Heating a Mac

[nedmiller]

Patrick,
Our Wallas 1300 is mounted on the Port side of the boat above the Galley--aft of the sink, just below the back side window. There is a 1 gal container of mineral spirits secured under the galley sink in a sealed container with the fittings to the stove coming up through the Galley top at the back and feeding the unit. The exhaust/intake hose goes straight up and exits to the port and forward of the winch. It requires a 2 inch hole. The stainless exhaust fitting that sticks out of the boat can be sealed by pressing down and twisting and one has to remember to open it before using the heater. It is round and smooth and doesn't foul lines. It never leaks water into the cabin. It gets hot to the touch and when on the hard and covered, I fold back the cover to use the heater to work on the boat.
Mounted in this location, it is convenient to turn on and off-you don't have to pay for the remote switch, the exhaust is short and direct, and there is no duct work to install. Duct work for heated cabin air is limited to 3 feet if you do an under cabinet install. That makes this the cheapest and easiest install. That said, I am considering moving it to under the cabinet. If you put this in Google: c-brats install "Wallas 1300" you can see how one guy installed in a Cape Dory. I would, however. put exhaust exit higher on the boat than he did. My exhaust is all metal. You can buy side exhaust fittings instead of top if you want to exhaust out side.

The heat is about the amount of heat you would get from a 1500W electric heater but the fan propels the heat better. There is no extra moisture put into the boat and it uses no boat oxygen and no CO or CO2 increase since it brings in outside air through the outer tube. The amount of fuel use is tiny. There is no odor in the cabin, but slight mineral spirits odor outside when burning--very slight.

Ned

[PatrickS]

Thanks Ned. I'm looking at installing an 1800 in my X, under the galley, with the primary output vent blowing towards the feet area under the dinette and the secondary output vent blowing into the aft berth. I've mostly been trying to work out how best to install the exhaust/intake ducting.

Running it up to the deck would be challenging, as I've got alot of stuff above my galley along the windows and would also be worried about the heat of the actual exhaust and the fittings on the deck, as I've got little'uns to be concerned about. The through hull out the side looks like a cleaner/safer solution. I'm hoping to hear from someone who might have their exhaust on the side, about water ingress, height above the heater, etc. (FWIW, I've read through all the Wallas installation manuals, but still would like to hear from folks who have one installed on a Mac).

One more question, do you find that the power consumption matches what is stated in the specs?

Thanks,

Patrick

[K9Kampers]

For a heater in a Mac, here's a pic from the archives, key word "theric"

[PatrickS]

For a heater in a Mac, here's a pic from the archives, key word "theric"

That's quite a heater

One of the features that attracts me to the Wallas 1800 is that it has two output ducts which can be directed into both the fore and aft of the boat, for more even heating. Also, by being installed under the galley, and with vents already added for bilge/storage area ventilation, it will circulate the air between the bilge areas and the cabin areas, helping to keep the bilge/storage areas warmer and drier. And in warmer weather, when no heating is needed, it has the ability to perform the same ventilation, with very low power consumption.

And one final feature that is relevant in my case, in comparison to the heater above, is that I have little'uns running about the boat, and a Wallas heater installed under the galley, with thru-hull exhaust/intake out the side, will keep all the hot bits fully out of reach, both in the cabin and on the deck.

Cheers,

Patrick

[bubba]

PactricS you will need to run the insulated exhaust pipe at least up to the ceiling then a bend the pipe down to form a trap to keep water out of the heater. Possibly the Walrus stove/heater will work better since you have a fixed stove unlike the sliding stove/sink like my 07 M. The exhaust pipe is hot and it is covered with a cloth insulator that can get damaged and be hot in spots something to think about with a lot of things close.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

BWY has installed many Wallas heater stoves in X's. It can be done with no pipes or lines showing.

They use the flush mount version installed in the usual place in the galley just aft of the sink. The fuel container is located inside the galley and plumbed to the stove. The exhaust is routed out the side of the hull just below where the galley counter joins they hull. In their installation you see nothing but a flush stove with the flip up heater lid. None of the fuel lines or exhaust pipes are visible. On the outside of the hull all you see is the small SS outlet #1066 about half way up from the waterline to the deck.

See this for all the various parts.
http://www.scanmarineusa.com/Wallas_accessories.pdf

Most of their installations have been the single 800 series stove with the 220 blower lid. If I ever spend the cash for one I will get the 85DU with the 270 blower lid as this should drop right in to the hole I already have for my flush mount double Origo stove.

http://www.scanmarineusa.com/Wallas_stove_800.pdf

http://www.scanmarineusa.com/wallas_oven_85DU.pdf

Chinook has the Wallas vented out the side installation in his boat, you might PM him with questions.

[PatrickS]

BWY has installed many Wallas heater stoves in X's. It can be done with no pipes or lines showing.

They use the flush mount version installed in the usual place in the galley just aft of the sink. The fuel container is located inside the galley and plumbed to the stove. The exhaust is routed out the side of the hull just below where the galley counter joins they hull. In their installation you see nothing but a flush stove with the flip up heater lid. None of the fuel lines or exhaust pipes are visible. On the outside of the hull all you see is the small SS outlet #1066 about half way up from the waterline to the deck.

See this for all the various parts.
http://www.scanmarineusa.com/Wallas_accessories.pdf

Most of their installations have been the single 800 series stove with the 220 blower lid. If I ever spend the cash for one I will get the 85DU with the 270 blower lid as this should drop right in to the hole I already have for my flush mount double Origo stove.

http://www.scanmarineusa.com/Wallas_stove_800.pdf

http://www.scanmarineusa.com/wallas_oven_85DU.pdf

Aside from having just put a new Origo stove in, I'm looking at putting in a Wallas 1800 heater (not cooktop/hood blower) both for the additional heating capacity (being in Finland) as well as more even heat distribution.

But glad to hear about and from folks who have the through hull mounted on the side, which is what I'll probably end up with.

Chinook has the Wallas vented out the side installation in his boat, you might PM him with questions.

Thanks. Have been PMing him already.

Cheers,

Patrick

[Kelly Hanson East]

Fire on boats, ugh. Even the contained kind.....

My two 11 year old girls and I took a 4 day/3 night trip up the Hudson in November - it was going down to 20F at night, on an open decked, 90 foot replica ship of the Half Moon. There was no heat on board at all. We slept in thermals in good sleeping bags and were fine. Hot food and drinks from the galley kept us up and going.

The catalytic heaters can drop out (usually happens when the propane bottle ices up and the flow drops) - then they just ooze propane into your boat. In my younger days, I heated a 71 VW bus with a catalytic and came back to the bus one day to find it full of propane. I realised a few days later that I had opened the door and closed a 12V switch that turned on the interior light...good thing VW made that switch explosion proof....

On electric heaters - Ive used a single 1000W A/C element on shore power and it would bring the interior to 60F when it was 32F outside in about 15 minutes. THis is with two Nicro 3 inch vents running .

[kmclemore]

I don't know, Steph - I've used that Coleman on one heck of a lot of camping trips and have yet to see it freeze up like you noted... not sure how or why, but it just doesn't. Yeah, the bottle can get some frost on it, but that's it. Is it possible the design has changed?

[PatrickS]

The Wallas 1800 I'm looking at putting in uses Kerosene, which is good down to about -40C before it crystallizes and causes any problems, and the heater has a number of safety features for auto shutdown for different reasons, so I'm not concerned about problems.

If you're only dealing with cold weather from time to time, yes, you can manage just fine with clothing and other techniques, but as much as I plan to be on the water, and as cold as it can be most of the year, I'm looking forward to having a serious heating solution on the boat.