NB Central Heating

[Rob and Heather]

Hi all (again!),

We have found (in our humble opinion) a very nice, self fitted Colecraft NB. The fitter-outer has done everything for the best of his logical and practical reasons, this is also tempered with the logic that the more that is fitted, the more to go wrong reasoning.

Hence, the NB has no central heating, apart from the ole trusty squirrel stove towards the rear of the saloon.

Please tell us, in this season of global warming and relatively warmer winters, does one really need central heating on a NB?

 

Best regards to all

 

Rob

 

Sorry! I've should have mentioned the facts:-

 

The NB is 56' 4" and that the Squirrel is at the back of the saloon (next to the galley / kitchen)

 

Would an Eco Fan help with the warmth distribution?

 

And many, many thanks to all those who are happy to contribute thei thoughts and experiences with others

Edited June 28, 2007 by Rob and Heather

[gaggle]

if you expect to make use of the boat in the depths of winter to any extent then i would put it in , snug as a bug in a rug beats shivering in extra blankets.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

I would definitely. Even though we are further south than the UK, when we came back to our house (no central heating, just gas burners downstairs) after our trip over in October, it was absolutely frigid. Even with the heater downstairs we were cold if we strayed away. Considering your house is about to be a floating steel box partly submerged in water, I'd put in the heating.

[Noah]

We use our 46ft narrowboat all year. Two years ago a very naff Mikuni boiler gave up completely on a Xmas trip and we ended up sleeping in the front with the Squirrel rather than the icy rear bedroom. I expect the temperature difference would be even more extreme on a longer boat. Eco fans will help, slightly.

 

Noah

[blackrose]

the logic that the more that is fitted, the more to go wrong

 

True, but the more systems you have the more there is to fall back on should you have problems on one.

 

There are plenty of people around who live only with a solid fuel stove and if you only have one heating system, this is the one. I did it for years and had no problems.

 

However, how long is the boat? Does the stove have a backboiler leading to any rads? (yes I know this constitutes a central heating system and you said there was none, but I was just checking). Is the stove located somewhere near the middle of the boat so that heat would get to both ends and is the boat reasonably open plan? (for the same reason).

 

My current boat has both diesel central heating & solid fuel stove. Personally I wouldn't rely only on diesel central heating from a 12v pump powered boiler (e.g. erbaspachers/webastos). A gravity drip fed diesel heater (e.g. bubble?) is better. I've seen too many erbaspachers and webastos pack up in the middle of winter leaving the occupants freezing. I only use my erbaspacher to get the boat warm for an hour a day while I'm getting the stove going and to get some hot water, and it seems to like this light treatment.

 

There's not a lot that can go wrong with a solid fuel stove but check the condition carefully.

Edited June 27, 2007 by blackrose

[david and julie]

We don't liveaboard full time, but have done this winter because we had builders in at home.

 

We have central heating and a solid fuel stove. We kept the stove lit 24/7 and the boat never got cold, indeed it was a bit too warm sometimes. However, central heating comes into its own during sudden cold spells, being both quicker and more controllable.

 

Given that a relatively simple system could be knocking on £2K, even if you do most of the work yourselves, only you can say whether you think its worth it.

[Tony Brooks]

We don't liveaboard full time, but have done this winter because we had builders in at home.

 

We have central heating and a solid fuel stove. We kept the stove lit 24/7 and the boat never got cold, indeed it was a bit too warm sometimes. However, central heating comes into its own during sudden cold spells, being both quicker and more controllable.

 

Given that a relatively simple system could be knocking on £2K, even if you do most of the work yourselves, only you can say whether you think its worth it.

 

 

2k ?????????

 

Might be if you go for one of those diesel fired jet engine thingies - then you would have likely unreliability to worry about.

 

Alde 2928 (get it while you can!!) about £650 if you shop around, then its rads, plastic pipe and a little gas work. By November 08 the cost difference between gas and diesel is likely to be much closer than it is now.

 

The Alde has a roomstat which we fitted in the centre of a 54ft boat. The stove is in the back cabin (side passage boat) the other side of the bathroom. Setting the stats to about 10 - 15 degrees at night meant the boiler only came on from the early morning and that heated the front of the boat nicely for getting up and breakfast.

 

We used the boat far more last winter and used far less gas than we ever did with the Ellis gas boiler and no stove.

 

Tony Brooks

[denboy]

if your squirrel doesnt have a back boiler you can retro fit one most good chandlers stock them on my boat as a genral rule of thumb with out any heating on inside the boat is 5 deg higher than outside temp ie if its -10 outside its -5 inside

[Orphiel]

I do ok with a 50ft boat and just the stove. Eco fan blows some air into the back bedroom, and given that it is so warm in the main part of the boat, it's a relief to get into cooler air to sleep anyway. The only irritating thing is having the long start up time to get warm when I get in from work and have to mess about getting a fire going with my coat on.

