Eberspacher D1L hot air heater

[embrittain]

Hello,

 

We have just put a deposit down on our first narrowboat and although its are very exciting, its a little daunting so we am looking for some advice.

 

It currently has a Eberspacher hot air heater under the bed - does anyone know about these, is it worth keeping?

 

This is what the surveyor said

 

An Eberspacher D1L hot air heater was installed under the double berth in the forward cabin. There was a thermostat and control unit in the cabin. Ducting was no longer connected to vents and some joins in ducting had been made with duct tape.

Recommendation
Either decommission Eberspacher hot air heater or commission a qualified engineer to inspect the heater and its installation prior to its use.

 

We are just wondering whether its worth keeping hold of and getting serviced or whether we should just get rid of it?

 

Also any recommendations for an electrican and also a gas engineer in london would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Emily & Juan

[NMEA]

It is installed in a potentially dangerous position so maybe just as well it doesn't work. Unlike the diesel fired wet based systems normally fitted to narrow boats if an exhaust leak occurred it has the potential to pump exhaust gas into the accommodation and the surveyer does well in advising inspection by a qualified technichian. The D1L is not a particularly complex piece of kit but must be properly installed

[RichM]

I have one and love it. It heats up my water and the boat very quickly. it's a real luxury but they are prone to getting coked up and have other quirks so they need to be serviced yearly. Expect your diesel costs to increase if you use it as I believe they use about 0.5l an hour if I'm not mistaken. Other drawback is that they often sound like a jet on a taxiiway getting ready to take off. Ours is in the engine bay behind the bulkhead so can't really hear it inside the boat. Do have to be more aware of neighbours though.

 

If I were you I'd get one refitted properly. I don't think I'd like having a mini jet engine under my bed!

Edited June 1, 2016 by Armitage Shanks

[NMEA]

I have one and love it. It heats up my water and the boat very quickly. it's a real luxury but they are prone to getting coked up and have other quirks so they need to be serviced yearly. Expect your diesel costs to increase if you use it as I believe they use about 0.5l an hour if I'm not mistaken. Other drawback is that they often sound like a jet on a taxiiway getting ready to take off. Ours is in the engine bay behind the bulkhead so can't really hear it inside the boat. Do have to be more aware of neighbours though.

 

If I were you I'd get one refitted properly. I don't think I'd like having a mini jet engine under my bed!

I'm afraid you have not understood the original post. The heaters you have and the OPs D1L are chalk and cheese and require entirely different install considerations

[Arthur Brown]

You cannot just get rid of the boat's heater otherwise your pleasure boating season will be very short. An air heater like this with controller should be worth a service and re-install by a suitable person. Expect 1500 - 1800w of heat for 200ml of diesel hourly. Yes there will always be "boiler service" issues but you get that with ALL boilers -they all need cleaning every so often. If the controller has the 24 hour or 7 day timer it will be very possible to get the heater to come on just before you want to wake up.

 

The critical issue is that combustion air supply and fume exhaust are run exactly as the installation instructions say so that there is no chance of fumes escaping into living spaces.

 

MOST of the failings of eberspacher installations can be resolved to failure to install the system as instructed, not the heater itself.