanderlers that charge less than £600 !!

I know theirs folks who do without a bow thruster but Im sad and having one on a 40 ft boat beleive me i would feel a lot safer with one on a 60ftx10ft boat, safer for me my wife and maybe other users of the canal.

My son in law fits kitchens and bedrooms for a living, so im lucky here

Our new boat will be in the northants area, We havent got a lot of money,but whist the boat is ready for installing the above, we want to do it right but be carefull with not overpaying for items that can be bought more cheaper from places you folks who know the score and have your own experiances.

so anyone can give prices contacts web pages phone nos for the following it will be fantastic

complete heating system in hot water and rads what do we need cost of fitting

porceline cassette loos

bow thruster and cost of fitting

electric re inverter/charger generator cost of instalation

I have fitted my own air heating on a previous grp boat and taken the unit appart once a month for decoking urh urh

I have been good arround the house and boats in the past diy,!!! even made a nice rabit hutch that twas comdemed by the kids and wife for a few proud nails, rabit wasnt so keen either

Please be gentle with me

Col

i know my spellings not all that, but when i get back to the uk a pair of bifocals are the first item to get

Hello Col welcome

Toilets....... Try Lee Sanitation clicky

bigcol · January 22, 2009

Reading the post just above this one.

the boat we have bought, has been painted on the ouside, was been profesionaly panneled, windows,floor laid, cables run, engine tanks bateries with electric tails for final fitting.

I be more than happy to have a electrician to do the electrics supply and fit but would like some pointers in both

sames gos with the heating i do not want to fit or get fitted a system that is not up to the job

regards to the loo, the reason we would like a porceline loo is that we dont think we would feel at home on a plastic throne,my wife says ive got a fat arse

and feels that i will break it in a mater of days.

col

aread2 · January 23, 2009

I'm very happy with our vacuum cassette toilet. It has a nice porcelain bowl and works well. If I have any criticism it is that we (family of 5) fill the cassette (17 litres) every day. Make sure you have a spare cassette and somewhere to store it!

mrsmelly · January 23, 2009

Hi all

Here i am in spain looking forward to moving back to the UK.My wife and I had been in boating for 15 fun years on the lumpy stuff on the south coast.

Moved to spain 4 years ago, been ill for the last 12 months due to tescular cancer, 2 ops 240 hrs of chemo and now in remision.

Live life to the full !!.so weve and now sold the house bought a wide beam needs finishing off, just completed on the deal were moving back in 2 weeks cant wait to get stuck in.

SO ANYONE WHO CAN OFFER WISDOM AND ADVICE PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME.

Stupid questions coming

I have read more or less all postings and through your love of boating, this is somthing that my wife and I have missed so weve decided to live on the canals

We are going to be 90 % living on the boat and am greener than kermit.

Regards to power options,and not keen on mooring in Marinas the only thing my dear wife has put her foot down to is a washing machine and a porcline loo,

1)what size inverter/combi charger, and a cheap generator what size make gives value for money that will keep the W/M go around nicely

2)heating looking at a webasto water heating to run 3 rads, but do I need a calorfier as well is a 5 kw suficient?

3 there is a large chandeler selling a package deal heater and a bowthruster deal

http://www.boatcentralheating.co.uk/index_...ackage_deal.htm

4)Ive decided that i need excecise so weve opted to have a cassette toilet, and have seen porceline vacum loos with cassette waste but they are expensive, any clues to chanderlers that charge less than £600 !!

I know theirs folks who do without a bow thruster but Im sad and having one on a 40 ft boat beleive me i would feel a lot safer with one on a 60ftx10ft boat, safer for me my wife and maybe other users of the canal.

My son in law fits kitchens and bedrooms for a living, so im lucky here

Our new boat will be in the northants area, We havent got a lot of money,but whist the boat is ready for installing the above, we want to do it right but be carefull with not overpaying for items that can be bought more cheaper from places you folks who know the score and have your own experiances.

so anyone can give prices contacts web pages phone nos for the following it will be fantastic

complete heating system in hot water and rads what do we need cost of fitting

porceline cassette loos

bow thruster and cost of fitting

electric re inverter/charger generator cost of instalation

I have fitted my own air heating on a previous grp boat and taken the unit appart once a month for decoking urh urh

I have been good arround the house and boats in the past diy,!!! even made a nice rabit hutch that twas comdemed by the kids and wife for a few proud nails, rabit wasnt so keen either

Please be gentle with me

Col

Hi Col

Firstly wish u luck u seem to have been in the wars hope u get thro it. As to the rest u need to go to a banter and talk to loads of boaters and then make ur decisions ............I will only mention one major one in my humble opinion, u state u r not loaded with cash but even if u were please please pleeeeese dont waste ur money on a bow thruster on a 40 ft boat or any length for that matter, the only ones that have any use at all r expensive hydraulic ones and after some sensible training U DONT WANT OR NEED ONE especialy the electric ones u may as well get the boss to stand on the front with a hair dryer.......The amount of money the entire instalation would cost will sort out all your heating costa and lots more besides.

