Cold Showers, BRRRRR!

[junior]

I'm after some ideas/advice on how I might get through the summer without having to make do with cold showers.

 

At the moment I have 2 ways of generating hot water. By my engine heating a calorifier, or by my solid fuel stove back boiler also going into a calorifier.

Obviously the latter is going to be useless in the summer as I'm not running the stove just to get hot water. The engine isn't such a problem as I do plan to move regularly and my calorifier will stay hot for 36+hrs, but I'm sure iit'snot going to be long before I either need to run the engine for hot water, or move on from somewhere I want to stay a bit longer.

 

I knew this was an issue when I bought the boat but I planned to save up over the winter and install a Morco in the spring. Little did I know that I'd have to throw every spare penny at other more pressing things on the boat, and the prospect of ever saving money whilst owning a boat is looking less likely every day. There's no way I will be able to afford to have a Morco installed, and it seems to be a contentious subject anyway as there isn't one currently fitted.

 

So do I have any other options? I've thought about the possibility of putting an immersion element into the calorifier. I remember my surveyor telling me this could be an option as the calorifier has space for it. But I'm sure I've read on here that trying to put one into a 20 year old calorifier could cause it to split? I also am currently 12v only and have no inverter. I'd hoped to keep my electrics very simple and stay away from inverters, but could I install a small one just to run the immersion element? Is it possible to get a 12v immersion element?

 

Lots of questions I know. Have I missed any obvious options?

 

Lastly, if I was to source a new or second hand Morco, is there anyone on the forum competent enough to come and install it to the point where I can the get a Gas Safe person in to connect it up? (I dont liveaboard wink wink). I don't want to get bogged down by this question as I've seen similar discussions descend into chaos.

[frangar]

Don't even think of using an inverter to power an immersion heater. The inefficiencies are huge. You would also need at least a 1kw inverter as well as a very large alternator and battery bank. The cost of the kit alone would be much more than a morco. Immersions are good but really a landline only device. Having said that I thought someone here had fitted a DC one to use as a load dump for the big solar array they have..:again though that's not cheap to set up and only works with lots of sun!

 

I'm not sure about the total legalities of fitting a morco from scratch but I'm sure someone else does!

 

I would just use the engine or find sanitary stations that have showers! There are quite a few about

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Guest]

frangar, on 11 Mar 2014 - 06:55 AM, said:frangar, on 11 Mar 2014 - 06:55 AM, said:

Don't even think of using an inverter to power an immersion heater. The inefficiencies are huge. You would also need at least a 1kw inverter as well as a very large alternator and battery bank. The cost of the kit alone would be much more than a morco. Immersions are good but really a landline only device. Having said that I thought someone here had fitted a DC one to use as a load dump for the big solar array they have..:again though that's not cheap to set up and only works with lots of sun!

 

I'm not sure about the total legalities of fitting a morco from scratch but I'm sure someone else does!

 

I would just use the engine or find sanitary stations that have showers! There are quite a few about

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

 

I agree - if you really are averse to using the engine then a Morco is really your only viable option for HW on the boat.

 

Plus AFAIK your calorifier has to have an appropriate fitting in order to be able to ftt an immersion heater element - the OP's may not be suitable in that respect alone. ie there may be space for it but that is not the only consideration.

Edited March 11, 2014 by The Dog House

[bottle]

How will you maintain your batteries? (rhetorical)

 

Run your engine, possibly that will also give you hot water, just a little planning required.

 

Other points already made.

 

Edit: just a thought, of course this will not work with an air cooled engine.

Edited March 11, 2014 by bottle

[stagedamager]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-20l-solar-shower-n62nt

 

Plenty of these on the market, nice and cheap, maybe worth a try??

 

Dan

[junior]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-20l-solar-shower-n62nt

 

Plenty of these on the market, nice and cheap, maybe worth a try??

