Installed Heating

[Nico Walsh]

We are considering installing diesel heat in our CR 34, probably the Espar, probably with forced hot air to the salon and both cabins. (We sail a long Maine season.) Any suggestions on installation? Calder suggests keeping the unit fairly near the diesel tank if possible. If there is room, it may be installed in or near the engine compartment, but the air supply must be to outside the engine compartment, per ABYC. 

We would also consider any other type of propane or diesel heater, if folks have had good experience.

[N C]

Nico,

 I have the Espar and love it. It's mounted in the rear lazerrette, I had it factory installed. It kicks out a TREMENDOUS amount of heat and will heat up a 30 degree cabin in a few minutes. There are three internal vents, fwd. cabin, main salon and aft cabin.

The exhaust is vented out high on the transom. The fresh air intake is plumbed directly to one of my clamshell vents on the cockpit coaming. I re-routed the air intake hose to put a goose neck in it. It helps  keep any water from running down the hose if the deck takes on water and ends up above the clamshell. It's very fuel efficient, relatively quiet, and has been absolutely maintenance free for the past 11 years. Another thing I did was double walled the exhaust pipe and then wrapped it with the fiberglass exhaust wrap you see used on motorcycle exhaust systems. I was on Lake Ontario for two seasons and the heater worked flawlessly.

Hope this helps.

Nick

CR38#190

On Jan 5, 2016, at 5:05 PM, Nico Walsh <nwa...@gwi.net> wrote:

We are considering installing diesel heat in our CR 34, probably the Espar, probably with forced hot air to the salon and both cabins. (We sail a long Maine season.) Any suggestions on installation? Calder suggests keeping the unit fairly near the diesel tank if possible. If there is room, it may be installed in or near the engine compartment, but the air supply must be to outside the engine compartment, per ABYC. 

We would also consider any other type of propane or diesel heater, if folks have had good experience.

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[Mickey Panayiotakis]

Nick, Nico

How do you run the heater hose from the lazarette to the forward cabin?

mickey

[N C]

Mickey,

Mine was factory installed. It's a corrugated duct/hose that was run by being tucked on the outboard side of the cabinetry of the aft cabin and then into the main salon under the settee and then onward to the forward cabin. The vents are round and can be turned to direct the air in any direction, they're also louvered so each cabin can have some control over the amount of airflow. Retrofitting the hose may be a little bit of a challenge, but well worth it in the long run. There is no open cabin space being sacrificed and no hot heater boxes or burners to bump into. I also didn't want to run a chimney through the cabin roof. The amount of diesel being burned is minimal so I don't have to worry about running down my propane for cooking.

Holiday Cheers,

Nick

[Mickey Panayiotakis]

One more question Nick. Where's the unit mounted in the aft lazarette? Do you havea ny photos? :D

mckey

[N C]

Mickey,

It's mounted on the exterior bulk head of the aft cabin on the starboard side of the lazarette. I have the XL layout.  The unit is very compact so you probably have some placement options. I think you may be able to get the installation instructions online. I have my second fuel tank located under the aft cabin bunk. The fuel line is run from that tank to the Espar so it's a relatively short run. I don't have any photos, but maybe able to take some in a week or so. I can't say enough good about the unit. I called Espar once and their customer service was excellent, that was ten years ago though.

Nick

[Mickey Panayiotakis]

Thanks, Nick. Any chance you can send a snapshot? I'm still (after 4 years with it on board in different locations) not finalized where to install mine.

mickey

[N C]

Mickey,

Sorry for the delay, this one slipped by me. I'll send a snapshot, but I can't do it for a few weeks. I'm traveling and won't be back on the boat until then. 

Cheers,

 Nick

[Mickey Panayiotakis]

No worries, Nick. I don't plaln on making any mods until spring anyway.

Yours,

mickey

[Nico Walsh]

Love to see how you installed the Espar. We are getting ready to order one.

[Nico Walsh]

I put a question to Nigel Calder and I thought his response would be of interest:

Any suggestions on an Espar exhaust installation for our Cabo Rico 34 (Far and Away, Freeport)? The yard which will do the install suggests the exhaust be located high on the transom but I am worried about back flooding in a sea. They suggest a trap in the exhaust (like a sink drain) but I am still concerned. Maybe fit a seacock and close it in a following sea?

Or is there another place to exhaust, protected from waves?

Calder wrote:

I would loop the exhaust up as high as possible under the deck and then come down some to the outlet and fit a seacock for the occasional time you have big following seas with hydrostatic pressure above the level of the deck. You need to make sure the exhaust is well insulated – these have caused fires.

 

Nigel

[Dave Newberg]

I concur - we have a friend who did considerable damage his stern due to his diesel-fueled heating system exhaust. 

I don’t recall whether or not his was an Espar, but caution is recommended.

Dave

[N C]

Nico,

Hopefully the attached picture goes through of the exhaust vent location.

I covered the exhaust tubing with the fiber glass wrap that is used on motorcycle exhausts. I also covered some areas with corrugated thin walled pipe to prevent any items in the lazarette from coming in direct contact with a hot surface.  The exhaust mount that goes through the transom does not heat up enough to do any damage whatsoever. I would suspect that the incident Dave is referring to may be due to improper installation or an inferior product/setup. The pipe running from the unit to the exhaust port does get hot and needs to be properly insulated to protect any stowed items.

The loop is necessary to prevent water intrusion, that being said, I've never had an issue. You could easily put a transom type drain plug in the opening if you felt you needed more protection. I believe Espar used to make a screw on plug, but I think there was an exhaust issue when someone tried to fire up the unit without removing the plug.

[N C]

BTW, the exhaust port is on the upper starboard side of the transom.

I think it would take a lot for a following sea to be an issue given the reserve buoyancy of the 38's stern design. 

On Mar 29, 2016, at 10:25 AM, N C <cr3...@msn.com> wrote:

Nico,

Hopefully the attached picture goes through of the exhaust vent location.

I covered the exhaust tubing with the fiber glass wrap that is used on motorcycle exhausts. I also covered some areas with corrugated thin walled pipe to prevent any items in the lazarette from coming in direct contact with a hot surface.  The exhaust mount that goes through the transom does not heat up enough to do any damage whatsoever. I would suspect that the incident Dave is referring to may be due to improper installation or an inferior product/setup. The pipe running from the unit to the exhaust port does get hot and needs to be properly insulated to protect any stowed items.

The loop is necessary to prevent water intrusion, that being said, I've never had an issue. You could easily put a transom type drain plug in the opening if you felt you needed more protection. I believe Espar used to make a screw on plug, but I think there was an exhaust issue when someone tried to fire up the unit without removing the plug.