Fantastic Ways to Stay Warm Throughout Winter Sailing

Keeping Warm While Preserving Your Budget

About this time of year, seafarers sneaking southward are possibly speeding up their migration or looking for affordable ways to warm the cabin. You don't need to install an expensive built-in heating unit just to get you south of the Mason-Dixon line, however when opting for one of the less-expensive options, you do have to use commonsense.

Inverting a clay-pot over an oven burner will certainly serve as a great source of radiant heat in a pinch. But bringing BTUs to the sleeping cabin often sends sailors looking for even more mobile remedies. Bear in mind that the mobile cabin heaters-- regardless if they are electrical or fuel-burning-- can be dangerous.

Many readers have shared their cabin-heaters close-call tales with us. Fuel-burning heating units need oxygen, so going to sleep in a closed cabin with an ignited fuel-burning heater (or stove) invites asphyxiation. Your marine water heaters experts talk about how additional tales have to do with articles of clothing, like a parka, or a sleeping bag falling off a bunk onto the top of a heater and catching fire.

Most electric heaters have an automatic overload heat shutoff device, an important safety function. An automatic shutoff device that engages if the heater tips over is a good feature, too.

In the event that you purchase a heating unit with an automated overheat shutoff, test it out to make absolutely certain that it works. Drop a huge, old towel on it and see if it shuts down without catching fire, creating smoke or acrid fumes. Do this outdoors, in case it doesn't work. Always keep the receipt.

Our most recent experience with a mobile heater was the alcohol-powered HeatMate, which is still working great aboard contributor Frank Lanier's Union 36. The HeatMate has an advertised output of 5,200 BTUs. The "thermostat" is a straight damper that slides over the throat of the gas container, limiting the size of flame.

The HeatMate can even transform into a stove by merely eliminating the heater lid and flame spreader. We put a quart of water in a standard teapot on the HeatMate, and we had water warm enough to make a mug of coffee in approximately 11 minutes, with a rolling boil achieved in merely less than 17 minutes.

Back in 2005, we tested portable heating units for a report contrasting a variety of mobile heating options. One conclusion (certainly not unexpected) was that even though the 12-volt heaters like the 3000C Back Seat Heat Plus work, they rapidly will run down a battery if you are not linked to shore-power. Your marine water heaters talk about how in a follow-up test we looked at the popular Mr. Buddy propane heaters, which, for safety reasons, are actually not suggested for boats. We also did a review of a well-crafted, wood-burning stove from Navigator Stoves.

If you have no strategy to push quickly southward, then you are going to most likely start thinking about insulation, as well. We've included a few do-it-yourself insulation projects in our past issues. In some cases, enhancing insulation is as simple as installing a new liner. Many other sources offer what is probably the very best option for a cold cabin-- follow the sun!

Raritan’s Marine Products Legacy

For more than fifty years, Raritan has been meeting our customers’ needs for outstanding service and product reliability establishing ourselves as “the most dependable name on the water.” Our customers continue to be our focus, and the primary source of the ideas for our new marine products and product enhancements. The median length of service for Raritan employees is about twenty years, an unusual number in the fast-changing world we live and work in. It is a measure of the dedication of the men and women who design, manufacture, distribute and support Raritan’s marine products. Visit our website today for the best quality marine water heaters in the marine sanitation industry.

via Photo