Origo portable heater/stove

[jackie m]

Thanks, Randy

The clay pot idea sounds interesting to me. I may give it a try on an alcohol stove.

Jackie M

[Catigale]

Chip - I think Moe just called you a cheapskate...are you going to take that??

It is subtle, and in between the lines, but its there...

[Chip Hindes]

Nah.

Besides, he's right. I kept looking at photos of the ridiculously overpriced Origo potholder and thinking that I could dulplicate it for way less than they were asking. Then but I ran into a labor shortage (mine) and elected to buy it and get it over with.

Someone, I believe it was Jack O'Brien, was considering making one on his own to save the bucks. I took a look at the thing and simple as it looked in the photos, I realized there were some fairly clever engineering details built into the stamping tooling that would be quite difficult to duplicate on a one-off copy. I opined that by the time you finished putzing around with it, cutting and trying and recutting and retrying, possibly starting a second from scratch, you'd have way more hours in it than justified. It probably wouldn't work as well either.

My experience on these has been that labor tends to exceed the original estimate 2-3x. Perhaps I should keep this in mind when I'm looking at that drawing for the M anchor roller and thinking I can duplicate it for zero material cost, since I have a leftover piece 304 from a previous project. That would be way less than your URM-2.

I can add something to the original discussion on the potholder. After having mine for a few seasons, I have used it in some pretty rough conditions and it has never failed. So if it remains overpriced, at least it works.

[Captain Steve]

I use a 6 inch clay pot and it warms the cabin fast and radiates heat for a long time afterward. Need some oven mitts to move it though....made that mistake more than once!

[Hubert]

I have both the heater and the single burner stove, they both use the same burner pot. The boat came with the heater and bought the stove on ebay. It is quite effective in heating the cabin, I have a solar vent in the hatch cover and one in the conpanion way plexi panel. Any source of heat will cause condensation if the cabin surface is cold.

[Zoran]

I won the Origo heater as a door price on one of our events and I used it in more than couple occasions. I even slept and had a heater working all night (actually most of the night since both times it run out of fuel) I must admit than I had no problems with the fumes and there was a condensation issues. But the next night I had no fuel and no heater and I still had condensation. A little bit less but it was there. I like this heater, but since I equipped myself with all kinds of cords in marina when power is available I will use electrical heater-blower. So far that is the best heater on board.

Zoran

[Jack O'Brien]

For about $10 Harbor Freight Tools sells an automotive 12 VDC Ceramic Heater which uses a maximum of 120 watts (10 amps) and less as it warms up. It is a small unit (6" x 6" x 2"?) and has a fan inside. I haven't used mine yet except to plug it in to see if it works. It seems sort of puny but one or more of these might take the chill off in a closed boat. No combustion or condensation to worry about. Obviously, unless you have a generator or shore power or a 50 HP Suzuki outputting 216 watts (18 amps) you need to watch your battery useage. But, no condensation or CO. Of course, if you have shore power, a 120 VAC bathroom or space heater will do nicely. Don't remember the cost or power figures but I got the Admiral a 12 VDC hair dryer that would take the chill off pretty well.

On the other hand, it was sunny and 85 degrees here in SE Florida today.

[jackie m]

There are a couple of pictures of the pot holder, showing its range of pot sizes, on my Mods Page about it.

Thanks for the photos. They are much better than anything I could find online advertising the holders.

Jackie M

[Catigale]

Ive used a roughly 10 Amp ceramic heater on board (in the driveway) at 20F outside and it warms the boat up to 60F in 15-20 minutes and holds it comfortably there.

Im not comfortable sleeping with this on for safety reasons though.

....and the thought of sleeping with any kind of fire going on board (propane alcohol, diesel, whatever) is not in book at all...its not the CO worries its fire itself. Your boat is 1600 pounds of very good fuel basically.

[DLT]

I wonder how well that 12v ceramic heater would work to take morning chill off, if you cut down the area it had to work in...

I'm looking to essentially turn the bow into a "cabin" in my M.

I mounted a fridge right accross from the daggerboard trunk. I'm going to install a door, or at least curtain to close off that whole area.

The area right accross from the head makes a nice changing area...

While that 12v ceramic heater would likely have issues, take a long time and suck a whole lot of juice, to heat the whole cabin, I wonder how it would handle a smaller space...

Yeah, I know that making heat with electricity just isn't very efficient. Also, as I recall, the ceramic heaters are kinda wierd, although I can't remember what is making me say that...

