Ceramic Heater on full-time through Winter

I have seen several of the West Marine heaters returned to the store melted case literally. Personally, I favor the oil radiator style. There is no fan to fail. When the fan fails, the heater is relying on a "snap disc" to disconnect power to the element. A fan style heater has more moving parts. Many marina fires have been caused by heaters in boats.
Xtreme Heaters makes a series of heaters for boats, these heaters can be placed in boat bilges, where gas fumes may be present ( like a leak developed) without threat of combustion. There least costly version is about $300 dollars. Personally, I would value my boat invest more than a $20 dollar overseas built heater.
alan
 
How come no mention on of this? I used one all my boating life. I though most people did. What am I missing here?

air_dryer.jpg
 
MartyP,
We too have always used one of these in our boats but this year we're going to start using the dehumidifier that came with our new boat. In combination they should eliminate any chances of mould and keep the air warm and moving. We just have to figure out how the dehumidifier works. It's not and electric one and when we picked the boat up it was stored in the galley sink and was full of some kind of liquid.
Chris
 
Lollygaggin":878x3d62 said:
full of some kind of liquid.
Click to expand...

Probably something like Dry Z Air. These types of "dehumidifiers" use some crystalline substance that absorbs moisture and turns into a liquid. The liquid drips down into a catchment lip. You then tip them over or spill a little (and you will) and the liquid is difficult to clean up. It looks like it's cleaned up, but it continues to absorb moisture. If spilled on a cushion, carpet, or down through a crack, it makes a nasty mess and keeps absorbing moisture. My choice would be to throw them out now instead of after the accident.

Like a heater, the Dry Z Air is supposed to be used in a closed up boat, where, at best, they compete with mold and mildew for the available moisture. These would be way down on my list, after ventilation, ventilation, ventilation.

Mark
 
Those Dri Z Air style "chemical dehumidifiers" are worthless. They have low capacity, are corrosive when spilled on metals, and are a real bother to renew. Not to mention expensive.

I am with Marco: ventilate, ventilate, ventilate. If you want a gadget, put a small electric fan where it will push air into an area that shows moisture, and allow a path for the moving air to exit the boat. The heat from the fan motor is probably enough. Or, if you must have a heat source, use a 60W bulb inside a metal shield. No need for a fancy ceramic heater.
 
Tuning in late, I'd say no fire breathing device should be left unattended.
Leaving a heater 'on' in your boat for the winter, is well, asking for trouble.

Aye.
Grandma used to say, "Play with fire and you will get burned".
 
I have posted this before Peter but here is our proven approach.

Heat and Dehumidifying

We have used units like yours but lately just use a simple lower power model on a timer. There are a few types and here is one example. These still take the chill off an enclosed boat but don't suck nearly as much power as standard household units.

http://www.quill.com/honeywell-heat-bud ... aQodh9kNtA

Then we run one of these 24/7 and empty it about once per week.

https://www.eva-dry.com/dehumidifiers/e ... umidifier/

They do have a limited life span but most folks get a few years out of them. If you let the boat get down below about 40F, then face your heater toward the the dehumidifier to keep the cold plate from freezing and limiting its effectiveness.

My brother in law keeps his outside under a cover with only the dehumidifier unit and says it stays much dryer than any venting he has tried over many years.

We also have friends on a 40ft sailboat who watched their humidity level plummet after using one on board. It worked so well, they wired it to 12v and run it even while out on the water.

If you have fire hazard concerns, do as I have at times and put the little heater in open space on the boat such as the floor and run it on a large cookie sheet to lessen the risk of it igniting other materials.


Greg
 
I've run a ceramic heater in my boat for years during the winter. With the Tomcat, I also added a dehumidifier that is set up to drain into the sink. I keep the boat fairly warm and I leave the window into the head cracked just a bit. The humidity stays low and the boat is reasonably warm when I arrive. I also don't have to worry about the fresh water system freezing.
 
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