Hallo from a complete newbie to narrow boating.

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Also a technophobe so don't know how I'll get on with this forum. All advice appreciated. My husband and I have been sailing for years but now moved sideways to our first narrow boat. We plan to live onboard once our house sells, we can then retire and plan to be genuine continuous cruisers. So currently weekending and personalising an ex holiday fleet 56 footer. Main jobs, fitting a solid fuel fire with back boiler, figuring out electrics to suit us. We are simple souls in more than one way. Which makes our biggest challenge very difficult. How do we keep contact with So called civilisation. Wifi, mobile phone and I guess some basic tv.

 

Any suggestions appreciated x

[dmr]

The canal is much more civilised than the real world so don't bother with keeping in touch with it?

 

...................Dave

[Boat&Bikes]

Hello and welcome to the forum. If you look back over the last few threads on here you will see lots of info on wifi, phones and TVs . Pretty much all you need to now. Enjoy the read. Ian.

[bigste]

Wifi is easy enough if you get a mifi with external antenna. Tv is easy enough with freeview. I guess managing electic is the hard bit for newcomers.

[OldGoat]

If you want the comforts of modern life - and why not - your list of semi land based comforts indicates to me that you need to look at the way you generate electricity. Hire boats only have a basic alternator and minimum battery capacity.

It would be good if you increased the alternator size and doubled (?) the domestic battery bank.

 

Is there any form of heating in the boat at the moment?

 

How is the hot water heated?

[Scholar Gypsy]

Welcome.

 

If you miss the sailing I would commend the River Cam ... As you can see I have a bit of difficulty with this giving way to sail idea.

 

[Mrs Puddleduck]

The canal is much more civilised than the real world so don't bother with keeping in touch with it?

 

...................Dave

The canal is much more civilised than the real world so don't bother with keeping in touch with it?

 

...................Dave

Like your style, the easiest option by far x

Wifi is easy enough if you get a mifi with external antenna. Tv is easy enough with freeview. I guess managing electic is the hard bit for newcomers.

Wifi is easy enough if you get a mifi with external antenna. Tv is easy enough with freeview. I guess managing electic is the hard bit for newcomers.

Wifi is easy enough if you get a mifi with external antenna. Tv is easy enough with freeview. I guess managing electic is the hard bit for newcomers.

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Mmm mifi ????

If you want the comforts of modern life - and why not - your list of semi land based comforts indicates to me that you need to look at the way you generate electricity. Hire boats only have a basic alternator and minimum battery capacity.

It would be good if you increased the alternator size and doubled (?) the domestic battery bank.

 

Is there any form of heating in the boat at the moment?

 

How is the hot water heated?

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Gas boiler and radiators. Lovely and warm, burned gas bottle in 3 days, no longer allowed to use. Solar panels purchased and alternator appears to be charging bank of 4 batteries ok. We don't use much power but trying to plan for future self sufficiency. Engine heats water when motoring. Want to fit solid fuel fire with back boiler to take over from gas

Welcome.

 

If you miss the sailing I would commend the River Cam ... As you can see I have a bit of difficulty with this giving way to sail idea.

 

[nicknorman]

Mmm mifi ????

 

MiFi is a stand-alone dongle that receives 3g data via phone masts and re-broadcasts it over wifi, in other words your own personal wifi hotspot. This allows multiple devices to get internet access from the one device. The advantage of MiFi over, say, using a phone to tether is that they often have an aerial socket so you can plug in a 3G aerial and have it outside. Inside a steel narrowboat is not a good place to receive a weak signal. Typically a MiFi can be either run from its own internal battery or from a plug-in charger.

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Beautiful thank you. However we are trying to end that very long love affair. You may know how difficult new relationships can be. Struggling with all the new stuff and then someone gives you a reminder of the familiar arrhhhhh.

[nicknorman]

Gas boiler and radiators. Lovely and warm, burned gas bottle in 3 days, no longer allowed to use. Solar panels purchased and alternator appears to be charging bank of 4 batteries ok. We don't use much power but trying to plan for future self sufficiency. Engine heats water when motoring. Want to fit solid fuel fire with back boiler to take over from gas

 

Solid fuel fire - great. Back boiler as well... Hmmm, not so simple. If the water stops circulating with the fire on you will at best get steam and hot water venting out everywhere as the water in the BB boils. So you need to ensure that the water doesn't stop circulating, ever. You can have a gravity system but with the limited space in boats that is not particularly easy to retrofit. You need large diameter pipes with gentle bends and no restrictions. I believe it can be quite difficult to get gravity circulation to a calorifier for hot water, especially with a conventional layout where the BB is at the front and the calorifier is at the back.

