If you’ve ever experienced a boiler outage at home, then you know full well how miserable days of cold showers can be, especially in the colder months. So when you’re on your well-earned downtime, why would you choose to recreate that misery?
Installing a hot water system on your boat means you can have your creature comforts on the high seas. A boat hot water heater is relatively cheap and easy to install, and you should consider one for your boat. Read on to find out more.
Benefits Of Marine Hot Water System
So, why exactly then should you install a marine hot water system? Well, the benefits of hot water at sea are much the same as those at home. Being able to take a hot shower of a morning is one of those things you don’t appreciate enough – until it’s gone. Then you’re stuck darting in and out of the water trying not to get too cold as you wash. After a shivery towel down, this is the point where most people resolve to get the boiler fixed.
It’s not fun and it’s definitely not hygienic. What’s worse, washing dishes with cold water is not just depressing, it’s just not that effective, meaning your dishes are harbouring not only old food but potentially bacteria.
So if you’re looking to travel any distance at all on your boat, it’s pretty clear that you will need hot water not only to be comfortable but to keep hygienic. If your boat has a galley for cooking, then this is even more important. We all know that sometimes cooking and doing the dishes onboard can be bad enough without cold water to contend with also. Even in the seas around Australia, on colder or windier days at sea, a hot shower will be exactly what you need to get the feeling back in those fingers and toes!
Being able to take a hot shower of a morning is one of those things you don’t appreciate enough – until it’s gone.
In the days of the gas water heater, boat comfort could get expensive. There is one type of boat hot water system will also maximise the energy in use on your boat, as they can use the waste heat from the cooling circuit of your motor, meaning significantly less wasted energy from your engine if you’re using it. A marine water heater with heat exchanger allows you not only comfort, but is a super-efficient and economical way of heating water.
These heaters can also be run from the shore-side power supply, pre-charged batteries or a generator if you have one on board, so you have many options on how you power up. In particular, the use of waste heat is very economical: the water is heated permanently and the excellent insulation of the boiler keeps the water hot for a long time. If you’re running the engine anyway, it makes perfect sense to heat your water this way. This type of marine tankless water heater affects the trim of your boat less.
If you want to ensure you always have hot water backed up, heaters with a dual exchange function will not only make the best and most efficient use of your motor’s heat but can be connected to a generator at the same time. This pretty much guarantees hot water, whether you are running the engine or not.
Modern water heaters are compact enough to fit pretty much anywhere, so you needn’t worry about taking up precious space on your boat. Owners of small boats especially will be able to testify as to how precious boat space can be – it’s bad enough hitting your head on the top of doors without tripping over heaters! Which is why water heaters are designed to sit out of the way in the engine housing. What’s more, they are designed to be not only efficient and compact, but super easy to install.
How To Install A Boat Hot Water Heater
If you’ve ever looked at a boat hot water system diagram, it might seem that installation will be a complicated business. In fact, as water heaters on boats don’t use pipes, this makes them super easy to install. Marine hot water heater reviews will attest to this: you set the water heater in place, connect the hoses, connect the wires then turn on the water heater.
When choosing a location, another benefit of our heater is that it can be mounted vertically, horizontally, or anywhere in between! So finding a spot should be easy. It is worth remembering though that water is heavy. You should put the water heater as low (and as central) as possible, as a hot water tank will change the trim (balance) of your boat.
To get it hooked up, just attach a hose onto the water heater’s inlet port and connect the other to the below-deck extension of the potable water inlet connection on your deck. Use Teflon thread tape on both connections. You don’t want seawater washing over your deck to backfill into your water heater, so ensure the potable water inlet has a valve and O-ring seal.
Screw one end of the hose to the water heater vent port and attach with Teflon thread tape. Wrap the threaded portion of the water system vent with Teflon tape and connect. Then, take the threaded end of the hose and attach it to your boat’s “house” water system and attach the water heater’s outlet connection to it.
Finally, attach it to the power – find your boat’s breaker box and attach to the appropriate breaker. And you’re done – you’ve just hooked up your boat with a steady supply of energy-efficient hot water!
With super-easy installation, an energy-efficient hot water heater can make your boating trips so much more comfortable, and for minimal cost and effort. If you’re curious to see how your boat could benefit from a hot water heater, why not contact BCA today and one of our experts will be able to help you decide what’s best for you.