which stove for a 60ft

[trundler]

Hi,

 

Have just moved from a 45ft to a 60ft narrowboat. The new boat had a morso converted to a diesel stove.....not done very well, as we found out when we had to call the fire brigade at 11.45 on a sunday night. A visit from an engineer , and he has told us it is very dangerous and not to use. So, now we are getting confused. The engineer swears by a bubble stove, quite a price. The fire is situated in the corner at the front of the boat. My question is would a Boatman stove be man enough to keep a 60ft trad warm at least as far as the bedroom. we have an Ecofan,. Many thanks for any replies. It wo0uld be nice to gaze into the a safe fire.

[NB Lola]

Keeping a 60ft boat warm with the fire at the front, no chance. Our boat is 57ft and the back never got warm until we fitted rads and a webasto

[Guest]

Keeping a 60ft boat warm with the fire at the front, no chance. Our boat is 57ft and the back never got warm until we fitted rads and a webasto

We too struggled to get warm air right through a 60 foot boat. Morso squirrel front left side of lounge and the (completely useless) Ecofan.

 

If we needed to warm the rear cabin in winter we had to fire up the Webasto diesel heater for the central heating radiators. That sorted it but the stove alone could not.

[Alan de Enfield]

.... we have an Ecofan,.

 

Ahhhh - another one easily led astray by useless gadgets.

[Loafer]

Our front left-hand-side Morso heats to our back cabin, until the outside air temp gets to about zero. Then I have to light the back cabin stove. 62'.

[peterboat]

stove with backboiler would be the best bet and then some rads down the boat

[Alan de Enfield]

To answer your questions - pretty much any 'fire' with a backboiler to heat the radiators that are installed all along the length of the boat.

 

Alternatively an eberspacher that will heat your radiators and is a much more 'flexible' heater, allowing you to have heating in a matter of minutes on those chilly summer evenings when you either do not have any coal, or it will take too long to get the fire hot. but will keep you warm in the deepest, darkest, coldest winter

[churchward]

Any stove around 4KW output will be fine. It is better to run a stove near or at maximum output than get a large one at 50% It is true that the heat in the boat will not be even right to the back with a stove located right at the front. So like others say radiators run from a back boiler would do the trick. An alternative is to run a plastic tube and some small PC 12 volt fans (you could run them at half voltage to make them quieter) to move warm air to the back of the boat. It is effective I have seen someone do it that way to good effect.

[trundler]

thank you all. We do have CH by webasto. but I was interested in what KW of stove. what a minefield. Is the BOatman big enough ?

[Southern Star]

My stove keeps the saloon toasty hot and I really don't care what happens in the cabin, once I'm under the duvet I'm warm enough for the night.

[Dave_P]

thank you all. We do have CH by webasto. but I was interested in what KW of stove. what a minefield. Is the BOatman big enough ?

How open plan is your boat?

[churchward]

thank you all. We do have CH by webasto. but I was interested in what KW of stove. what a minefield. Is the BOatman big enough ?

As I said above any stove about 4KW give or take will be fine. A Boatman is a good stove and compared to the price of some good value. We have a Salamander Hobbit on our boat (replacing a Morso) which is about the same size and is very good too.

My stove keeps the saloon toasty hot and I really don't care what happens in the cabin, once I'm under the duvet I'm warm enough for the night.

I agree. I don't like an over warm bedroom that's what the Duvet is for. So having it cooler at the back of the boat is just right for us.

[canals are us?]

This could be the ideal opportunity to move the new stove further down the boat and get a better distribution of heat. If you then found it unsatisfactory you could then install a backboiler and rad in the bedroom. Moving the stove further down the boat would save money on extra copper piping if you did ever fit a backboiler.

 

My stove on my 50ft trad is at the front and my bedroom was chilly until I fitted a back boiler and 2 rads. My stove is 4.5kw in output.

 

James

[nb Innisfree]

Innisfree is 60', centrally located 4kw SF stove with ecofan directed to side corridor kept rear bedrooms warm in coldest weather.

 

Centrally located stove is a must IMO.

[bigcol]

A lot of keeping a boat warm is a well insulated boat.

Position of a stove is so important.

Many boats have a stove right at the far end, if you are changing a stove,

as canals are us said, use this chance to move the stove nearer the middle if you can.

 

All the best

 

Col

As inns free said

Central located stove is a must

[peterboat]

i agree col my rayburn is a third of the way down the boat the oil fired bubble is at the front [i didnt fit it] it is however a reserve stove so doesnt get used a lot

[bottle]

All this mention of moving the stove to the centre of the boat does not mention the actual location and the way the boat is fitted out.

 

I know of one boat where the stove is fitted in the 'centre' (side to side, rear of saloon) of the boat but because it sits with its back to a low level bulkhead, heat does not travel to the back of the boat.

 

I have a 60' boat, a Morsø Squirrel 1430, fitted in the front left corner and like a few others the temperature gradient from front to back of the boat is perfect.

 

All doors are left open except the one to the engine room at the back (modern trad). going past that door requires thermals.