Wish u well

Regards

Tim

Roger Gunkel · January 23, 2009

Hi bigcol,

If you are going to be living aboard 90% of the time, from my personal experience and many other on this forum, I would think very carefully about fitting a diesel central heating of the Webasto, Eberspacher, Mikuni type, as your main heating system. They have proved time and time again not to be up to the rigours of a 24/7 heating system, do not run reliably on the commonly available red diesel and should not be thought of in the same terms as a domestic house system.

My own Eberspacher system with rads calorifier etc, was about £2500 four years ago and I would expect any current system to be at least that. Because of the terrible unreliability and high running costs, I installed a traditional solid fuel stove, which cost me less than £500 and has run totally trouble free for the last couple of years, with about 30% of the fuel cost. The diesel heater is now just used for occasional water heating and cool summer evenings and mornings. I have just got it working again after 18 months out of action.

My own boat is a 57' x 10' widebeam.

For your electrics, you will need to do an estimation of your expected total energy requirement, including what the maximum load is likely to be at any one time. When you know that, there will be a number of people on here to advise.

Roger

PaddingtonBear · January 23, 2009

No such thing as a 'cheap' generator that will run a washing machine - oh god I have forgotten my nuclear survival suit and where is emergency oscar when you need it.

Welcome and very good luck.

Dominic M · January 23, 2009

Hi bigcol.

On the central heating front it might be worth investigating the new compact Alde unit - I've heard good reports so far but no first hand experience. I have to agree with Roger, well actually I don't have to but I do , and that is a stove is king. If you really dislike the dust they may create (dust is the stuff of life, my mum would say) then the diesel stoves such as Kabola seem very good - I had one but decided that the cost of running it was getting out of hand as oil prices rose. Now of course they are coming down again but I still prefer the feel of a multi fuel stove.

bigcol · January 23, 2009

Hi bigcol,

If you are going to be living aboard 90% of the time, from my personal experience and many other on this forum, I would think very carefully about fitting a diesel central heating of the Webasto, Eberspacher, Mikuni type, as your main heating system. They have proved time and time again not to be up to the rigours of a 24/7 heating system, do not run reliably on the commonly available red diesel and should not be thought of in the same terms as a domestic house system.

My own Eberspacher system with rads calorifier etc, was about £2500 four years ago and I would expect any current system to be at least that. Because of the terrible unreliability and high running costs, I installed a traditional solid fuel stove, which cost me less than £500 and has run totally trouble free for the last couple of years, with about 30% of the fuel cost. The diesel heater is now just used for occasional water heating and cool summer evenings and mornings. I have just got it working again after 18 months out of action.

My own boat is a 57' x 10' widebeam.

For your electrics, you will need to do an estimation of your expected total energy requirement, including what the maximum load is likely to be at any one time. When you know that, there will be a number of people on here to advise.

Roger

bigcol · January 23, 2009

Hi there all

Thankyou for the replys

Ist of all thanks Tim, for making us laugh re a bowthruster being as much use as a hair dryer we have good imaginations, there be only 2 of us so when you installed your vacume flush can you let me know where you got it from, was this from leesons i think as the 2 weve seen is either 600 or £900 plus vat

Rodger

thank you for your reply, we will be having a stove as well, im trying to find the cost of having a stove with a back burner, but i must admit I would prefer the c/h and a stove as Ive been told that once the stove is up and running it keeps the boat warm and keep the wesbasto for just water if thats possible?

you have a boat the same size as our new baby, do you live on your boat if so can you direct us to postings that youve made that can provide me with much needed info.

can you confirm the size of your webasto if its a 4,2 a 5 or 9kw, do you need a colarifier as well and how does this keep hot water without 240 is this through land power or generator ot through the 12 v heating system.

what size invertor generator have you got I know i may be boring you but knowing your boat is simalar size i can get more idea of what i need.

Its just the 2 of us, a washing machine smallish

being used once twice a week

and normal usege of TV etc is it right that use of a normal 240 LCD tv and fridge is more eficient running on 240 than buting 12 volt appliences.

so many questions I know My boat is being deliverd to MK next week, and requires the heating and electri system to be installed.

Funny you know since ive been telling friends about my widebeam they say i wont be able to go far from the Grand union as it wont go through locks etc

My wifes told me to shut up and leave you alone.

Were are so looking forward to getting on the boat,this is a new chapter for us and just want to start it with having the right hardware on the boat

all the best everyone

and where are these canal world stickers we can buy

Col

Dominic

We have just sold our hous ein Spain and i know everyone thinks Spain is hot hot hot, but believe me the winters in the southern mountains are harsh, deep deep snow were nr the sierra nevada mountains.

We rely on wood burners we use to the dust and mess, when it comes to keeping warm the log burner stove is king!!

thanks for you help

Col

bottle · January 23, 2009

bigcol

I will leave the others to advise you, I do not have enough knowledge, but I think you may be a little confused as to what a calorifier is.

