Batten and Insulating Engine Room?

[simplicity1987]

Hi,

 

Having recently purchased my first narrowboat, I am currently working my way down the (never ending ) to do list that stands before me. Any help on this and a few other like minded posts would be gratefully received.

 

My engine room currently has: no insulation AND no air vent/ventilation system for when the engine gets HOT from use. I have been 'advised' to:

 

a.) Batten out and insulate as much of the engine room as possible for the winter months.

b.) Cut a couple of rectangles through the batten, insulation and steel to fit an air vent on each side wall to improve air circulation for when the engine is running.

c.) Tidy up the battery mounts.

 

Does anybody have any experience of doing either of these? Any things to be weary of? Any areas not safe to batten and insulate? Any ideas on housing batteries (3-4 domestic) in a tidy, simple and accessible way?

 

Look forward to hearing what you might come up with. Thanking you all in advance.

 

HAPPY BOATING

 

[Skeg]

Hi,

You have not given enough information to enable anyone to give a sensible answer.

What kind of boat is it?

What is the engine?

How is it cooled?

What sort of installation is it? You talk about an "engine room" can you describe it? Under a cruiser/semi-trad/trad stern or in a proper engine room?

I'm struggling to understand why would someone recommend insulating the engine room for the Winter, most installations suffer from excess heat, not cold.

"Tidy up the battery mounts" - photos needed.

 

 

[Ally]

presumably this is a mid engine room?

Is your engine air or water cooled?

Please can you give us some more info so you can get some answers?

[simplicity1987]

Hi, sorry for lack of information. Please find listed below:

 

Engine is a Lister Raw Water Cooled.

Located at the rear room of a 43 ft Trad Stern (Hatched room)

 

At the moment the engine has no way of circulating air around the engine when it is being used. Just has a battery fan that effectively circulates the hot air around the room with noweher for it to be ventilated. Hence, why I have been advised to ventilate the room with two vents cut into the steel, remove the fan, and then batten around the vents to improve ventilation for the winter months. The room actually backs onto where my bed is going to sit, so would imagine could get cold during the winters.

 

Hope this helps to explain?

I assumed the RAW water cooling mechanism would keep the engine cool enough, but the engineer I had in advised me to batten out the room to improve insulation and then cut in some vents to provide air flow through the engine room for when it is in use. The engine room currently gets really warm when the engine is being run, so I guess it's about insulating for the winter months, but still having those vents to provide an air flow for when the engine is being used.

 

Are vents in engine rooms quite a strange thing to have then?

[Roger Crown]

Hi,

You seem to have a fairly standard set up of a trad stern with the engine sat in that space.

It is essentially another room in the boat and should be insulated to prevent you being swamped with condensation in the winter months.

This is my view of what you need to be doing above the engine deck boards; however insulation below them into the engine space can greatly reduce engine noise also.

Ventilation to the engine space is often overlooked by boat builders; it is a vital thing to provide.

The engine needs copious amounts of air just to breathe, the cooler air the better. So ventilators feeding into the engine space from the outside of the boat are a must, not only for the engine itself but for the survival of alternator/s and the usually locally sited batteries.

 

Regards

Roger

[luctor et emergo]

Ventilators? Why not just open the sidehatches?

[simplicity1987]

You seem to have a fairly standard set up of a trad stern with the engine sat in that space.

It is essentially another room in the boat and should be insulated to prevent you being swamped with condensation in the winter months.

This is my view of what you need to be doing above the engine deck boards; however insulation below them into the engine space can greatly reduce engine noise also.

Ventilation to the engine space is often overlooked by boat builders; it is a vital thing to provide.

The engine needs copious amounts of air just to breathe, the cooler air the better. So ventilators feeding into the engine space from the outside of the boat are a must, not only for the engine itself but for the survival of alternator/s and the usually locally sited batteries.

 

So, Crown Narrowboat Ltd - do you reckon, if I was to:

 

a.) Batten and insulate as much of the room as I can.

b.) Cut slots and place vents into the lower deck walls either side of the engine.

c.) Mount batteries in lidded boxes wherever applicable.

 

This would be a good way to go?

[Timleech]

You could glue cork tiles or other insulating material direct to the steel. That would give a modicum of insulation, enough to prevent condensation in the winter, without major upheaval.

 

Tim

[Roger Crown]

Tim's idea above is a good one.

 

To answer you directly :-

Battening out and insulating , just depends really how far you want to take it. The more you do the less the condensation problem should be.

 

Cut slots and fit vents, IMO yes its a good idea, vents as high as possible and ducted to the engine.

 

Mount batteries in lidded boxes, not always necessary but is good practice to do so.

 

Regards

Roger

[Skeg]

So, Crown Narrowboat Ltd - do you reckon, if I was to:

 

a.) Batten and insulate as much of the room as I can.

b.) Cut slots and place vents into the lower deck walls either side of the engine.

c.) Mount batteries in lidded boxes wherever applicable.

 

This would be a good way to go?

 

 

My personal preference based on experience of engine rooms and how hot they get in summer would be to batten, insulate and cover up to the gunnels with no ventilation (it would look odd) there. If you have side hatches either side then they should provide enough ventilation when partly or fully opened. If you need more ventilation then fit a pigeon box on the roof. You can batten and insulate the hull sides and roof from the gunnels upwards. Maybe just wooden inserts in the side hatch doors, or if they are deep enough some foam insulation under the wooden inserts. Cover the batteries with something waterproof for when the rain is coming in the hatches.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Skeg

[DHutch]

Off topic posts removed.

[DHutch]

Our engineroom (large room, between the rear cabin and the rest of the cabin) is full lined out as per the rest of the boat, I see no reason why other enginerooms should not be the same, although those in a working boat where not, they where also not in the middle of the boat.

 

That said, if yours is the last room, another option would be to insulate the bulkhead between it and the cabin.

 

Daniel

[simplicity1987]

Thanks for all the advice,

 

So...I am finally ready to start with the battening. I have had the engine serviced, de-greased the room, sanded back the rust steel interior and primed it ready for it's make over.

 

Anybody had experience of insulating their boats? Mine is a late 70's vessel with foam sheet insulating the rest of the boat within the space between the steel and interior walls. I was thinking of simply following this into the engine room with some 50mm battening and 50 mm insulation foam sheets. Does anybody know if you are advised to leave a few mm's between the foam sheets and the steel/wall to allow some kind of air circulation, or are you advised to get the foam in as tight as possible?

 

Thanks again for all the help. Slow Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 23, 2013 by simplicity1987

[Grace and Favour]

Thanks for all the advice,

 

So...I am finally ready to start with the battening. I have had the engine serviced, de-greased the room, sanded back the rust steel interior and primed it ready for it's make over.

 

Anybody had experience of insulating their boats? Mine is a late 70's vessel with foam sheet insulating the rest of the boat within the space between the steel and interior walls. I was thinking of simply following this into the engine room with some 50mm battening and 50 mm insulation foam sheets. Does anybody know if you are advised to leave a few mm's between the foam sheets and the steel/wall to allow some kind of air circulation, or are you advised to get the foam in as tight as possible?

 

Thanks again for all the help. Slow Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!

You don't want ANY space between the sheets and the walls - - (Condensation will form) best would be if you could stick the foam panels to the steelwork with a fine layer of expanding foam. Also use expanding foam (in aerosol cans) to fill all little spaces not filled with your insulation sheets