 

Dan

Spent 6 months in Afghanistan under one of them. If I ever see another one I will cut it to pieces.

 

I agree - if you really are averse to using the engine then a Morco is really your only viable option for HW on the boat.

 

Plus AFAIK your calorifier has to have an appropriate fitting in order to be able to ftt an immersion heater element - the OP's may not be suitable in that respect alone. ie there may be space for it but that is not the only consideration.

I'm not adverse to using the engine, and I expect to move enough that I should rarely have to run the engine static just for hot water. It would just be annoying to HAVE to move just for a shower. Plus I have a vintage/trad engine that makes a right racket so sitting inside the boat whilst it's running is a no no.

 

The surveyor looked at the calorifier and made a comment along the lines of "oh that's good, you can fit an immersion element if you want to". Something about having a fitting for one? Seems like that's not a good idea without mains hook up anyway, so from the comments so far I've pretty much ruled that out already.

[Barry]

My lady is in exactly the same situation as you, Junior.

 

She solved the problem by getting something like this portable pressurised shower, though hers is a garden spray with a shower head adapter. She just boils a kettle and puts some cold in to get the temperature right.

 

You might have to run round underneath it to get wet and switch it off while you soap up - but its better than a strip wash and better than those crap solar showers

 

Inexpensive temporary solution till you can fit a morco?

Edited March 11, 2014 by Bazza2

[Phil Ambrose]

I know nothing about your set up but I would have thought that living aboard you would need to run the engine for a period every day for the wellbeing of your battery bank (unless you have a good PV array) This would provide hot water

Phil

[musicman]

If the problem is a summer problem, then why not think about solar thermal panel as an option?

We have oooodles of hot water from a solar thermal panel on our roof at home - though you would need a spare coil in your calorifier to connect it to. I seem to remember someone on here rigged one up as a DIY project a couple of years ago.

 

Just seemed to me to be a different way of solving your problem without resorting to either using diesel or electric to raise the temperature of cold water. The sun does it for free (once you have paid for and installed the new equipment required)

[ChimneyChain]

Just fit a morco it won't take long to fit and who knows if one was fitted before. A calorifier Is ok if you want a quick shower but what if you want to do the washing up or something else you end up having to wait for the engine to heat the water back up.

 

Darren

[Alan de Enfield]

Just fit a morco it won't take long to fit and who knows if one was fitted before.

Darren

 

It would not be listed on the previous BSS, but when the time came for a new BSS it would "show up".

Spent 6 months in Afghanistan under one of them. If I ever see another one I will cut it to pieces.

 

 

Were you not there to do something else rather than stand under the shower ?

I bet you were 'pink & wrinkly

[John Williamson 1955]

Two options, one of which has already been mentioned. In the past, I've used a garden sprayer and a watering can. The can got suspended from the ceiling, and the sprayer held about a gallon of water, warmed by, as has been suggested, boiling a kettle.

 

As for fitting a Morco heater, you need to make sure the installation is safe and complies with the BSS rules, and as you already have a gas cooker, most of the hard work's already been done. Just branch a pipe off the cooker feed, and make sure the flue on the Morco and the ventilation in the shower room are adequate for the job. With practice, you don't even need a mixer valve on the shower, as you can adjust the Morco temperature to suit. Then run a pipe to the sink for hot water in the kitchen. The hard bit wil be sorting out the water side of the plumbing, not the gas.

[Alan de Enfield]

Two options, one of which has already been mentioned. In the past, I've used a garden sprayer and a watering can. The can got suspended from the ceiling, and the sprayer held about a gallon of water, warmed by, as has been suggested, boiling a kettle.

 

As for fitting a Morco heater, you need to make sure the installation is safe and complies with the BSS rules, and as you already have a gas cooker, most of the hard work's already been done. Just branch a pipe off the cooker feed, and make sure the flue on the Morco and the ventilation in the shower room are adequate for the job. With practice, you don't even need a mixer valve on the shower, as you can adjust the Morco temperature to suit. Then run a pipe to the sink for hot water in the kitchen. The hard bit wil be sorting out the water side of the plumbing, not the gas.

