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Does anybody have any experience or knowledge on diesel cabin heaters and what brand is of good quality? Joe

Joe,

Are you looking for a heater that actually runs on diesel? Just about any direct combustion heater is going to require a flue to vent off byproduct gasses... You might think about a bus heater. Mean Mike uses a bus heater on "Predator". I beleive Capt. Frank has a cabin heater that's tied to his engine coolant system.

Thanks Capt pat. I was looking at something like this, but read mixed reviews.

http://www.webasto.com/int/markets-prod ... lent-kits/

In my last boat I had a heater that was tied to the cooling system on the engine. Great unit and worked well while under power. Not so good at two in the morning when the wife wakes up because her teeth are chattering.

Joe

Joe

Know nothing about the Wabasto units, but they look OK at first glance. 4kW is about 16K btu, which is what you need for a B31 with an enclosed cabin, (wouldn't need that much for the Bahia Mar). My big concern would be from a safety stand point. Carbon Monoxide is deadly....

The Air Top Evo 5500 at .17 gph fuel consumption is certainly economical and it seems compact enough. By the installation example, my mind is put to rest since it looks like all intake and exhaust would be in the engine space. The exhaust could tied in with your engine exhaust.

I didn't find any bad press on Wabasto. What mixed reviews have you found?

I have an Espar diesel heater in my van. Ten years later and it's GREAT. Webasto is basically the same unit. You won't be sorry.

I have Webasto AC with reverse heat. It is a 9000BTU. No problems with it. Still looks like the day I installed it.

I have one of these in the boat, with one outlet in the v-berth, one in the main cabin, and one piped up to the bridge. The unit is installed under the sink in the head.

http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse. ... 4,217.html

It works great, but only when the engine is running.

This is the Espar unit that I have in my van:

http://www.espar.com/products/fuel-oper ... nic-2.html

We use webasto heaters in the boats at work... As long as you run them through the cool-down period before shutting them down, they hold up very well...

I have a unit similar to Mike. If we had something to fish for in the winter might add one in bridge. Never thought about one of those little Diesel heaters they look nice.