The trouble is that we have no good bulkhead to mount it on. Our solution was to shorten the starboard couch/berth. It was really too short to sleep on anyway and even Jenny had trouble trying to do so. So, we cut the cushions down to size and then I built a teak storage area on a 45 degree angle. The heater can mount on that and it will be nice and low for optimum heat. There is a good spot above it for the chimney to run through. Now we are just waiting for the actual heater to arrive. The propane tanks will be mounted safely and out of the way on the stern rail.
The cushions are going to be cut a bit shorter still. We are just waiting for the heater to show up so we can be sure of just how far away we feel comfortable with cutting them.
Also, there is a new member in the family. Our friends Mike and Alyssa are sailing south toward the bahamas or anywhere else they feel like going. Mike had a motorcycle and needed to get rid of it. I've always wanted one, so Jenny and he worked out a deal and she bought it for me for my birthday. yay!
Rat Bike Extraordinaire!
I'm thinking of naming the bike Ludwig. After Ludwig von Mises.
5 comments:
Hello,
I had the Dickinson-Newport propaine stove on my Watkins 27. You really need to mount it closer to the floor or a have a way to draw the cold air from the floor. My experience with 3 winters living aboard in NJ was that the area below settee height was frigid and above it was hot. You might try fans on the floor blowing upward, or maybe put some ductwork in below the stove down to the floor through the settee and add an inline fan to draw the air upwards.
At the base of the heater is a fan and it draws air in to heat it and then blows the hot air out the top...this way you will get better circulation and should warm the floor area up a bit...Also honestly I think its undersized. Your boat is larger then my Watkins 27 and I think its rated fro 9-9500 btu's . IM saving up next year I want an espar.
best of luck
deryk
Yeah, it might be undersized, but we don't intend for it to heat the whole boat anyhow. We still have electrics to use along with it.
The inline fan might be a good idea. Easy enough to do and might create some real results.
We have a gas engine, so espar wasn't really an option. I'm not too fond of them anyhow because everyone I know who has an espar has to pay at least a grand to get it fixed and serviced each year. They are nice convenient heat, but dang what a cost.
-Justin
yeah, I have heard similar stories. On the LiveAboard site under wood heaters I put a link for a company that makes beautifal cast iron stoves. There fairley expensive but something ya said on that posting about always being able to find something to burn...its makeing me rethink the thought of goin wood. Wish I could get a small coal stove....something that could be banked and left to burn for 8 or 9 hours. How long would your stove run without attending it...would it last the night?
thanks
deryk
Length of burning was really the biggest problem. If we packed it full and choked it down we could get about 45 minutes out of it, haha, not very convenient. We'd wake up near frozen in the morning unless we put an electric heater on at bedtime.
Another good point of the woodstove was that it cured all moisture and condensation problems.
Once again it seems that everything boils down to a compromise. Price, heat, moisture, ease, reliability... choose some, not all.
-Justin
Yeah that is always the problem... no perfect solution. I might end up doing one of the Dickinson Diesel units and just yank it out in the summer so it doesnt waste space....should just move south and worry about ac lol.
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