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Hot water


Rory_d

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I’m after some advice really from experienced boaters as to the hot water supply,

 

ive read loads of old threads with various answers and ideas but I’m still at a loose end.

 

i currently have a webasto thermo top c that’s plumbed into a calorifier with an Emerson heater and also water heating from the engine.

 

first question, if I use the webasto to heat the water does it have to run with the radiators on? ( I have a basic 7 day timer)

 

can i totally remove the webasto from the calorifier and install a instantaneous gas water heater for ease of use plus il save the space from the calorifier and tank used. Would this be a more convenient and less clumsy setup? That way it will be webasto for the central heating and gas for the hot water? Or could I run both would that work?

 

thanks in advance for all ideas and advice

 

 

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1 hour ago, Rory_d said:

 

 can i totally remove the webasto from the calorifier and install a instantaneous gas water heater for ease of use plus il save the space from the calorifier and tank used. 

You could, but you would loose the "free" hot water from the engine. 

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6 hours ago, rusty69 said:

We have a calorifier and gas water heater. 

Plus, I hope, a change over valve or a separate "gas" hot water system so you don’t feed hot water from the calorifier to the gas heater.

 

To the OP. Just fit a change over valve plus a gas heater and you have the best of both worlds. At the risk of reopening the topic of a few weeks ago I would advise you do NOT run the Webasto with the rads turned off unless you shut it off as soon as the calorifer is hot. Experience of others suggest they do not like cycling  on the thermostat and it can make the coke up and fail.

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8 hours ago, Rory_d said:

can i totally remove the webasto from the calorifier

 

No need. There should be a valve in the calorifier circuit to balance the flow between it and the heating: it would be simple to close it.  Why would you though?  If you have the central heating running, why not gain a tank of hot water?

 

Your "problem" I'd suggest is the reverse: getting hot water without the heating.  This is quite doable with your Webasto so long as you leave one radiator in the circuit, usually the bathroom, and follow Tony's advice below...

 

19 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

At the risk of reopening the topic of a few weeks ago I would advise you do NOT run the Webasto with the rads turned off unless you shut it off as soon as the calorifer is hot. Experience of others suggest they do not like cycling  on the thermostat and it can make the coke up and fail.

 

In practice, this is quite simple. Just listen for it start to run down and back up again as it cycles and turn it off (I like to do that in the next full power cycle after the first dip into half power).  You ought to be doing this when using the full heating system anyway, so you're trying to solve an issue you should already have in hand. Between this, running the engine for battery charging which will also give you a tank of water and maybe, who knows, even some cruising, I don't see much of a problem. 

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I have a multi plate heat exchanger (90 plates) plumbed in,..with the Eberspacher on one side on a 20mm pipe system....and the cold water running in on 15mm pipe. After running the Eber for a few minutes the water flows through quite hot. The exchanger unit is about 250mm by 175mm and I have it wrapped in insulation. 

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4 minutes ago, Bobbybass said:

I have a multi plate heat exchanger (90 plates) plumbed in,..

Soddin' 'ell, that must be rated at at least 300kW!

 

You'd probably get similar performance from a 10 plate heat exchanger, given your Spacker is unlikely to be more than about 8kW. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just now, John Hartley said:

Ignorance rears its ugly head ?. I thought you could not retro fit gas instant water heaters. Only replace like for  like with them. Or did I dream that one?

There appears to be a bit of Lassitude on that Rule ,it was silly to try and get rid of them as so many Boaters know there true worth.

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18 hours ago, Rory_d said:

Sorry please can somebody draw a rough diagram of how it would work with the calorifier and gas water heater please so I can get a better understanding

 

This is how ours is setup.It is not a professional installation, so there may well be better ways of doing it. The diagram doesn't include shut off valves, non return valves, pressure relief valves,accumulators, pumps or expansion vessels.

 

There is a valve in the kitchen that switches between Paloma and calorifier supply.

Untitled Diagram (1).jpg

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4 hours ago, rusty69 said:

This is how ours is setup.It is not a professional installation, so there may well be better ways of doing it. The diagram doesn't include shut off valves, non return valves, pressure relief valves,accumulators, pumps or expansion vessels.

 

There is a valve in the kitchen that switches between Paloma and calorifier supply.

Untitled Diagram (1).jpg

Hey, that looks like the wiring diagram to the time machine you sold me. No wonder it doesn't work and I keep getting sprayed with hot water.

  • Haha 1
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