It is basically a hot water tank, the same as a domestic one, except they usually have two coils inside, one supplied from the engine and one from the central heating boiler or back boiler in the multi fuel stove.

If I have got this wrong just ignore me.

Roger Gunkel · January 23, 2009

Hi there all

Thankyou for the replys

Rodger

thank you for your reply, we will be having a stove as well, im trying to find the cost of having a stove with a back burner, but i must admit I would prefer the c/h and a stove as Ive been told that once the stove is up and running it keeps the boat warm and keep the wesbasto for just water if thats possible?

The convenience of diesel instant central heating is great, as long as it keeps working!!! That is the point though, systems such as Eberspacher, Milkuni and Webasto, although very sophisticated pieces of engineering, have proven short comings in liveaboard situations. I do agree with Dominic that drip feed systems are much more reliable, although even with reducing fuel prices, are still comparatively expensive to run. Solid fuel stoves will also always have that ability to burn wood etc, without being captive to the availabilty and prices of oil based fuel. I would never spend thousands of pounds just to heat my water, when a gas heater would do it instantly for a fraction of the price. Hot water should be a bye product of a central heating system, not the reason for installing it.

you have a boat the same size as our new baby, do you live on your boat if so can you direct us to postings that youve made that can provide me with much needed info.

We live permanently onboard as our only home (pictures in out gallery). Much of our work is also onboard. I would have difficulty directing you to most of my posts, though if you search for Eberspacher, red diesel and probably Webasto, you will find posts on these subjects going back several years. Bear in mind that my posts are just my opinion

can you confirm the size of your webasto if its a 4,2 a 5 or 9kw, do you need a colarifier as well and how does this keep hot water without 240 is this through land power or generator ot through the 12 v heating system.

We have an Eberspacher D5 (5Kw) which Eber replaced our original 10kw one with. They said that the 10Kw was too big for the boat and was not running efficiently. The D5 didn't run long either. The Eber runs into a calorifier in the tank, as does the engine. The Eber (and Webasto/Mikuni) also use a 12 volt circulation pump which serves the radiators and the calorifier. The 12v pump means that the batteries have to be kept properly charged as it is a steady drain if you are using for boat heating.

what size invertor generator have you got I know i may be boring you but knowing your boat is simalar size i can get more idea of what i need.

We don't have a generator as we have a mains hookup on our residential mooring. Our invertor is 1800w but we don't run our washing machinbe on it.We use the inverter mainly for when we are off the mooring to keep the fridge/freezer going plus TV and laptop.

Its just the 2 of us, a washing machine smallish

being used once twice a week

and normal usege of TV etc is it right that use of a normal 240 LCD tv and fridge is more eficient running on 240 than buting 12 volt appliences.

It tends to be more efficient to run TVs fridge etc from 12v, due to losses in the inverter system. However 12v equipment is often many times more expensive than 240v so the savings may be relative. There is also much more choice of 240v equipment. Our own use of 240v equipment is 6ft Fridge/Freezer, TV, Digital video recorder and hifi, 3 laptops, domestic washing machine 4 table lamps, main battery charger, iron and the normal phone chargers etc.

so many questions I know My boat is being deliverd to MK next week, and requires the heating and electri system to be installed.

Funny you know since ive been telling friends about my widebeam they say i wont be able to go far from the Grand union as it wont go through locks etc

Perhaps you should consider having your boat delivered to Bedford, then you would have the whole of the Fens to cruise with no width problems, much less boat traffic, few locks and EA controlled waters.

My wifes told me to shut up and leave you alone.

You ask whatever you want mind you, by the time I've posted this, there will be many other answers to your questions

Were are so looking forward to getting on the boat,this is a new chapter for us and just want to start it with having the right hardware on the boat

all the best everyone

and where are these canal world stickers we can buy

Col

All the best with your venture

Roger

Roger Gunkel · January 23, 2009

Just read Bottle's post, and I think he is right in saying you are a bit confused about a calorifier.

Your boat will have an insulated hot water tank, like a small domestic one. Apart from the inlet and outlet for the water supply, there will also be in/outlets for either one or two heating coils inside the tank. These are really the calorifiers as they tranfer calorific heat (if thats the right term) into the water in the tank, from the connected supply. This supply would be typically from the engine cooling circuit to give hot water when the engine is running. With a double calorifier, the second calorifier could be connected to another heat supply. This could be a back boiler, diesel or gas heating system, or a gas fired boiler like an Alde, usually with a 12 volt circulation pump. The coil would be part of a system that feeds radiators in most systems. The tank water is always kept independant of the circulating heating water as the latter would contain antifreeze.

Roger

denboy · January 24, 2009

I can recomend these washers as i have an older version which i have run off a 1000w mod sine inverter no problems

https://www.whitebox.co.uk/Main/Home.aspx?pfid=WF_AQUA1000T

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