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Heating Cost Comparisons


Alan de Enfield

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6 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Yes, I have a Webasto as well as the drip feed stove.

Whilst good for warming the boat quickly on chilly Autumn and Spring mornings and evenings, it costs more to run than the drip feed stove, whilst not getting the boat as warm.

I was sceptical of it at first and planned to swap it for a multi-fuel stove, but once I had  fettled it and understood how to get the best from it, I wouldn't go back to a multi-fuel stove unless the price of diesel rises dramatically over coal.

Humbug.

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10 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Yes, I have a Webasto as well as the drip feed stove.

Whilst good for warming the boat quickly on chilly Autumn and Spring mornings and evenings, it costs more to run than the drip feed stove, whilst not getting the boat as warm.

I was sceptical of it at first and planned to swap it for a multi-fuel stove, but once I had  fettled it and understood how to get the best from it, I wouldn't go back to a multi-fuel stove unless the price of diesel rises dramatically over coal.

Personally i like the fact i have 2 different sources for heating well 3 if i include electric when i am in the marina, like you say nice to switch the ebby on , mine warms 4 large rads in 30 minutes and makes the boat very warm very quickly, very useful if i want to let my stove go out to clean it or if i am low on coal, but like all things boaty its a case of whatever works for you :)

Rick

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Never found a definitive answer to this on the interweb, and not for the want of trying. In my own experience of living full time in a caravan the electric option for heating, at 15p per kw/hr here seems to be the cheapest. Gas, propane at around £35 for a 19kg bottle comes in about the same, maybe a little more. 13kg bottles, the biggest usually found on boats, cost more per kg, and smaller sizes much more. Wood or coal burning is not really viable in the caravan for fire safety reasons but it looks to me would probably cost about the same as the electric hook up so would likely be the way to go on a boat. There's lots on the internet about energy costs for houses but nothing much about the costs of energy for off grid heating/living.

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8 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I think the problem with such as gas is that for instance if used in an alde c/h system is that it needs to run all night or the heat from rads disappears very very quickly whereas solid fuel stoves can tick over for hours for very little fuel and maintain a background heat when living aboard. To maintain my boat at 24 plus all day would methinks be expensive with gas and impossible or expensive with diesel wheras for max of a fiver a day I can be very warm and still ok overnight.

......and think how much better the stove is with an Ecofan.:banghead:

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1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Absolutely. Essential wouldn't be far off the mark in truth.

Especially if you dont run your heating periodically through the summer and service it well before winter instead of switching it off in march and leaving it until october and then expect it to work faultlessly :)

Rick

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The comparison of calorific values for various fuels is only a small percentage of the whole picture. What you do with the heat after you have produced it is the defining factor.

An Eberspacher/Webasto produces whatever heat the conversion figures give you, but when you throw a large percentage of this out through the flue/exhaust, it becomes meaningless. However, for quick response, it probably beats any other form of heating. A solid fuel stove or dripfeed  stove will lose less through the flue as the flue will become a conductor of heat, as will the stove, so litre for litre will be more effective than the pressure jet. This is where Alde boilers fail. There is no way to store and utilise the latent heat that stoves will. If your wood costs you little or nothing, then this has to be the most efficient form of heating, especially if you have a lot of spare time to prepare and store the fuel. If you have to buy wood, then you are probably better off with coal/coke/smokeless as this is more controllable and consistent than wood, and probably as cheap. With current diesel prices, a drip feed is probably as efficient, and the convenience of lack of preparation, storage and dust may give it an advantage.

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11 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

An Eberspacher/Webasto produces whatever heat the conversion figures give you, but when you throw a large percentage of this out through the flue/exhaust, it becomes meaningless.

 

Not really!

The whole point of the efficiency firgure for a given appliance is to define the ratio of useable heat extracted from the fuel to the heat lost through the flue. 

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12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Not really!

The whole point of the efficiency firgure for a given appliance is to define the ratio of useable heat extracted from the fuel to the heat lost through the flue. 

My comment refers only to the potential heat from a given fuel, not an appliance efficiency rating. The originasl post is all about the property of fuel only.

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My 5.8kW Refleks oil heater burns 0.8 litres/hr at maximum and 0.18 litres/hr at minimum  So after having the heat turned up full blast for about an hour it ticks over costing about 13p per hour.  This may be a bit pricey, but the convenience is well worth it.

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9 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

This may be a bit pricey, but the convenience is well worth it.

Eggsactly.

What price 'instant' heat, no dust, no ashes, no storing coal, no going out in the cold / rain filling the coal scuttle.

I have long since gone past the 'counting pennies' state, comfort and an easy life is the way forward.

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I have a multifuel stove with back boiler on my 50ft trad and I have owned the boat 5 years and live on it full time.

18 months ago I installed a reconditioned webasto TTC and use it on cold mornings like this morning, to warm the boat up quickly for an hour while I riddle and empty the fires ashes and top it up with coal. Once the fire is well established switch the webasto off.

I like being able to lean into the wardrobe and turn on the heating with a switch without getting out of bed!

The biggest disadvantage of the webasto is once it's off the boat cools down quite noticeably. Probably the average spray foam job, which could of been more evenly applied! Also packed up as coked up, so wouldn't want to rely on it as main heating.

Stove slumbers for hours and gives out a pleasant heat. Nice to look at too and very cosy. Never wear a jumper onboard and like it warm.

Boats are expensive to heat at £20 a week. My Sister was shocked at her monthly gas bill for November at £29. I said it's a bargain. She has a 1 bed flat 1980's with a Worcester Bosch 28I combi boiler and 5 rads.

James

Edited by canals are us?
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