Stuff That Works, Heating & Ventilation
Index
Espar D8 Forced Air Diesel Heater (8KW)
Espar D8 Forced Air Diesel Heater (8KW)
www.espar.com and www.oceanoptions.com
After years of fighting with an unreliable diesel heater,
we are very pleased with the Espar heater we installed in 2000. It is one
of the bigger ones they make and keeps us toasty in all weathers. One thing
we would suggest, though, is not to use the exhaust exit in the hull that
they normally specify. In heavy weather this will be very vulnerable to
flooding. We had Mike Bowden at Ocean Options, where we bought the heater,
fabricate us a 4' high chimney with a 'Charlie Nobel'
type top that is braced to the stern rail. With this setup we can use the
heater even in very heavy weather at sea—when a wick type heater would almost
certainly blow back—which is, after all, when you want to be toasty below.
The drawbacks of this type of heater are the substantial electrical use
and complexity, but these are balanced by the convenience of just flicking
a switch when we want heat, even at sea.
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