But, I have a pretty substantial electrical system, so, drawing 10amps for even an hour just isn't a problem for me... With my new solar system, I can add that back in an hour and a half (yes, of sun). If I want to run the engine, its only about 25min, at RPM.

My idea here is that while electricity isn't efficient, I personally feel a whole lot safer with it... I currently use a 120v electric heater when in a slip, and have AC available. I'm also fighting hard to avoid having other AC stuff... I hate the inefficencies with inverters and such... I have a 12vdc coffee make and even blender... But, I also don't want to have to find safe places to store the really good Propane systems Rich uses. I love them, but storage space for all those propane items is going to add up quick...

[Hamin' X]

Yeah, I know that making heat with electricity just isn't very efficient. Also, as I recall, the ceramic heaters are kinda wierd, although I can't remember what is making me say that...

But, I have a pretty substantial electrical system, so, drawing 10amps for even an hour just isn't a problem for me... With my new solar system, I can add that back in an hour and a half (yes, of sun). If I want to run the engine, its only about 25min, at RPM....

Electric heaters are 100% efficient. Everything that goes in, comes out as heat. Even the internal losses are converted to heat, as well as the line loss of the wiring.

You must have a very substantial solar array. I figure that it would take at least three 55 watt panels to supply your 10 amps and only if they are working at max. Where do you mount such a large array?

[DLT]

I have a 120w flexible array (actually 6x20W) Should produce ~7amps (yes, in good sun)...

As for where to mount - anywhere...
With my bimini up, on top of the bimini (SST frame & brackets - weight won't be a problem). With it down, on top of the deck...

I plan to mount it with bungees, not permanently...

[Frank C]

I've learned a lot reading this thread.
Seems to me there are (now) four valid choices, for me.

• - Coleman PowerCat (propane, battery fan across the catalyst)
  
  - Zodi Propane Air-Exchanging Heater serves several needs, so it's my favorite. With a well-designed installation, it can be secured in the cockpit, keeping fuel & combustion external. The return hose can suck "moist" interior air from the aft berth thru a deckplate (under-knee or seat back). Then it could blow warm air into the main cabin thru some other deckplate. The warm air might even be ducted into the bilge to provide a low-plenum distribution - tho at cost of robbing some of the heat. The obvious advantage of the Zodi is because it can help to manage cabin humidity while also providing warmth.
  
  - Electric heat. If I ever brougnt myself to buy a Honda generator, the above referenced ceramic 12v seems a perfect choice. The costs, of course, are the BoatBuck for a Genset, plus maybe its noise component.
  
  - Wallas (kerosene) Stove/Heater is the most costly choice, but maybe more practical for a really cold clime ... not on my horizon right now.

I'm sorta partial to the Zodi for its air-exchanging feature.

[Chip Hindes]

For the Zodi ductwork, I like your deckplate idea.

Another which avoids cuting holes in the hull, is a special hatchboard with the two holes precut, intake hole high, outlet hole low. A flat one out of HDPE or 1/4" marine plywood painted woud be perfect; could be stored in no space under the the berth cushions. You could cut it in half horizontally for a two piec hatch and even easier storage and installation.

Pull excess outliet duct through the hole and you can aim it in any direction, and/ or circulate the warm air inside the cabin with a small 12V fan.

[Frank C]

Actually, I like your idea even better than mine ... there's simply no need to drill holes through the boat. However, I think I'll cut both of the holes (note that tense has changed from 'the hypothetical') through the lower hatchboard, the one I'm calling a bridgedeck. Now I can just lead the flex-ducts as necessary. The return duct leads up over the galley, sucking out stale, moist air. The feed duct is led down toward the sole, blowing warm air toward whichever corner of the cabin happens to be occupied. Zodi includes a battery-op fan, but imagine attaching the feed duct to a common, 3" bilge-blower.

I'll have a twin of this duct-board (but without any holes) for use as a secure bridgedeck when sailing. I'll post pix sometime during this winter season !


ETA .... actually, the beauty of this plan is in its "flexibility," since the flex hoses permit lots of experimentation. For example, I wonder if the "stale, moist air" would actually subside toward the sole? ... but this approach makes trial'n error easy enough - now callin' it test'n improve!
Perhaps a more important question ... Zodi isn't really "exchanging" the moist air, just reheating the stale air. I wonder how this might be improved? (exactly the point being made [below} by Eric)