2 heaters

[jim_m5]

I have a 2nd boatsafe heater, both are 750w/15amp units. Is there any risk of using them both off same cockput outlet? Could the load of both running at peak time be too much and trip the plug?

It has gotten cold down here and instead of selling the heater I was conisdering using it if it makes sense?

Would if be efficient? Makes sense if 1 fails?

 

[electricaldoctor]

I have a 2nd boatsafe heater, both are 750w/15amp units. Is there any risk of using them both off same cockput outlet? Could the load of both running at peak time be too much and trip the plug?

It has gotten cold down here and instead of selling the heater I was conisdering using it if it makes sense?

Would if be efficient? Makes sense if 1 fails?

750 watts / 120 volts = 6.25 amps

 

[Redhook98]

OK, first of all, your in Georgia. It may be cold for a few days at a time down there right now, but not enough to hurt you, or your boat, trust me. Secondly, the 750W heater is technically to big for your engine room anyway (according to the BoatSafe folks). Third, these heaters are rock-solid dependable.

You have 2 nights out the next 10 that are in the 20's. Your days heat up to the 40's and 50's. The residual heat alone from the day time temps will not let you even come close to freezing anything. The heater you have is for folks farther north that have days that are in the low 30's or lower, and nights in the teens, or lower. And even then you have to have 3-4 days in a row of sub-freezing weather to start to freeze anything in a boat. This is if your in thwe water.

Keep the one heater and sell the other. You can sleep well at night that way. I have the 750 in my engine room as well. We had about 2 weeks of severe coldness here (i.e. no warmer then 30) for a few weeks straight. No issues here at all.

Or you could take the chance of plugging them both in, popping a breaker and having NO protection. (even then you probably won't freeze anything).

If your out of the water, then a single 750 is still an overkill. But out of the water, it does take less time for the freezing to set in.

 

[carterchapman]

Jim,

Like you, I'm in the water year around. I have a 300w xTreme bilge heater which is set to come on at 40°F. During our two week cold spell, my recording thermometer showed my bilge temps never went below 40°F, so 300 watts did fine for me. I did block my bilge vents when we had the mid-teens and 25kts of wind...

Same with my dock mate Windjammer's 340...

RedHook - I'm with you on this one.

 

[Southpaw II]

One is plenty. If your boat is in the water, the best thing you can do to help yourself (and the boat) is to plug the air vents of the engine room with foam to seal them as much as possible from losing heat. Also, put the cover on the cockpit to create a dead air space over the engine...I'm talking about the big cover with the eisenglass, not the small cockpit cover. Next, run the heat in the cabin to a low setting. If the water is too cold to run the cabin heat, just plug in an electric heater and open all of the cabinet doors to prevent water lines from freezing.

Position your Boatsafe heater as low as possible in the bilge, in the rear, center. This is the coldest part of the ER.

BTW, keep some gas in your boat in case the shorepower fails. You might need to crank the generator to save your boat.

We recently had a cold snap where it got to 10* at night and didn't get above freezing for 3 1/2 days. My engine room never got colder than 48* with the 750W Boatsafe. I have used these heaters for the last 10 years in 3 different boats without a failure. Good luck.

Don

 

[mwph]

OK, first of all, your in Georgia. It may be cold for a few days at a time down there right now, but not enough to hurt you, or your boat, trust me. Secondly, the 750W heater is technically to big for your engine room anyway (according to the BoatSafe folks). Third, these heaters are rock-solid dependable.

You have 2 nights out the next 10 that are in the 20's. Your days heat up to the 40's and 50's. The residual heat alone from the day time temps will not let you even come close to freezing anything. The heater you have is for folks farther north that have days that are in the low 30's or lower, and nights in the teens, or lower. And even then you have to have 3-4 days in a row of sub-freezing weather to start to freeze anything in a boat. This is if your in thwe water.

Keep the one heater and sell the other. You can sleep well at night that way. I have the 750 in my engine room as well. We had about 2 weeks of severe coldness here (i.e. no warmer then 30) for a few weeks straight. No issues here at all.

Or you could take the chance of plugging them both in, popping a breaker and having NO protection. (even then you probably won't freeze anything).

If your out of the water, then a single 750 is still an overkill. But out of the water, it does take less time for the freezing to set in.

I agree with your posts overall however, The op probably got a little concerned, as did I, earlier this month when we had the coldest 17 day stretch in at least the last 20 years. I think 8 of those days never saw 32 degrees. 5 of those days consecutive, with some single digit mornings thrown in there.

Some ponds froze thick enough to stand on. Down here thats unheard of.

 

[Rxflyer]

I had no temp issues in my ER with a single 750 watt BoatSafe during that frigid blast. Went down to check every day, and the remote temp said it never went below 44F. The problem I did discover, prior to the Big Freeze, was that I couldn't run run a cube heater in the HIGH position. It tripped the breaker. Did just fine on LOW, though. Glad I found that out before the winter turned serious.

 

[Uplate]

I have a 750 Boatsafe and am just north of you. That was some sort of cold spell to say the least. I broke off ice around my boat in early Jan. More on the way this weekend it seems.

My recording showed a low of 35 degrees during that spell.

I would think you are OK with a single heater.

Someone else said keep gas in your boat in case the shore power dies to run the heater. This is good advice I think.