hot water heater raises ER temp.....

[CliffA]

this may have been discussed before but I thought I would post it in case not....

this would mainly apply to cruisers that stay in the water year round....

earlier this year I installed a remote thermometer in the ER that sends the temp reading to a monitor in the cabin....I have noticed that when I energize the hot water heater the temp in the ER rises several *F.....so I was thinking this may be a way to raise the ER temp during the winter on those very cold winter nights with freezing temps...I have a bilge heater installed but thought energizing the HWH also may give an extra layer of protection from freezing....this assumes that the ER vents are plugged to keep the heat inside the ER.....

cliff

 

[alnav]

Interesting idea. I'd think you'd still need to winterize all the lines because I don't think they would heat up without flow. Those lines are very prone to freezing damage. So, you would isolate the water heater so you can keep it filled. I'd also be worried about the water in the heater evaporating or otherwise going down which might cause your element to burn up unless the heater has protection against that.

 

[Sprint7TW]

Cliff,
just curious, how many degrees does it raise it?

 

[JimT]

Cliff,

I found last year that when running the heat pump, a 600 watt Xtreme bilge heater, a 1500 watt ceramic heater and the hot water heater the 30 amp shore power breaker would pop. If I turn off one of the 4 power draws the other three will run fine.

 

[CliffA]

Cliff,
just curious, how many degrees does it raise it?

I saw an increase of several degrees, but this was during the summer and the ER vents were not covered....

cliff

 

[CliffA]

Cliff,

I found last year that when running the heat pump, a 600 watt Xtreme bilge heater, a 1500 watt ceramic heater and the hot water heater the 30 amp shore power breaker would pop. If I turn off one of the 4 power draws the other three will run fine.

that is an excellent point Jim that I had not thought of.....thanks for pointing that out....

cliff

 

[Henry Boyd]

Granted keeping the HW heater running will prevent it from freezing. However come winter I don't think it will be producing enough waste heat to make a difference. If you are leaving the boat in the water, then by all means keep it running. If it is coming out, running the heater will only add to the hours of operation on it with no benefit.

I'd also caution you that thermometers placed in the ER that are measuring air temperature can be very misleading as air temperature can change quite quickly, whereas engine blocks take a lot of time to change temp under ambient conditions.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[CliffA]

Granted keeping the HW heater running will prevent it from freezing. However come winter I don't think it will be producing enough waste heat to make a difference. If you are leaving the boat in the water, then by all means keep it running. If it is coming out, running the heater will only add to the hours of operation on it with no benefit.

I'd also caution you that thermometers placed in the ER that are measuring air temperature can be very misleading as air temperature can change quite quickly, whereas engine blocks take a lot of time to change temp under ambient conditions.

Henry


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

thanks for the input Henry.....

cliff

 

[rcknecht]

This is interesting... However, if you do not winterize your fresh water system, the water lines not in your engine room will freeze. But in a pinch, when an unexpected frost hits the south, turning on your water heater would not be a bad idea. I would not recommend this for a long term solution to freezing temps...