As we approach the winter months the evenings may be getting cooler but there can be still plenty of good boating to be had even as the days get shorter. Bright, crisp autumn days can be great for boating but as soon as the sun goes down it can get a little chilly and some sort of heating in the boat cabin can make things decidedly more cosy, and a place that you want to spend time with family and friends.
There is no one size fits all solution for heating a boat. The type and size of boat, budget, and personal preferences all come into play when selecting a heater for your vessel.
For a number of years I had a boat with a diesel fueled hot air system. It was reliable and cheap to operate, although expensive to install initially. If you have forced hot air at home for heat then you will be familiar with this type of system, which operates in an almost identical fashion, albeit on a smaller scale, with flexible ductwork piping hot air to almost every part of the boat. As the boat had a diesel engine, fuel for the heater was simply drawn from from the main tank. The obvious advantage of this was that the heater did not require me a to carry any special, or separate type of fuel.
Another type of heater is the 'Dickenson' type stove. This is a small bulkhead mounted unit with a shippy look, which operates on either Diesel or Kerosene depending on the model, and is well suited to more traditional style boats. Some of these stoves also have a hot plate on top and can do double duty as a cooktop although you would probably not want to use them in the summer for this purpose, as the heat would be inconvenient to say the least.
It is possible to heat your boat with electricity, not a problem if you are plugged in at the dock, but you will need a generator if shore power is not available, often not a convenient solution.
Heating with propane is also possible although the installation has to be to the highest order. Leaking carbon monoxide, a byproduct of the combustion process could poison occupants or a build up of propane in the bilge could potentially cause an explosion. Almost any cabin heater that has a chimney requires a good flow of air for combustion and this has to come from somewhere. If the boat is buttoned up tight initially this air is drawn from the cabin, but if it is not being replaced by air being drawn from outside then the heater will not draw properly, combustion will be incomplete, and the likelihood of high levels of carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas are more than likely. Always install a gas sniffer and carbon monoxide detector with this type of heater.
There are even heaters that work on solid fuels such as wood or coal. Although these types of heaters are strictly suited to the traditional style boat they are very efficient and unlike propane and other similar fuels produce a 'dry' heat reducing the amount of moisture introduced into the cabin.
Some owners consider heating their boat as an alternative to winterization, a mistake that could prove costly. A couple of electric heaters may prevent your boat from freezing in the winter months but what if the power goes out? Boats are poorly insulated and temperatures can drop quickly, it only takes a few hours on a cold night and you could end up with a cracked block and a very expensive repair bill.
When it's cold outside the last thing you may think that need is extra ventilation but sit inside a boat cabin with all the doors, windows and hatches closed and things start to get uncomfortable pretty swiftly. Compared to the average home a boat's interior is pretty small, you're also a naturally damp environment. Your clothes might also be damp if you have just come in from being on deck and when you get into a warm cabin that moisture has to go somewhere. Often damp moist air condenses on cold windows and other surfaces and before very long, it's almost as wet inside the cabin as it is outside. Ensuring that there is a cross flow of air in the cabin mitigates most if not all of this condensation. Cracking a hatch forward and another aft can do wonders for preventing the build up of condensation inside the boat. Solar powered vents that are let into hatch covers do a great job of keeping rain out but admit plenty of air below. New models have a battery back up so work even when the sun is not out, at night for instance.
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