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Electric Heaters

Tony A

By Tony A
in Boat Equipment

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cuthound Veteran II

cuthoundDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

I use a couple of these from CPC to keep the frost of my 60 foot narrowboat. They were recommended by another forum user.

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/cype-7/700w-mini-oil-filled-radiator/dp/HG00539

 

I control them with a plug in thermostat as it is more accurate and can be set accurately to 5 degrees C.

 

Edited to add the bit about the plug in thermostat.

Edited by cuthound
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OldGoat Veteran II

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Posted
Posted

I have a couple of a previous model - 800W - and they didn't contribute much heat, but then they were used to keep the engine room above freezing and the water tank ditto.

 

I find one of CPC's el-cheapo blower heaters (2Kw) is better when I'm onboard

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted

Can anyone recommend a compact efficient heater for winter heating on a narrow boat ?

 

How are you planning to power it ?

 

Mains / marina 'hook-up'

Generator

Your batteries via a inverter ?

 

Last winter we were on holiday ( in Sunny climes) for much of the winter and although it was not overly cold (in the UK) we used a huge amount of electricity.

We left 2x 800 watt oil filled radiators (one in the front, & one in the back) plugged in, and fed the 'lecky bollard with £30 worth of cards - apparently this did not last very long - it transpired that although we set the thermostats to the minimum 'frost setting' (apparently about 4 or 5oC) the temperature was hovering around this all of the time and the heaters were on continuous as the heat output of the 2x small oil filled radiators could not keep up with the boat heat losses.

 

We were using 1.6 'units' per hour ( about 38 units per day, at £0.12 per unit = £4.50 per day) so we ran up quite a large electricity bill - with hind sight maybe we should just have asked our 'neighbours' to plug the lead in if the temperature got down to freezing for more than a day or so.

 

Electrical heating is only viable if you have a landline / hook-up and even the be prepared to 'pay for it'

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BruceinSanity Influencer

BruceinSanityDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

I paid just under 40 squids for a 1.5Kw oil filled rad from Screwfix. Internal thermostat, external 'stat plus timer. We're on the boat atm and turn it on for an hour before we get up. Keeps the back of the boat warm enough though not toasty (the wretched Hurricane has gone t*ts up again, I think I'll swap it for a Webasto).

 

When we're off the boat in the winter, it goes in the saloon to keep the water tank safe. I've another baby oil filled, 450W, that sits in the back then to keep the bathroom frost free.

 

Edit to correct the price, should've checked it first...

Edited by BruceinSanity
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Dave_P Veteran

Dave_PDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

 

How are you planning to power it ?

 

Mains / marina 'hook-up'

Generator

Your batteries via a inverter ?

 

Last winter we were on holiday ( in Sunny climes) for much of the winter and although it was not overly cold (in the UK) we used a huge amount of electricity.

We left 2x 800 watt oil filled radiators (one in the front, & one in the back) plugged in, and fed the 'lecky bollard with £30 worth of cards - apparently this did not last very long - it transpired that although we set the thermostats to the minimum 'frost setting' (apparently about 4 or 5oC) the temperature was hovering around this all of the time and the heaters were on continuous as the heat output of the 2x small oil filled radiators could not keep up with the boat heat losses.

 

We were using 1.6 'units' per hour ( about 38 units per day, at £0.12 per unit = £4.50 per day) so we ran up quite a large electricity bill - with hind sight maybe we should just have asked our 'neighbours' to plug the lead in if the temperature got down to freezing for more than a day or so.

 

Electrical heating is only viable if you have a landline / hook-up and even the be prepared to 'pay for it'

Why didn't you just winterise your boat and let it be?

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Alan de Enfield Veteran II

Alan de Enfield

Posted
Posted

Why didn't you just winterise your boat and let it be?

 

I do / I did. (but we will normally 'boat' all thro the winter and a 'full' drain down takes time to reverse).

It was (like this year) supposed to be the coldest for 100 years and I have previously had problems with joints blowing in inaccessible places ( there always seems to be a 'corner' where the water collects and cannot be drained out. The Calorifier was a major 'pain' to drain down even tho' the previous owner had come up with a cunning plan involving valves, bits of pipe and a foot pump to blow it all out.

 

I'd rather spend a few £s on prevention than £100s on a new 'cauliflower', water pump etc etc.

 

New boat has 'proper' engine room heaters installed so if it gets cold I'll just nip down and switch them on. All water piping runs under the floor so will keep 'warm' and is easy access if it does blow a joint.

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ditchcrawler Veteran II

ditchcrawlerDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

 

I do / I did. (but we will normally 'boat' all thro the winter and a 'full' drain down takes time to reverse).

It was (like this year) supposed to be the coldest for 100 years and I have previously had problems with joints blowing in inaccessible places ( there always seems to be a 'corner' where the water collects and cannot be drained out. The Calorifier was a major 'pain' to drain down even tho' the previous owner had come up with a cunning plan involving valves, bits of pipe and a foot pump to blow it all out.

 

I'd rather spend a few £s on prevention than £100s on a new 'cauliflower', water pump etc etc.

 

New boat has 'proper' engine room heaters installed so if it gets cold I'll just nip down and switch them on. All water piping runs under the floor so will keep 'warm' and is easy access if it does blow a joint.

Mine takes about 10 minutes to get back to normal when we return to the boat.

Turn on the isolation valve at the water tank, switch on the pump and as water appears at the taps shut them, it takes a bit longer to drain it, maybe half an hour.

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