I'm over in E. TN and looking hard at the twin hornet 45 which is a 700W heater. I'm probably going to build a small platform to mount the heater to and place it down between and slightly aft of the engines on our 340DA

 

I may look into the twin Hornet heaters before I pull the trigger on the extreme. I think I will build a removable shelf to sit between the stringers for the heater to sit on. I'm also going to run the sensor gateway to be able to monitor it off my phone.

 

You could also put a 100 watt bulb in the engine area and that should keep it warm enough and keep it from freezing, could use a heat lamp bulb the type they use for keeping chicks warm.

 

You could also put a 100 watt bulb in the engine area and that should keep it warm enough and keep it from freezing, could use a heat lamp bulb the type they use for keeping chicks warm.

That is a great way to blow up the boat.

 

I have a 600w Xtreme heater. The water temperature you sit in is more important than the size or number of heaters. Our lake water never goes below the mid 40s. The bilge heater is more peace of mind. Plus, I don't winterize the fresh water lines.

 

I don't believe our lake ever gets below 50 degrees normally...and I'm not winterizing my fresh water system other than the ice maker, wash down, and sink on the back deck.

 

I dont see where having a light bulb would blow your boat up I had onre in my boat all winter last year with not problems, perhaps you could explain too me what or how it would blow up.

 

Gas Fumes + Spark from lightbulb = Explosion

 

I'm in Clifton Tn. I have a 390 Express and I use 1 Twin Hornet in my bilge and it works fine for me it's been down into the teens several nights in a row before (4-5) and the lowest i've seen it is 39 degrees....

 

what about winterizing/blowing out the windshield washer circuit?
That's exposed to the elements and could easily freeze

 

I do not have a windshield washer on my DA.

 

Ha... well that answers that..

 

Install engine heaters in the freeze plug holes would protect your engine, use them all the time in our cars in Alaska.

 

What is everyones opinion of Extreme vs. Twin Hornet heaters? Other than the price difference.

 

I called the owner of Twin Hornet last year and he custom built me a 1000w twin setup. It works great.

 

Another member has a bilge heater for sale now. He has it at a great price

 

I ended up ordering a Twin Hornet 1000W twin heater, looking forward to getting it. Hopefully wont be needing it for another month or so here in TN!

 

Did you call him direct? Nice guy.

 

Three years ago it was sufficiently cold here in NE FL that our saltwater canal skimmed over with ice. It was in the 20's. Our mechanic said to start both engines and the generator just before going to bed and let them run for 10-15 minutes. Sufficient heat is produced to keep everything from freezing. I still have an approved engine room heater.

This is NE FL not farther north.

If global warming ever reverses course, I may need to block off the engine vents.

 

Have the smaller Extreme (300w I think) in our 310DA. Previous owner made a sheet metal base and it sits on the stringers at the front of the engine compartment between the V-drives. I also bought off Amazon one of those $20 indoor/outdoor thermometers with an outdoor transmitter that displays the last 24 hour high and low of the inside and outside temps. The transmitter sits on the genny in the aft of the compartment with the display unit in the cabin. And a ziplock bag half full of water sits on one of the the centek exhaust stacks. Uncle Sam has us in Northern Va this year and the boat is in the water on a marina off the Potomac. Although I still winterized everything out of a sense of experience taught paranoia, the temps have been in the mid-20s at night of late but the small heater has shown to keep the engine compartment no lower that 41F. Since the marina is 5 min from the house, it has been easy to go by and check the performance. And if the power ever goes out at the marina, the winterizing is the ultimate insurance, and finding the bag of water frozen will let me know if temps got low...