How big is the boat? If it's massive you'd probably not be able to heat it all with the stove. Also would depend where the stove is, as mine is in the middle so not so far away from the ends.

 

Meg

[chris w]

By November 08 the cost difference between gas and diesel is likely to be much closer than it is now.

 

Tony Brooks

 

 

My Webasto diesel heater uses 0.5L/hr when in full-power mode (manufacturer's figures), This mode only lasts about 20 minutes from cold start-up eg: first thing in the morning. It then runs at half-power mode (0.25L/hr) for about another 15 minutes and then moves into idle-mode which is half-power mode at a 50% duty cycle (ie: 3 minutes ON, 3 minutes OFF with just the circulation pump ON). That means for most of the heating cycle it is using about 0.125L/hr. This latter figure equates to about 6p per hour at current diesel prices rising to say around 12p/hr after Nov 2008.

 

If I run it for 3 hours from cold, which is pretty typical, the diesel usage will therefore be only 0.6 litres total which (at current prices) will cost around 30p (rising to say 60p at the end of 2008). Cheap as chips.

 

The boat is toasty warm after 30 minutes from starting but the calorifier takes a good couple of hours to heat up to shower temperature if the water is cold. (Run the maths - laws of physics).

 

Chris

[whammy]

My advice is fit the diesel central heating, we have the squirrel and webasto ch. The Squirrel gets put to bed in about late March early April, after that if the temp gets a bit low we have the central heating on for a few hours. If you have both it gives you that flexibility.

 

regards

[anhar]

Hi all (again!),

We have found (in our humble opinion) a very nice, self fitted Colecraft NB. The fitter-outer has done everything for the best of his logical and practical reasons, this is also tempered with the logic that the more that is fitted, the more to go wrong reasoning.

Hence, the NB has no central heating, apart from the ole trusty squirrel stove towards the rear of the saloon.

Please tell us, in this season of global warming and relatively warmer winters, does one really need central heating on a NB?

 

Best regards to all

 

Rob

Ch is essential in my view if you wish to use the boat in cold weather and wish to be comfortable in a modern way. I have a Hurricane diesel model.

 

Sf stoves though traditional on narrowboats involve hassle in obtaining and storing fuel, disposal of ash and are dirty and unreliable. To add insult to injury they don't even heat the whole boat properly, especially if they are located at one end as many are. Best thing probably is to have both. Most boats with ch will also have an sf stove, that's what I have and moreover, my sf stove is in the middle of the boat because my lounge area is central, thereby making it more feasible that the stove could heat the boat much more evenly than a one end job. However I intend to use the ch in the main for heating, the sf is just for a pleasant effect or back up if the ch fails. Otherwise I hardly intend using it.

 

If I was having an expensive boat built now, I wouldn't have an sf stove at all as my second source, instead I'd get one of those diesel fired ones that resemble sf stoves. It would be quite separate to the independent ch system, the latter having its own boiler as normal. That way you have the best of all worlds, the attraction of a fired stove that looks similar to sf but without the dirt and hassle, as a back up or for effect, with the main heating/hot water supplied by a separate ch system.

 

Yes having ch means that there is more to go wrong, the same goes for any modern equipment like mains inverters or whatever. But you have to trade that off against the level of comfort desired. Not having ch because it may go wrong strikes me as perverted logic.

 

regards

Steve

Edited June 28, 2007 by anhar

[John Orentas]

I tend to agree with Rob, on both of my boats I have installed simple wood burning stoves and have never yearned for any kind of central heating, first time around I sited the stove at the front of the cabin and possibly suffered a little from lack of heat distribution and occasional problems with smoke entering through the front doors. If I were to build another boat I might consider a remote radiator to conduct some heat into the bathroom but nothing more, certainly the addition of one or more radiators cannot logically increase the total amount of heating, they can only improve the distribution.

 

The only time I have felt the need for more heat is when I first arrive at the boat in cold weather, I find that it can take several hours to thoroughly warm the boat in those conditions and though I have no direct experience of other systems, to instantaneously heat up fifteen tons of boat is a tall order.

 

What I would never consider are the new fashionable systems, if the experiences of the forum members is anything like typical they must be the most unreliable contraptions ever devised by man.

[cugsey]

for what its worth i have a hurricane central heating system with 5 rads

also a solid fuel stove

if i had my time over again i would never get central heating in a boat

complete waste of my money(more fool me)

the stove is much better

[anhar]

for what its worth i have a hurricane central heating system with 5 rads

also a solid fuel stove

if i had my time over again i would never get central heating in a boat

complete waste of my money(more fool me)

the stove is much better

Perhaps you'd explain why you think this. My conclusion is the exact opposite but I've given my reasons.

 

regards

Steve