Wintertime heating questions??

EagleSailtwo · #1 (**permalink**) 07-28-2006

Hi, I'm new here and have just bought a Gulfstar 43 Mk II, center cockpit, aft cabin, ketch. I'm going to live aboard up here on Cape Cod and have planned to buy 2 Espar diesel heaters, one for the salon and forward cabins, and one for the aft cabin. I'm looking at a pare of the 13,600 BTU/hr Airtronic 4 heaters. My question is if two of these units will be sufficient?

Surfesq · #2 (**permalink**) 07-28-2006

Hmmm, good question. I have one Espar Heater on my Seawolf 41. The former owner claims it was sufficient to heat the whole boat.
I am going to supplement with an AC/Heat Unit that is like a heat pump.

EagleSailtwo · #3 (**permalink**) 07-28-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfers

Hmmm, good question. I have one Espar Heater on my Seawolf 41. The former owner claims it was sufficient to heat the whole boat.
I am going to supplement with an AC/Heat Unit that is like a heat pump.

I take it that you haven't tried your Espar yet to know. Many years ago I had a Cruise Air 5000 BTU/hr air conditioning unit aboard an old wooden 40 footer I once owned and in the heat mode worked wonderful, wonderful that is until the water around the boat (I left it in) reached 40 degrees and the ability of the unit to develop heat btu's began to wain......Below 40 degrees, water temp, the Cruise Air was useless! Don't know if this helps you, but I have heard the same from others........

Surfesq · #4 (**permalink**) 07-28-2006

Yes, my thought is to use the Espar to supplement the heat pump.

EagleSailtwo · #5 (**permalink**) 07-28-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfesq

Yes, my thought is to use the Espar to supplement the heat pump.

What BTU/hr Espar do you have?

Irwin54 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-01-2006

I lived aboard in NE for many years. First on an OI 41 on which I had a dickenson diesel fired heater. I believe it was about 10,000 btus. It served well for its cost and supplemented with electric. You could only run it when on board.
When I got a larger boat I had a 45,000 btu Webasto diesel fired forced hot water to air 3 zone system put in. This worked great. With 360 gallons of diesel on the Irwin it was as comfortable as any home with a much better view! The hot water lines were below the floor boards which kept the bilge dry and the sole warm. The down side is that this is very expensive and will only justify if you plan on living in the North on this boat for many years.

I would recommend going with the existing system for year one. Have your electrical system completely checked for safety and supplement with electric. You can re-evaluate next summer.