Jump to content

Setup of our boat and instant hot water taps ??


Peter009

Featured Posts

We have finally worked out where we are going with this boat in terms of power and am wondering if I have missed anything we are going to have a calorifier in the engine bay that connects to the Webasco diesel boiler for hot water, lpg for cooking and a 12 v fridge shoreline.  My wife did want a bath but I think she is starting to realise that this is not possible on a boat but have heard that there are now instant hot water taps has anyone got one and if so are they any good any advice on this would be great, we cant afford a hugely expensive one but maybe if there are cheaper ones out there worth considering a bath may be an option.

 

There is only 2 of us and we are realistic in terms of water and power use but dont want to be sitting in a marina want to be on the water crusing so trying to go as self sufficient as possible.

 

Thanks 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have an old paloma instantaneous gas water heater. Great bit of kit. The modern equivalent is, i think, made by morco or rinnai. 

 

I wouldn't bother with a bath. We have a small bath on ours. It rarely gets used. Takes a lot of water. 

Edited by rusty69
Gas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Peter009 said:

instant hot water taps 

If you’re on about the boiling ones then these require decent electric and you wouldn’t be able to use on the move from batteries without quickly killing the batteries.   If your on about similar to a house with a combi boiler then the choices are like mentioned above a gas instant heater or a combi diesel heater like from Kabola or Hurricane.   A calorfier is not required in either of these methods.   The diesel combis are for central heating, where the gas ones are really just for instant hot water (plus cost of gas to heat boat is quite expensive). However cost of the diesel combis are from around £2.5k - £5k, the instsnt gas heaters are in the hundreds.

Edited by Robbo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Robbo said:

If you’re on about the boiling ones then these require decent electric and you wouldn’t be able to use on the move.   If your on about similar to a house with a combi boiler then the choices are like mentioned above a gas instant heater or a combi diesel heater.   A calorfier is not required in either of these methods.

Hi thanks we have already brought a calorfier so will be going that route or maybe use as a backup it came with the package that we had to install the engine so we will have one in any case next week but am now wondering if we should of just gone with a combi diesel heater, where are these normally installed ?

14 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

We have an old paloma instantaneous water heater. Great bit of kit. The modern equivalent is, i think, made by morco or rinnai. 

 

I wouldn't bother with a bath. We have a small bath on ours. It rarely gets used. Takes a lot of water. 

Thanks can you tell me where you have your water heater installed out of interest thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Peter009 said:

Thanks can you tell me where you have your water heater installed out of interest thanks

Yes. In the kitchen (galley) , in the centre of the boat. The calorifier is in the engine room, and a valve (in the kitchen) switches between the two. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

Yes. In the kitchen (galley) , in the centre of the boat. The calorifier is in the engine room, and a valve (in the kitchen) switches between the two. 

Hi that is really interesting and sounds like a great solution so you have both of them if needed ? sounds like a brilliant solution 

Hi Robbo so the water heater and calorifier could be installed in the engine area the other poster has the water heater in the kitchen just wondering if it matters as we can install anywhere at this stage as we have no kitchen yet thanks

11 minutes ago, Robbo said:

If you’re on about the boiling ones then these require decent electric and you wouldn’t be able to use on the move from batteries without quickly killing the batteries.   If your on about similar to a house with a combi boiler then the choices are like mentioned above a gas instant heater or a combi diesel heater like from Kabola or Hurricane.   A calorfier is not required in either of these methods.   The diesel combis are for central heating, where the gas ones are really just for instant hot water (plus cost of gas to heat boat is quite expensive). However cost of the diesel combis are from around £2.5k - £5k, the instsnt gas heaters are in the hundreds.

aghh that will put us out of having this done we dont have that sort of money but maybe an option for the future thanks for that 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Peter009 said:

Robbo so the water heater and calorifier could be installed in the engine area the other poster has the water heater in the kitchen just wondering if it matters as we can install anywhere at this stage as we have no kitchen yet thanks

Gas heaters don’t tend to be installed in the engine area (I’m not sure where the BSS stands on this so would need to be checked, there’s issues around location if it’s non room sealed unit I think or if it’s serving more than one tap).  

 

You can get cheaper diesel heaters for around £1 - 2k which can heat the calorfier and radiators up, but they are not designed for 24/7 central heating use like the more expensive ones (which are Pressure Jet technology).   The cheaper ones like to be run hard so are good for getting the boat up to temperature in the morning before you put more coal on the stove and heating the calorfier up. Webasto and Eberspacher are popular makes of these heaters.

Edited by Robbo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, Peter009 said:

Hi Robbo so the water heater and calorifier could be installed in the engine area the other poster has the water heater in the kitchen just wondering if it matters as we can install anywhere at this stage as we have no kitchen yet thanks

 

Robbo said “engine room” not “engine area”. Lots of boats have a whole room dedicated to engine (and stuff like batteries, chargers, boilers etc. A gas water heater needs to installed on a vertical wall with the flue going up and out through the roof. 

 

I suggest you get out and look at a few boats for sale to see the options and how it is done. Whilton Marina would be a great place to visit and see boats already built and see the common options. 

