Wallas stove replacement options

As I mentioned I removed the Kenyon stove that my boat came with. I can use the portable butane stoves inside or outside. I made a piece (ok a board) that spans the splashwell which allows cooking in the cockpit when on the boat if the weather allows it. This keeps the humidity and smells of cooking outside the boat.

I have a small electric heater that can be used either with shore power or with my Honda 1000 generator.

I also have a Little Buddy heater. This burns propane. It is an infrared heater so it does not heat the cabin air much, it heats you. This heater requires ventilation. Some people may be sensitive to the fumes if there is poor ventilation. The Little Buddy heater does have an O2 sensor that shuts it off, but it does not sense CO. I have had the cabin CO sensor go off when using this heater. While this heater does have it's uses, it is not a cabin air heater.

One thing to keep in mind with butane stoves is that they can be hard to light in cold weather. Butane vaporizes around freezing air temps. If it is cold you may have to preheat the canister by holding near your body to warm it up. Once the stove is going there is a means to transfer some of the cooking heat to the canister to keep the fuel warm.

I don't use the heat much. I'm usually more interested in cooling the cabin than warming it.
 
smckean (Tosca)":1x3xlni2 said:
Tom,

You bring up a point I've always wondered about. I'd be interested in your opinion.

Clearly, one wants to take air from inside the boat, heat it up, and blow it back into the boat. This allows the re-heating of already heated air so as to produce even warmer air. On the combustion side obviously the combustion gases must vent outside. This leaves the combustion intake. My first thought was it's safest to get air from outside, but I tend to agree with you that any air extracted from inside is easily replaced in the very non air tight enclosure of a boat, so that's not an issue for me. My curiosity concerns what's best for both gaining temperature and eliminating humidity: getting combustion air from inside or from outside? Grabbing air from inside should lower humidity since in a cold climate the relative humidity of the air outside is going to be lower than the air inside given warmer temperature, breathing, cooking, clothes drying, etc. But you are also grabbing air warmed by the heater, throwing it outside and sucking in cold air from outside thru various cracks etc. I wonder which is more desirable?
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Sandy, I do exactly the same as Tom. My combustion air is taken from inside, while the exhaust continues to go outside. This brings fresh air into the cabin, supposedly drying out the condensation. On paper, that sounds good. In reality, when it's rainy outside or high humidity, I'm not sold that the outside air is dryer than your breathed out air inside. But regardless, the heater is also still using cabin air in it's intake for it's heated output. The Webasto puts out enough heat, that what's being drawn in for the combustion isn't a problem. Colby
 
starcrafttom":umg1fvqj said:
For HEAT, I would be sure to use a system that takes combustion air from the outside and sends the exhaust outside
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Why?
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I wasn't trying to be the heater police.

I mentioned the exhaust/intake only because this is the reason the Wallas exhaust/intake is designed the way it is, and the reason it is not compatible with the china heaters. My suggestion wasn't based on safety, it was based on moisture.

My experience with the Little Buddy is that the heat is not worth the moisture. I don't like being wet or huffing exhaust in an enclosed space, but that's just my preference.
 
I had to replace all my B vent propane space heaters with direct vent about 20 years ago because they were no longer acceptable to code. Problem in a house that is sealed up tight - they can lead to negative pressure in the house. This can lead to a low carburizing flame, blown out pilot lights, or fumes being drawn down other chimneys.

In a drafty boat negative pressure may not be a problem but since a B vent type appliance will draw air in any crack the boat may feel colder in many of its spaces. Since heat distribution is often a problem on a boat the direct vent unit may be the best heat.

Whatever your choice make sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector.

Rob
 
My experience with the Wallas stove is different than many. We have had one in 4/5 C Dorys we have owned and never had any problems we could not fix right there. The most recent C Dory 25 had one of the small butane cartridge stoves, which we gave away. We went to an induction burner & Microwave with LiFePO4 batteries and 2000 watt inverter.

Although it is rare, seals do fail on some of the cartridge stoves. One of my close friends was badly burned and spent several months in a burn center ICU from a failed seal. Note the post above about a failed seal. I had propane on all of my long distance cruising/racing sailboats. But with dedicated storage lockers, which vented overboard, two sniffers and a solenoid operated cut off valve at the tank.

Any open flame heater needs oxygen input and exhaust gas discharge outside of the boat. Also there is accumulation of moisture in the boat, if not properly vented. Always the risk of CO poisoning, so multiple CO detectors should be utilized.
 
I mentioned the exhaust/intake only because this is the reason the Wallas exhaust/intake is designed the way it is, and the reason it is not compatible with the china heaters.
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The wallas and the chines versions are identical... they just ripped off the wallas/espar heaters. ( not talking about the stove top heater but the same applies) Both are mostly built for inclosed motor vehicles. That is why the instructions state to use out side air for combustion. NOT because out side air is better or mystical more burnable. Its to not take the chance of removing to much air from the cab. Its a lawsuit lawyer thing. The reality of that happening is in question. As for our boats its just not a problem.

My cool air intake for combustion is under the rear seat of the table. Its right at the bottom of the floor where the coldest air is. The cabin driest up when we run the heater. You can feel it. We ofter fish with the heater on and the door open so we can sit inside and watch the rods and we still stay warm. Having a separate heater and cook top was the best thing we did to the boat.
 
I would be more comfortable with a furnace that draws air from the outside when one of those butane or propane canisters springs a leak. It might keep you from going boom.
 
starcrafttom":to78j7p3 said:
... The wallas and the chines versions are identical... they just ripped off the wallas/espar heaters. ...
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Not really ripped off. Apparently the patent expired so they became public domain. Patents are only good for 20 years.
 
starcrafttom":1ygbi0qe said:
I mentioned the exhaust/intake only because this is the reason the Wallas exhaust/intake is designed the way it is, and the reason it is not compatible with the china heaters.
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The wallas and the chines versions are identical...
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Except they aren't. The Wallas appliances I have owned have the exhaust and intake in one double wall pipe. The Chinese heaters use two separate pipes, and I have never seen any other design for those parking heaters.

This is literally the only point I was making: You can't connect a Chinese diesel heater to a Wallas double wall pipe and through hull. This is what the original poster was asking about in one of their follow-up questions.

This should not be controversial.
 
so to be clear, and I was not earlier. I was comparing a espar under the counter heater only to the chinese copies/ clones/ rip offs. They are far cheaper and work well. They are a direct copy. 4 openings. One for combustion air intake, combustion air outlet, fresh air intake and fresh now heated air outlet. Orignally designed and mostly used in vans, truck, campers etc where the inclosed spaces are far more air tight.

Not to be confused with the almost completely worthless ( i had two) wallas heater/stove mounted in the counter top. I do believe, its be a while, that you are right about the pipe in a pipe intake exhaust. That is not what I was referring to when I said you can use inside air pick up for the combustion air, which will dry out the cabin. I have no experience with Wallas stand alone heater and how they are rigged. I should have been referring to the espars and the knock offs, which both work great.

I don't mind knockoffs , more mad that they did not knock them off until after I spent a 100 buck to have heat.
 
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