Would you summarize those ABYC requirements for refrigerators/water heaters (and presumably gas furnaces).
We just bought an RV. I was struck by those three appliances that seem to work so well in an RV, but the industry- Dometic for the most part, seems unable to make them work in a boat (to ABYC standards).
I appreciate that a boat is a vessel that will collect propane if it leaks and it will build up and up, until..... RVs do not seem to collect it, as presumably there are enough ways for propane to leak out from the bottom of an RV.
David
Sure.
There are two key parts to the standard that come into play. The first is the concept of an unattended appliance. Things that are left active, even if they cycle on and off, are considered to be unattended appliances. A stove or grill, even though it cycles on and off automatically, is not considered to be an unattended appliance because you only run it while more or less paying attention to it. This is their definition, not mine.
The second part is that an unattended appliance has to have a sealed combustion system. This means that the only path into, or out of the combustion chamber is via the exterior of the boat. Such a device would have an air intake and an exhaust outlet, and the whole path is sealed off from the interior of the boat. The reasoning is to prevent gas from finding it's way into the interior of the boat and settling/collecting in the bilge where it poses an explosion risk.
Although I'm not aware of any fridges that are designed this way, there are definitely domestic hot water heaters that are, so in theory one might be adaptable to a boat. My house, for example, has a propane boiler with exterior air intake and exhaust,but manufacturers tend to be sticklers about how their appliances are used, wanting to avoid the ambulance chasers. So you would be on your own doing such an adaptation, and be at risk of getting flagged by a survey.
The big difference with RVs, is that any leaked gas will find it's way out of the RV's interior. On a boat, there is no way out of the bilge. So the risk profiles are very different in the event of a leak.
Of course the ABYC guidelines are voluntary, and you get to decide if you want to follow them, and what risks you are going to take. But the ABYC stuff is generally well thought out and responsive to real problems, so well worth considering seriously. Also keep in mind that although I don't really care if you blow up your boat, I do care (along with a lot of other people) if your boat is next to mine in a marina when you do blow it up.