Electric Heater w/ Honda 1000

[tomrussell]

Good Morning,

I am interested in what brand/model of electric cabin heater any of you good people might be using w/ your Honda 1000 generator.  Any feedback will be appreciated. 

Thanks,

[Ken Juul]

When I was living aboard I used an oil filled electric radiator so I didn't have to worry about the fire hazard when I was not aboard.  The Honda should run it.  But I'm thinking you are probably looking for temp heating.  You can probably find a radiant heater with a built in fan that has a low enough power requirement.

[tomrussell]

Thanks Ken, I am looking for temp heating when we are at anchor away from power.  I need to research if I am able to run the Honda 1000 through the shore power receptacle and power the heater through the plugs on board or if I would need to plug the heater directly into the generator. 

[Ken Juul]

You can do it either way.  If you choose the shore power receptacle, then you will probably have to manually turn off the battery charger to limit the load put on the Honda.

[chuck53]

Most of the small fan heaters are 1500 watts.  You will need one with a low setting to run off the Honda 1000.  Less than 900 watts which isn't a whole lot of heat. 
You can pick one up at any of your big stores...Walmart, Lowes, etc for less than $20

[Ron Hill]

Tom : The small electric heaters I've seen are 750W (position #1) and 1500W (position #2).  I'd guess that with its fan you'll be pulling just over 750W.  
If you hear the Honda engine kick out, then you'll have to run it on the normal, NOT the Eco position.  

[ozzie]

Have you looked at the Webasto, Espar or Dickinson Marine diesel heaters? I have a friend who installed a Webasto AT2000 airtronic in his C38 which works well for him in Victoria BC. I am looking at installing a Webasto TL-17 hydronic heater. With the hydronic system you also heat your hot water tank and engine for cold weather starts. You can also plumb it with a shut off valve to run the webasto in the summer to just heat the hot water tank.
It is more involved to install than an airtronic system but I won't have to cut large ducting holes in the boat. I have an A/C system that I will be removing so I have registers and some ducting that I will use.

[tomrussell]

Ozzie,
I've not looked at diesel heaters as an option.  I had planned to purchase the Honda 1000 for charging my bank on the hook so I was hoping to just piggyback on that expense.  After some research, the best I found was a 300W reflective heater that will at least knock off the chill.  It's far from perfect. 

[Ted Pounds]

At 300W you should be able to use 2 of them and maybe 3 if nothing else is drawing.  Just a thought...

[Craig Illman]

My experience with a built-in 1500W heater is that when it got down below 40F outside, the heater would only bring the inside up to 60F. That's when I decided I needed to replace my failed diesel heater with a new one. If I was doing a fresh installation, I'd defintely do a hydronic.

Craig 

[Jack Hutteball]

I installed an Espar hydronic system on our boat which works beautifully.  Yesterday with the outside temp at 35 degrees and the main hatch completely open the interior cabin temp was maintaining at 60 degrees.  It gets really cozy if the hatch is closed!  I ran a water loop to the proximity of the water heater during the installation but have not made that connection yet. 

Jack