Want to add heater for this winter

[Lepke]

There are lots of 12v pumps rated for diesel on ebay and Amazon. If you have a very low pressure need, you can add a pressure regulator 1-6psi for about $20. I have a couple Chinese heaters for times when the boiler isn't needed. Instead of using the tanks that came with the heaters I use a regulator and use the diesel in the main tanks.

 

[stubones99]

Somebody recently posted about the "espar knockoffs" you can get on Amazon for a couple hundred. Reviews after install all seem to be good. The one consistent complaint was the control panel was a bit lacking. Also, some of the installation paryts seemed to be on the cheaper side and they suggested buying higher quality parts.

Most of them also had the same reasoning, "the unit cost a couple hundred bucks vs. a min $2,000. Even if it had to be replaced every 2 years, it would still take 10 years just to hit the same cost as the lowest 2kw unit."...

An RV'er in Australia did a good review of a bunch of diesel heaters and found the 8kw heaters didn't do any better than a 5kw heater, and if you take them apart, you'll find the same parts... so the 8kw is simply marketing lies. He also compared them against espar and found them incompatible but competitive as far as heat generated, fuel consumption, smoke output and other factors. Look up John McK 47 or https://youtu.be/tvwmU_CcmGI

His conclusion was that the Chinese simply copied the Espar and other diesel heaters and made a knock off design. Teal, the guy doing SV Basik (salling youtuber) installed two of them before they left Seattle a year or so ago. I don't think they have had issues. His install actually had separate diesel fuel tanks for the heaters, so they ran on their own "day tanks" with separate thermostats.

 

[Slowmo]

I spent years on a boat that had a wood stove in the galley. It was a marine wood stove (Neptune Stove company, Tacoma WA). We used Presto-logs, plenty of heat. The downside is it takes almost an hour to reach maximum heat output and you need to stoke it. We now use an Espar diesel heat, flip the switch and the boat is warm in 20 minutes, even below freezing. Would I go back to wood? No.

 

[dhays]

I’ve had experience with a diesel Dickinson on a 36’ sailboat a Wallace forced air on a 40’ sailboat, and a Hurricane hydronic system on our current boat.

I would never go back to the diesel Dickinson. It did produce a LOT of heat in the main cabin. The bow and stern of the boat stayed pretty cold in cold weather and additional fans needed to be used to move the air around. It was dirty. I can’t imagine having a wood stove. I think wood would be a terrible fuel to have to carry and manage on a boat.

The forced air furnace was reliable and quick to heat up. Lots of heat at the vent outlets. Ours was setup so the furnace ran at full speed when on. The advantage there is that the furnace burns clean so the burner never would get gummed up. We never had any maintenance issues with it. The downside is that there is more variability in temperature.

The Hurricane hydronic system takes longer to warm up the boat, is quiet, and provides a very even heat. It is also a much more complicated system and therefore takes more maintenance. It is by far the nicest furnace to live with. All parts of the boat are comfortable, even in below freezing weather.