[blackrose]

Why do so many people install stoves at the end of narrowboats rather than somewhere near the middle? If the stove has a backboiler and rads that's one thing, but a stove without a backboiler in the corner by the door is a bit silly in my opinion - considering that a central location would provide much more efficient heat distribution throughout the boat which is what we all want! Some stove installations seem to be done as an afterthought, siting the stove in a "convenient place" to utilise the minimum footprint after the rest of the fit-out has been completed.

 

Perhaps this is mainly done by builders/fitters who have no first-hand experience of actually living on a boat in winter and then inexperienced DIYers have copied their ideas? There just seem to be an awful lot of narrowboats with poorly located stoves.

Edited February 9, 2016 by blackrose

[blackrose]

 

 

I have a 60' boat, a Morsø Squirrel 1430, fitted in the front left corner and like a few others the temperature gradient from front to back of the boat is perfect.

 

Mmmm... personally I don't want a temperature gradient - or at least I want the gradient between the hottest and coldest areas to be minimal. Obviously it's going to be hotter right next to the stove compared to anywhere else, but I want the temperature around the boat to be as even as possible.

[churchward]

Why do so many people install stoves at the end of narrowboats rather than somewhere near the middle? If the stove has a backboiler and rads that's one thing, but a stove without a backboiler in the corner by the door is a bit silly in my opinion - considering that a central location would provide much more efficient heat distribution throughout the boat which is what we all want! Some stove installations seem to be done as an afterthought, siting the stove in a "convenient place" to utilise the minimum footprint after the rest of the fit-out has been completed.

 

Perhaps this is mainly done by builders/fitters who have no first-hand experience of actually living on a boat in winter and then inexperienced DIYers have copied their ideas? There just seem to be an awful lot of narrowboats with poorly located stoves.

I agree. Generally I think it is thinking about use of space over efficiently heating the boat and with several more modern boats the stove has been a secondary heating source anyway.

 

Having the stove further into the boat is better for heat but can also create a "division" in the space on a narrowboat which some may see as too much of an inconvenience. We like the position of our stove which is a 1/4 or 1/3rd the way down the boat and seems a reasonable compromise in having a living/kitchen area warm and cooler at the back of the boat in the bedroom area that we find better for sleeping.

Edited February 9, 2016 by churchward

[bigcol]

Why do so many people install stoves at the end of narrowboats rather than somewhere near the middle? If the stove has a backboiler and rads that's one thing, but a stove without a backboiler in the corner by the door is a bit silly in my opinion - considering that a central location would provide much more efficient heat distribution throughout the boat which is what we all want! Some stove installations seem to be done as an afterthought, siting the stove in a "convenient place" to utilise the minimum footprint after the rest of the fit-out has been completed.

 

Perhaps this is mainly done by builders/fitters who have no first-hand experience of actually living on a boat in winter and then inexperienced DIYers have copied their ideas? There just seem to be an awful lot of narrowboats with poorly located stoves.

Totally agree,

More people instructing new build commissions,should request stove in or nearest the middle.

 

Col

Edited February 9, 2016 by bigcol

[nb Innisfree]

Why do so many people install stoves at the end of narrowboats rather than somewhere near the middle? If the stove has a backboiler and rads that's one thing, but a stove without a backboiler in the corner by the door is a bit silly in my opinion - considering that a central location would provide much more efficient heat distribution throughout the boat which is what we all want! Some stove installations seem to be done as an afterthought, siting the stove in a "convenient place" to utilise the minimum footprint after the rest of the fit-out has been completed.

 

Perhaps this is mainly done by builders/fitters who have no first-hand experience of actually living on a boat in winter and then inexperienced DIYers have copied their ideas? There just seem to be an awful lot of narrowboats with poorly located stoves.

I wonder if it has just become a tradition, folk see a stove at the front and think that's the way it should be done and builders build what they think customers want. and so the circle keeps going on.

 

ETA: When I was fitting Innisfree out a curious visitor to the yard said they thought the stove should be at the front.

Edited February 9, 2016 by nb Innisfree

[blackrose]

I wonder if it has just become a tradition, folk see a stove at the front and think that's the way it should be done and builders build what they think customers want. and so the circle keeps going on. Probably

 

ETA: When I was fitting Innisfree out a curious visitor to the yard said they thought the stove should be at the front. Why?

[Neil T]

 

Ahhhh - another one easily led astray by useless gadgets.

 

Stirling Engine fan. Morso squirrel at the front with Stirling on top gets warm air about fifty foot, so through lounge, galley and the sleeping cabin beyond. Only at top whack though. Lovely sound to go to sleep to.

[Sabcat]

I've got a squirrel on a 62ft boat, no back boiler. It isn't shoved up a corner at the front of the boat, it isn't really in the middle though either. It's in the saloon about 10ft from the front doors. That cold winter we had (2009-2010?) when temperatures were down around -15 and it never go above zero even during the day it was necessary to use an oil filled radiator in the bedroom but normally the stove is the only heating we have.

 

We do have an eco fan on it but that is of questionable use (except for letting you know how well the fire is going) what is good is setting up your over head vents (mushrooms on our boat) so that the one furthest from the stove is open fully and the rest are closed down. This causes the warm air to circulate down the boat.