 

If the boat was not originally fitted with a Morco then the gas pipe could be undersized and may need to be increased. I believe that you need to take account of the volume of gas needed to run all the appliances at the same time - maybe MtB orother Gas Bods have chapter & Verse

[b0atman]

I wonder about a radiator painted black and laid on roof pipe into calorifier coil pipework from backboiler will need some valves and a pump ?Roof does get hot in the summer

[Dave_P]

I'm picturing a Heath-Robinson set up with a high level tank next to the existing shower cubicle (an old toilet cistern maybe). You heat water on your hob in a urn or big kettle. Then pour the water into your high level tank. Then you open a valve on the tank and hot water comes down a pipe with a shower head on the end, into your shower cubicle. If you're clever you could install a tank on the roof for extra gravity pressure. I reckon I could build something like that from old bits for about £50.

[Captain Fizz]

Another item to add to the project list!

[Athy]

A calorifier Is ok if you want a quick shower but what if you want to do the washing up or something else you end up having to wait for the engine to heat the water back up.

 

Darren

We get round this by using a process known as "heating a pan of water on the hob". It's a bit technical for me but I think I've mastered it now.

[OldPeculier]

When I lived on my old Springer I used to fill a bucket with warm water and had a small bilge pump with a shower head on a bit of hose. I'd empty half the bucket then put the pump in the shower tray to recirculate the water then rinse off with the rest of the clean water. In the summer I'd shower on the rear deck. (it was a quiet mooring)

[ChimneyChain]

We get round this by using a process known as "heating a pan of water on the hob". It's a bit technical for me but I think I've mastered it now.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

 

Darren

[BEngo]

 

 

As for fitting a Morco heater, you need to make sure the installation is safe and complies with the BSS rules, and as you already have a gas cooker, most of the hard work's already been done. Just branch a pipe off the cooker feed, and make sure the flue on the Morco and the ventilation in the shower room are adequate for the job. With practice, you don't even need a mixer valve on the shower, as you can adjust the Morco temperature to suit. Then run a pipe to the sink for hot water in the kitchen. The hard bit wil be sorting out the water side of the plumbing, not the gas.

 

 

My bold above. It is not permitted to fit a multi-point water heater in a bathroom under either the GSIUR regulations for houses or under the BSS. Too many people were killed by Ascot type water heaters because the air they needed caused cold draughts and so the ventilation was stopped up by the users.

 

 

A Morco is still your best bet for summer hot water.

 

N

[Athy]

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

 

Darren

....of which, in this case, I am not guilty. We do heat pans of water to do the evening washing up, so that there will be warm water left in the calorifier for washing the next morning. I am a notoriously non-technical person.

[Guest]

Just fit a morco it won't take long to fit and who knows if one was fitted before. A calorifier Is ok if you want a quick shower but what if you want to do the washing up or something else you end up having to wait for the engine to heat the water back up.

Darren

That depends on size and how long you run the engine for. We normally get two showers and more than enough hot water for washing up.

 

We do not however run the shower continuously whilst showering, and just run it to get wet and rinse as required.

[Nightwatch]

That depends on size and how long you run the engine for. We normally get two showers and more than enough hot water for washing up.

We do not however run the shower continuously whilst showering, and just run it to get wet and rinse as required.

one of the first things I realise I miss once we get home after being on the boat. Standing under a continuous hot shower!

Martyn

[ChimneyChain]

Me and my wife like to take long hot showers together, that's why we have a morco. Nothing worse than lathering each other up only to find the hot water going cold and me jumping out to start the engine. Takes the edge of it a bit.

 

Darren

[David Schweizer]

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

 

Darren

 

May I refer you to another idiom "Pot calling the Kettle black" ?