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does anyone have experience or have heard of the use of an instant hot propane water heater on a boat? I have installed one in the back yard and it's brilliantly simple and effective and I'm wondering why not on the boat? 6 gallons in the current water heater doesn't really cut it. The one in the back yard is small but on a boat it could be tiny and a deck shower is the one of the first things we're putting in on this years refit.
Any thoughts on where and how to install a deck shower?
Thanks!
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A buddy of mine lives aboard his Islander 41 Ketch and loves it. He has the Excel model, which have great reviews and are made in Brazil. He lives on a mooring ball and likes to take hot showers, so he uses it quite a lot. The best part is the price $159, which as far as boat parts go is pretty damned cheap. There are a few cons. It's a ventless model, which means it vents the waste gas into the boat (just like a stove or oven). That itself can be bone of contention, but my buddy says his detector has never gone off. I don't believe you will pass a vessel safety check if it's installed (if the inspector notices it, he/she may not). Your insurance company will also have a problem if they find out that it's installed.
The other major brand is called PrecisionTemp, which is the only one certified for safety. Problem is that it's $1000 and you're not saving any money over a traditional one.
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I wanted to do this also but finding a decent vented unit is hard. They used to make them in Europe. I have seen them on one or two boats that have been installed a decade or more and the owners just love them. Not in business anymore 🙁 can't remember the name off hand but I looked into it a year or two ago..
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Just thinking... there are a bunch of ok units for outdoor camping showers... wouldn't be hard to just hang it off the mast and run the hose down through a hatch to the head or just shower on deck, hang it in cockpit? Not ideal but they are pretty cheap... just over 100 dollars for some units.
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I dont' think that the units need to be upright to operate. At that rate, why not just build an above deck enclosure out of fiberglass and run lines. Add a Dorade Vent for style and away you go.
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all the units that I am aware of are vertical units due to the flame path of the burner. If you turn it on its side it will cause baaaad problems 🙂
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I find those units interesting....
and they are tempting,
However LP isn't exactly cheap, and I have a feeling those units would cruise through a considerable amount in a very short time period.
I have to wonder if maybe running the engine, and having a second holding tank for the water heater ( gravity flow circulation) wouldn't give more bang for the buck. ( plus you can charge the house bank at the same time).
Webasto makes a diesel powered unit, I really like it, but they are way over the top in price.
Seems to me, it's time somebody came up with a reasonably priced on demand water heater, designed for cruising boats in mind.
S/V The Last Farewell,
Currently laying Panchos Marina
Marathon, Florida
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Yep they will go through more propane but not as bad as you would think... it doesn't keep the water hot and compensate for heat loss over time.. just heats what you use and that's it.
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My neighbor had one hooked up to the propane bottle from his grill and he and his wife haven't gone through the bottle after both using it every day for a month. I've put one in our back yard and it's very efficient and easy to use. We chartered in the Bahamas recently and used the deck shower exclusively. Living in the tropics allows us to do that so I'm not thinking of using it below decks, this would be a deck shower, probably mounted in the Port lazzarette so it's closest to the propane "farm." The unit we got for our pool deck was a Marie and cost about $160 and has worked very well so far, even though it's not meant to be outside. It is vented but I just ran a stack up a couple feet since it is outside. I was initially concerned about a mixing valve but the unit has controls that you can set the water flow and heat so one line in and one line out is sufficient and hot water is, as advertised, almost instant. There's maybe a 5 second delay as the 3' run from the top of the unit to the rain head is pushed out by the hot water.
The heater in our boat is supposedly only 6 gallons and I can't see that being sufficient, particularly when we're averse to running the engine and prefer to anchor out most nights. My biggest concern is venting the propane connections over the side and concealing the vent. I'm guessing running the water line in and installing a shower head should be reasonably straight forward (sez the optimist..).
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do you have a link to the one you called a Marie? thats a good price for a vented unit...
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I'd love a link as well....
I have to admit, my experience has been predominately with the Natural gas versions, and most of the time they require a change in the size of the fuel line, and the gas meter as well, in order to adequately provide the volume of fuel required.
In the late 70's I operated a small commercial vessel in the Bahamas, for hot water we had two 55 gallon drums painted black, on the top of the wheelhouse. Hot water was rarely an issue with a average crew of 20 (+/-). I've often wondered if maybe a small ( 26 gallon) Nauta ( the Nauta ones I've seen are black) flexible tank sitting on deck in the sun might be the ticket. ( At least in the tropics)
Granted it would be a challenge to configure it for a pressure system, but still doable.
S/V The Last Farewell,
Currently laying Panchos Marina
Marathon, Florida
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rather than go to the issues of converting to a pressure system just take and have a second small pump for hot water system and shutoff to remove it from the normal system.
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When the "Sun Showers" showed up, years ago, we used them all the time but they had two problems. One, you had to figure out a way to hang the bag high enough to get under it and two, the plastic hose was always curved in one direction or another and needed a hand to hold it in position, which was a pain but it was better than a cold shower.
A friend started working on a new design using an outboard fuel tank, about 5 or 6 gals, the ones that lie flat, and painted it black. We came up with several different methods of attaching ridged PVC tubing to the fuel fill cap. We found PVC fittings that would screw on to the threads already on tank and then just started trying different ways of glueing a rigid pipe thru the cap in order to have a pickup line in the tank. We poked a hole at the highest part of the fuel tank and installed an automotive tire air valve, which just popped into place once the correct hole was drilled for it. With a cheap bisicle foot pump we had a hot, pressurized show that would last about five mins. About five, ready made, foot long PVC sections would screw on the pickup line to raise the shower head high enough to get under it and we experimented quite a bit with shower heads that would provide pressure while keeping the flow kinda slow. We ended up modifing a garden fitting to make it work right.
The basic idea of using air pressure was the genius and a small foot pump was prefect. We even used the air in a spare tire once while on the road. Everything else was just made to fit. I lost mine years ago but have been thinking about version 2.0.
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lol. its called a garden sprayer 🙂 Pump is included and you can replace the spray head with a shower handle with an on off button. They come in 1 , 2 and several gallon models.
I was reading your post and thinking.. wow that is cool it reminds me of something and then it hit me.. 🙂 lol we actually purchased one to use for this but never did. Haven't spent much time on the hook though... so one day we will actually use it.. still need to paint it black.. I think some of them actually come in black plastic but most that I have seen are white.
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Rick said:
6 gallons in the current water heater doesn't really cut it.
Are you sure that 6 gal is too little? I take a good cruising shower (well, wash cloth bath) with only about 2 quarts of water - one quart is mixed to be soapy in one container and one quart is fresh in another container. Most of the time have some water left over. For extravagant times, use 1 extra quart for extra 2nd hair wash & rinse. So that's 3 quarts max and is comfortable.
One thing to watch out for, if you are showering in the head, is that a longer/more-water shower will cause more moisture problems in there from the steam. (Mold, gunk, possible leaks in the floor, etc.) So you're better with the super-minimal-water-use method there. No worries on deck of course. Personally I'd add the shower in the cockpit, then you'd clean both yourself and the cockpit well & seats at the same time. ;-D
Now, what I would prefer instead of a big fat water heater for a shower, is a big fat air heater/drier in the shower. Because it gets a bit nippy in there when wet.
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