 

On a point of order, neither Morco nor rinnai still make electricity-free gas water heaters for boats. Morco have some new models in development but not on sale yet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Robbo said “engine room” not “engine area”.

To be clear to the OP, diesel heaters are usually installed in either the engine area or room.    The combi units are a bigger size, which usually determines their location as well as for serving, etc.

Edited by Robbo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Robbo said:

To be clear to the OP, diesel heaters are usually installed in either the engine area or room.

 

Agreed. But to be equally clear, gas instantaneous water heaters can only go on a wall, not in an engine bay under a floor.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, rusty69 said:

I wouldn't bother with a bath. We have a small bath on ours. It rarely gets used. Takes a lot of water. 

I thought this point was worth repeating. So I’ve repeated it. You could probably have six showers with the same water as you’d use in one bath. Do you really want to have to top up your water tank daily?

 

Besides, a bath takes up loads of room. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

And bear in mind that a non room sealed (ie open flued) gas instant water heater must not be installed in the bathroom.

 

And must not be installed AT ALL in a new boat if the RCD is to be met. 

 

Dear OP, are you building a new boat, and if so are you aware of the RCD regulations? 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ideally, gas instantaneous hot water heaters need to go on the bulkhead between kitchen and bathroom to keep the hot water supply pipes as short as possible. Personally I prefer a calorifier inside the boat not in the engine space of a cruiser stern boat for fear of it freezing in winter. A vertical one just inside and to one side at the back, still near the engine, and a nice airing cupboard can be made around it.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I thought this point was worth repeating. So I’ve repeated it. You could probably have six showers with the same water as you’d use in one bath. Do you really want to have to top up your water tank daily?

 

Besides, a bath takes up loads of room. 

Just to confirm this, we have a full sized bath (soon to be removed) that is only used as a shower tray. When I have a shower I find the water is only half way to my ankles (i.e. not even covering my insteps) at the end. I think we would use almost the whole water tank to fill the bath.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, WotEver said:

I thought this point was worth repeating. So I’ve repeated it. You could probably have six showers with the same water as you’d use in one bath. Do you really want to have to top up your water tank daily?

 

Besides, a bath takes up loads of room. 

Yes this is the wifes wish but realistically cannot see it being used much and as you say takes up way too much space we are going shower only thanks 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Have you looked at an A bath that takes up only a little more room than a shower.

 

2. As far as I can tell most domestic "instant hot water" supplies like to Quoker are powered by electricity and that is a very bad idea when using batteries, especially as it probably needs power all you waking hours. An instan gas water heater - if allowed -and a change over valve for a calorifier supply is probably best. If not then its calorifier and diesel boiler/solid fuel back boiler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/10/2018 at 09:23, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

And must not be installed AT ALL in a new boat if the RCD is to be met. 

 

Dear OP, are you building a new boat, and if so are you aware of the RCD regulations? 

 

 

 

And also importantly, are you intending to fit out your boat to meet the RCD regs or just the BSS?

 

If it's the latter you can still install a non room sealed gas water heater but can't legally sell the boat for 5 years. I think that's still the current situation?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time to have a rant -

It really gets my "User ID" when folks want / expect the same facilities in every respect that the would normally have in a house / flat.

An instant hot water heater in its true implementation requires a lot of power and that on a boat can only be provided by having a huge power reserve (lots of battery power / large inverter) or a gas water heater which can be dangerous and are no longer popular.

A better alternative - if you are off grid is to have a large TWIN coil calorifier (mounted in a separate cupboard, so that its waste heat can dry clothes etc). One coil uses waste heat from the engine that will have to be run to charge the batteries - or heaven forfend - actually  move the boat, and the other for the Ebersplutter used for yur central heating.

Take care that's almost the comforts that you get in a land based dwelling....

 

Otherwise living on a boat is little more than camping.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Time to have a rant -

It really gets my "User ID" when folks want / expect the same facilities in every respect that the would normally have in a house / flat.

Most stuff that house dwellers have can easily be implemented on a boat.  I don’t want to camp on my boat and want mod cons like decent internet, washing machine, instant hot water, decent toilet, decent TV.  Some of these may come at a higher cost but their is nothing wrong in wanting these comforts and asking if they can easily be done.  

 

Having a calorfier doesn’t work for me and a guess a lot of boaters these days, their are other methods that are better depending on how you use the boat.

Edited by Robbo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Robbo said:

Most stuff that house dwellers have can easily be implemented on a boat.  I don’t want to camp on my boat and want mod cons like decent internet, washing machine, instant hot water, decent toilet, decent TV.  Some of these may come at a higher cost but their is nothing wrong in wanting these comforts and asking if they can easily be done.

Absolutely - and I support your wish and desires so to do.

However, there must be some understanding that the ways of achieving your particular choice of facilities will either mean some compromises - or getting there by an alternative route such as -

  • generating your own electricity
  • diesel fired central heating

and such like.

It's no good getting some mechanic to stuff a small 'cauliflower' (what a silly place to put it)  and then deciding what to do with its output. Surely folks have enough nous to do a bit of research first??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.