 

So you can have a pumped system, but you need to think what will happen when the pump fails / battery goes flat / fuse blows etc. You probably need an automatic backup pump from a different power source etc.

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Beautiful thank you. However we are trying to end that very long love affair. You may know how difficult new relationships can be. Struggling with all the new stuff and then someone gives you a reminder of the familiar arrhhhhh.

Last reply was in answer to scholar gypsy. Not got the hang of this forum business yet but thanks for the replies guys X

[PaulG]

Also a technophobe so don't know how I'll get on with this forum. All advice appreciated. My husband and I have been sailing for years but now moved sideways to our first narrow boat. We plan to live onboard once our house sells, we can then retire and plan to be genuine continuous cruisers. So currently weekending and personalising an ex holiday fleet 56 footer. Main jobs, fitting a solid fuel fire with back boiler, figuring out electrics to suit us. We are simple souls in more than one way. Which makes our biggest challenge very difficult. How do we keep contact with So called civilisation. Wifi, mobile phone and I guess some basic tv.

 

Any suggestions appreciated x

If you only need occasional Wi-fi, then it's worth signing up to Wetherspoons free wifi.

In some locations you can moor close enough to get it on the boat.

[Mrs Puddleduck]

 

Solid fuel fire - great. Back boiler as well... Hmmm, not so simple. If the water stops circulating with the fire on you will at best get steam and hot water venting out everywhere as the water in the BB boils. So you need to ensure that the water doesn't stop circulating, ever. You can have a gravity system but with the limited space in boats that is not particularly easy to retrofit. You need large diameter pipes with gentle bends and no restrictions. I believe it can be quite difficult to get gravity circulation to a calorifier for hot water, especially with a conventional layout where the BB is at the front and the calorifier is at the back.

 

So you can have a pumped system, but you need to think what will happen when the pump fails / battery goes flat / fuse blows etc. You probably need an automatic backup pump from a different power source etc.

Yes I think your reply echoes a really helpful guy at the marina. Seems to think it's doable but we will probably need a lot of advice. Husbands territory really but he's not as good as me at admitting we know nothing!!!

 

MiFi is a stand-alone dongle that receives 3g data via phone masts and re-broadcasts it over wifi, in other words your own personal wifi hotspot. This allows multiple devices to get internet access from the one device. The advantage of MiFi over, say, using a phone to tether is that they often have an aerial socket so you can plug in a 3G aerial and have it outside. Inside a steel narrowboat is not a good place to receive a weak signal. Typically a MiFi can be either run from its own internal battery or from a plug-in charger.

Thanks for that. I'm taking notes and beginning to put the picture together. X

[OldGoat]

Butting in again -

IMHO (we don't have a back boiler)

There have been threads on here over the years about back boilers and existing central heating and I suspect (consensus was) that they don't work.

We have a small-ish stove in the saloon which heats that area too well - The Management likes a cold bedroom so it does the job.

It would be more effective to bite the bullet and retrofit a Webasto (etc) type boiler to replace the gas unit; use it to get the boat warm, heat the water, dry the towels etc. If you run it when charging the batteries / cruising you'll not notice the battery consumption. This topic need expansion - which folks will doubtless jump in and explain - if you're interested.

[patty-ann]

Hope it all goes well..I have a wi fi dongle thingy and its enough for basic internet..guess like me u don't want to download stuff and only wanna surf web/email and its great for that. I don't live aboard..wish I could but unfortunately things didn't pan out as I planned.

TV I put up a aerial which is one of those 360 degree ones cos I knew Id never suss out which way to point one..its not great and had to increase pole length..bit OTT now but it does as I don't watch much.

Phone..not all get great signal..3 network seems to be the best

Cannot help with other technical stuff or boilers or electrics...but welcome..

[Athy]

. Which makes our biggest challenge very difficult. How do we keep contact with So called civilisation.

Why would you want to? Perhaps a couple of portable battery-powered wirelesses?

 

Welcome, by the way!

[Mrs Puddleduck]

If you only need occasional Wi-fi, then it's worth signing up to Wetherspoons free wifi.

In some locations you can moor close enough to get it on the boat.

Thanks for the idea. Got to admit mooring up by a weather spoons is not part of the dream but if the need was great !!!

Why would you want to? Perhaps a couple of portable battery-powered wirelesses?

 

Welcome, by the way!

