Whispergen - Considering Purchase

[svfortunate1]

WHISPERGEN ....12V ..COULD SOMEONE WITH FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME FEED BACK ON THE ONE THEY HAVE ...I live aboard on a mooring in the Victoria B.C. colder climate ......cheers J.R.B.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, J.R.B.

You might be interested in an earlier discussion at
➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...gens-1656.html

or Dan Crete’s Whispergen article in Professional Boatbuilder magazine
➥ Professional BoatBuilder - October/November 2008

For beginning of article, scroll back to PBB page 136.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by svfortunate1

WHISPERGEN ....12V ..COULD SOMEONE WITH FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME FEED BACK ON THE ONE THEY HAVE ...I live aboard on a mooring in the Victoria B.C. colder climate ......cheers J.R.B.

We know one boat first hand that has one ( a kelly archer build). They have been a bit disappointed in it. Very expensive, not particularly small or light and not very much power. Some reliability issues but I suspect that has more to do with installing them in a boat than the unit itself (they have really been designed for residential use and the marine market is just a target of opportunity).

I looked at them and my conclusion was they make sense in a limited situation: if (a) you need the heat on full time every day (eg you are in a really cold place and want the boat warm all the time and have the fuel to run it all the time) and (b) you have a very simple boat with not too much electrical demand, and (c) you have a big enough boat with spare space (and budget) to fit the unit. Otherwise you are probably better off with a stand alone heater and a honda. By the way, we saw a dutch boat in Chile that adapted a honda so they could use the heat coming off the cooling fan to heat the boat - a very small, neat and inexpensive and reliable solution compared to the whisper gen but of course you have more noise and the gasoline safety issue.