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ssullivan · 07-09-2005, 07:57

Well, with everyone making sure I was pointed in the right direction, I had to come around eventually!

I was just commenting to my wife the other day about the WhisperGen and how it would solve all of our problems... I became less interested in that item the minute I found the pricing information. ha ha ha It's out of reach, being that it costs about 1/8 what my entire boat cost. If they can start mass producing and get more volume to drive the price down a little, it might make sense. I just can't afford it, and am forced to do things that make sense both from a logical and a financial standpoint.

For instance... my deck-mount GenSet. It's a diesel 6KW unit (to run the A/C for chater guests away from the dock, mostly, but also to charge our batts). The equivalent "marine" GenSet would have cost $10K easy with installation plus new thruhulls, etc... I have this unit installed and ready to go for $1000. It could be replaced 10 times and still just approach the cost of the "marine" unit. It delivers the same electricity, so why pay more?

I suppose we might be more into "roughing it" than most. We make all of our own foods from scratch on here using and alcohol stove, we walk and bike everywhere (although we have a car for going on long trips), I do all work on the boat myself, etc.. etc... So tending a fire and hauling wood is just another form of exercise for us. We enjoy physical activity after being tied to office furniture for so long in our former careers. In fact, it's one of the top 3 reasons we chose this lifestyle. For our health.

So... as long as the heater brings the boat up to a comfortable temperature, we are not adverse to collecting drift wood, burning some of the old teak from the interior I am refitting, and hauling seasoned dry cordwood onto the boat for use this winter. After this winter, we will be heading south each year when hurrican season ends. This means only a couple months of heating each season, and not a huge amount of work.

We also want to be able to live on the hook, as free from ties to land as possible. We are in a marina for this winter, but this is our last time renting dockspace that charter guests aren't paying for.

So... wood is still extremely attractive to me. I just learned from all of your collective experiences that radiant heat is not the way to go. I've got to make it a forced air or water system (either can work with a wood stove)

capt lar · 07-09-2005, 10:06

my last thought on this is as a long term wood burner from Maine is that the size of the firebox will limit the burn time. you will have to feed the fire during the night. you might want to look at coal - cheap, hot, longer burn, less ash, less space needed for storage. sorry - no wood smell. if lucky, you can find a stove that will burn both. good to have options. capt. lar

Dman · 08-09-2005, 03:56

One big problem of just having a woodstove and no other way to distribute the heat is that you will become the thermostat.In a house that means moving closer or further from the heat source.In a boat this practice can be very impractical or impossible.

26-09-2005, 20:27

For dispersing the heat, there is a fan setup that mounts on the stove pipe. could not find the website, but I have seen them, and they work great. Of course, cuddling around the wood stove has it's advantages too.

s/v 'Faith' · 10-10-2005, 21:03

FWIW,

Came across This thread <=== poke
in the liveaboard forum. It is a discussion of wood burning stoves, might be helpful.

Eleven · 15-01-2009, 06:49

My new (old) boat came with a diesel forced air system. Frosty winter this year, ice on the marina, unlock the door, press the button, load the stuff I brought and the hot air is flowing. No fuss, two minutes waiting. low consumption of diesel (a quarter litre per hour'ish. It does use someelectric but my seven panels cope with that as the heat is only on for more than aan hour on those clear sunny frosty mornings,
I'm hoping to do diesel hot plate too but I'm told they use alot of electric.
My big reason is that diesel is safer, compact, already necessary on the boat.
Anything else seems complicated. ps no taint of a smell in the boat.

colo.sail · 10-05-2010, 14:21

quality charcoal burners for camper and marine

Looks simple enough - and the size is right

witzgall · 10-05-2010, 15:02

It does look interesting and simple. The website does not have much info, on operation, output, clearances, etc. The body is made of mild steel, so that is a concern.

Quote:

Originally Posted by colo.sail