Thank you x

Butting in again -

IMHO (we don't have a back boiler)

There have been threads on here over the years about back boilers and existing central heating and I suspect (consensus was) that they don't work.

We have a small-ish stove in the saloon which heats that area too well - The Management likes a cold bedroom so it does the job.

It would be more effective to bite the bullet and retrofit a Webasto (etc) type boiler to replace the gas unit; use it to get the boat warm, heat the water, dry the towels etc. If you run it when charging the batteries / cruising you'll not notice the battery consumption. This topic need expansion - which folks will doubtless jump in and explain - if you're interested.

Sadly very interested. There is nothing more useful than the words of those who have done it. JUst takes a bit of understanding to those of who have not. REally grateful for everyone's advice. Xx

Hope it all goes well..I have a wi fi dongle thingy and its enough for basic internet..guess like me u don't want to download stuff and only wanna surf web/email and its great for that. I don't live aboard..wish I could but unfortunately things didn't pan out as I planned.

TV I put up a aerial which is one of those 360 degree ones cos I knew Id never suss out which way to point one..its not great and had to increase pole length..bit OTT now but it does as I don't watch much.

Phone..not all get great signal..3 network seems to be the best

Cannot help with other technical stuff or boilers or electrics...but welcome..

Thanks for that, especially the 'thingy' nice to know others are getting by at my level.

[PaulG]

Butting in again -

IMHO (we don't have a back boiler)

There have been threads on here over the years about back boilers and existing central heating and I suspect (consensus was) that they don't work.

We have a small-ish stove in the saloon which heats that area too well - The Management likes a cold bedroom so it does the job.

It would be more effective to bite the bullet and retrofit a Webasto (etc) type boiler to replace the gas unit; use it to get the boat warm, heat the water, dry the towels etc. If you run it when charging the batteries / cruising you'll not notice the battery consumption. This topic need expansion - which folks will doubtless jump in and explain - if you're interested.

I've got a Morso Squirrel with a back boiler and it works just fine, just by convection.

There is a 12V circulation pump, but I've never needed to use it.

[nicknorman]

If it helps:

 

1/ Gas heating... Quiet, uses little electrical power, clean, reliable, very expensive to run, can be used with a thermostat

 

2/ Diesel heating via an evaporative heater (Mikuni, webasto etc)... Can be noisy, uses a noticeable amount of electrical power, clean, can be unreliable or at least require "careful driving" and regular servicing, fairly cheap to run at the moment (price of diesel fluctuates), not recommended to use with a thermostat.

 

3/ Diesel heating via a drip heater (Kabola etc) silent, only uses power if you have a circulation pump, clean, fairly reliable, same price to run as 2/, cannot be used with a thermostat

 

4/ Pressure jet diesel heater (hurricane etc) fairly quiet, uses some power, clean, reliable, same price to run as 2/ but expensive to buy, normally used with a thermostat.

 

5/ solid fuel stove ... Silent, uses no power unless you have a circulation pump, very dirty, needs regular feeding and emptying, regular replenishment of fuel stocks, fairly cheap to run or free if you source your own wood. Can be cheap to buy. Back boiler / water heating difficult to implement, cannot be used with a thermostat.

I've got a Morso Squirrel with a back boiler and it works just fine, just by convection.

There is a 12V circulation pump, but I've never needed to use it.

Does it heat your hot water? How many radiators, how far from the stove?

[Mrs Puddleduck]

Thanks, so it can work x

[OldGoat]

Thanks, so it can work x

Well maybe it can - but there are many caveats if you are modifying an existing system that was not originally designed to work that way.

I've found on this forum that often folks say "it works well for me" - then you discover that what works for them is not the same as what you want to do or the way that you have to do it.

Some have a thermo syphon system (like a vintage car) - but both are simple, that is a clear large bore pipe from the heat source to one or two (?) radiators. Some have pumps running continuously.

 

I get the feeling that modifying an existing system with an already unsuitable pipe layout may end (if not even begin) in tears...

 

I've no axe to grind - just want you to get something that works and is reliable.

[colmac]

When we are out on our extended summer cruise we us a 3 network dongle which has not failed too often but then we only use it to smurf the inter web, no actual computing/downloading etc. As for TV, after much trial and error we bought a Moonraker antennae from Maplins and it gives the best results although, there are places on the cut you will never get TV even with a satellite thing. Which begs the question; how come NASA can send signals to machines far out in space but you can't get telly in Kinver ?

[cuthound]

Which begs the question; how come NASA can send signals to machines far out in space but you can't get telly in Kinver ?

Line of sight