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Full sized bath on a narrowboat


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So here's my dream - I'm on my boat, lying in a bath, with a little porthole, or inched open curtain, watching the swans glide by.

I know that there are a lot of barriers to overcome in pursuit of said dream - but I'd like some advice.

 

First of all circumstances - I'll almost certainly be buying something affordable for now, and then looking to adapt it to my ideals further on down the road. How realistic is it to:

 

a) extend a bathroom to accomodate a full sized bath (obviously borrowing space from adjacent areas)?

 

cool.png install a larger water tank (I have 1000l in mind)?

 

What would you say is the minimum boat length that would make this a feasable reality?

 

Any advice on heating that amount of water also appreciated.

 

I think (hope?) I'm fairly realistic about this - I'm picturing a bath about once a week or so (in addition to showers), and I'm aware that I'll be sacrificing valuable living space for this extravagant little luxury!

 

eta: didn't really intend that smiley, but I guess water tanks are pretty cool!

Edited by The Narrow Way
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I consider my bath an essential.... there has to be some things you cant give up when moving from a house! My bath is 5 foot in a walk through bathroom and with shower over. I have a water tank that holds 420 litres and a 15 gallon calorifier with an immersion heater. I do run that from mains as Im in a marina. Again because Im in a marina I can fill the water tank easily so I can do a couple of baths a week and short showers in between before needing to fill again. The immersion heats the water from the top down and when cruising the engine heats it from the bottom up.

 

The immersion takes a couple of hours to get sufficient hot water for a decent depth bath but when one has been cruising for four or five hours then there is plenty of stonking hot water ....just the thing to anticipate whilst stood out on the back deck.

 

I have to admit to wishing for maybe a slightly longer bath but then Id lose wardrobe space in the bedroom beyond, so if you can fit it then go for the standard bath length. Its worth it.

  • Greenie 1
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Firstly a 1000 litre water tank is not unusual.

 

According to BS6700 a standard 1700mm x 700mm bath uses approximately 100 litres of water at 40′C

This is split into 60% hot and 40% cold water when hot water is stored at60′C.

Note; an average 1700 x 700mm bath holds approximately 180 litres up to overflow level.

The National Health Service safe water temperature for baths is 44-46′C

Average bathing temperature is 40-42′C

Maximum hand temperature on average is 47-48′C

Maximum body temperature on average is 42-43′C

 

You are therefore going to need a calorifier of at least 60 litres (more would be better to minimise the cold water coming in and cooling the hot water)

 

How would you propose to heat the water ?

Will you be on a landline in a marina ?

Will you be cruising ?

 

The engine should warm it up in a couple or three hours, depending on how hard you are working the engine.

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Can't remember when I last had a bath on land or water & they are a total waste of valuable space on a narrowboat when you are going to use it once a week. A full size shower or a wet room is the way to go IMO.

valuable space? meh... luxury space? certainly... but I know which I value more, so not a total waste of space IMO and one can store stuff in the bath thats easily shifted when needed ....for example those giant laundry bags with clean bedding, or indeed laundry....Oh and two large bean bags for guest seating. Useful spaces baths!

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What to use the space on board for is an exercise in priorities, What do you want to fill the space with?

 

If you cruise daily then there should be one or two baths according to the size and temperature of the calorifier. If you want two baths a day then expect to use a lot of water. There really is no point in having a bath if you are only going to put an inch of water in the plug end and splash in it.

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valuable space? meh... luxury space? certainly... but I know which I value more, so not a total waste of space IMO and one can store stuff in the bath thats easily shifted when needed ....for example those giant laundry bags with clean bedding, or indeed laundry....Oh and two large bean bags for guest seating. Useful spaces baths!

Don't forget the coal.

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I love baths. I've a small bath on my boat, a 600 litre tank and a tap next to my boat, but the water pressure is s bad here it can take four hours to fill up. So I've only ever had one bath. The actual tub is essential though, for throwing the dirty dog in to shower him - a normal shower tray would mean getting soaked whileI washed him!

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http://www.albionbathco.com/bathrooms/small%20and%20short%20bath%20and%20tubs/TubbyTubBath.html

 

No prices on the web site which usually means they are a little on the expensive side.

 

What would you do with one of them?

I'd look bleedin' inelgegent sitting in one of them that's for sure!

Not that I'd look elegant naked in any setting, but you know what I mean.

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Large baths need large calorifiers. Our last share boat had a large corner bath. To fill it with enough hot water it had a 70 litre horizontal calorifier in the engine hole.

 

It was prone to getting air locked and a bu***er to bleed.

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There was a bath on Cressy ... so it's not a new idea! I think that one was raised so it could drain by gravity into the canal! ... Now there's an idea, it would improve your view of the ducks!

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