MacGregorSailors.com

Hello
did already someone installed a diesl air heater in a ?
If yes, how an where?

The price under 100.-- is not anymore way too high...

happy good new year!



https://www.ebay.de/itm/Diesel-Standhei ... %3A2334524

I sympathize with your problem...
but I don't go sailing unless its in the 70's F (>21 C).
Sure wish there was something that cost ~$100 and quiet that COOLED!
But I'll stay tuned to see what you come up with... with global warming and Covid I might get board and try for Alaska via the northern passage. Yeah... right!

I've seen them installed on OTHER boats and in campers.

I don't know where you could mount it in the Mac. the exhaust gets hot and that's the trick.

I installed one on mac26m 2007 i had to take it out again the exhaust kept flooding when you try to
restart it later. It was mounted under the v bed next to the valve housing for the ballast.
The exhaust was mounted in the corner than thru the side of top deck.

Here's a video of how one guy installed one on his He mounted his in the aft area and had it exhaust out the transom

That's clever. Apparently these are inexpensive and work well.

I am thinking of mounting a diesel air heater outside at the back of the boat. So all the exhaust stay outside. But the main problem is that I have no space inside. I hope I will have done one day...

Would give me some more hours in colder days at anchors

I've been on the fence about putting in a heater like this for a while. I think for now I'm going to tip toe into heat with one of these Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heaters.

Seems like they work well and you can take them to other places for other uses too

I installed one in my Sprinter. Not sure I'd stick one in my The exhaust runs hot and personally I'd want to mount it outside of the cabin.

I installed a Wallas 1300 kerosene heater in my 26M. It only draws 0.5 amps. I think it is one of the more essential Mac improvements for summer sailing in Southeast Alaska. It is often in the low 50's in the summer (even cooler at night), and the heat exchanger design helps drive moisture out of the cabin during cool rainy periods. Removing moisture in this climate is even more important than just producing heat. A propane space heater will not remove much moisture. I would recommend to anyone sailing a Mac to Alaska to have a proper heater.

Jeff,

(A) With it, how warm does the cabin get on the coolest summer nights? Your is 10’ (3m) longer than the recommended boat length.

(B) How did you exhaust it to outside the cabin?

Hi, All Wallas heaters that I am aware of are heat exchanges, which is why I clarified that in my last post. They draw in outside air into the combustion chamber and exhaust the combustion exhaust outside just like a Monitor or Lazer residential heater. No exhaust gasses are discharged inside the cabin. A series of fins allow the cabin air to pass through the heat exchanger via a fan and heat the cabin air. The Wallas 1300 that I purchased was kind of expensive ($1,700 approximately). According to another Mac 26M owner friend in Juneau, her China knockoff heater works in a similar way. When your out in a 100% humidity rainy day, and you come into the cabin cold and wet, a forced air heater like the Wallas (there are other brands e.g. dickinson, wabasto, ...) is about the only way to keep from getting hypothermia and drying out gear in our climate.

Jeff, your Wallas and other air heaters sound awesome. Do you have any pictures? Would love to see your install. I found pictures from several other folks searching for "wallas 1300" online, but would love to see one specifically for a Mac.

Looks like Wallas also makes a diesel water heater. Hmmmm

Jeff, stating this:

and the heat exchanger design helps drive moisture out of the cabin during cool rainy periods.

does not clarify how a heat exchanger performs. I confess, I didn’t understand how it works. I’m sure I’m not alone. I had to look it up.

Assuming this unit is in the cabin, please explain what you did to supply an exhaust path. If that thinking is incorrect, please explain to help clarify. Again, I’m sure others who’s are not as knowledgeable as you will be interested. I know I am.

Also, in a cool Alaskan summer evening, how warm does it get in the cabin?

Hi NiceAft, I am not sure that any answer I can provide will supply the performance data you are looking for. The website for Wallas (a Finnish company) has a lot of technical data including efficiency data for each heater they manufacture. That would be a good place to start. Basically what I am pointing out is that a "Buddy" type heater is a catalytic heater.The buddy heaters take air for combustion from your living space, using up oxygen. Then it drops out a lot of water and carbon dioxide. So you have to keep a window cracked. In our wet SE AK climate and in an enclosed boat like a 26M that builds up a bunch of condensation on the inside, and makes it much more difficult to dry anything out in the interior of the boat.

My little Wallas 1300 unit can handle temps in the lower-mid forties, but it is the humidity in our temperate rain forest environment that makes a relatively dry heat source a necessity for sailing here in my opinion.

Here is the weather we will be dealing with over the next week in Juneau to provide a concept of how wet it is here.

This afternoon: Periods of rain. High near 56. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tonight: Periods of rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 56. Southeast wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Sunday: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 58. Southeast wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Sunday Night: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 56. East wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Monday: Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 58. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Monday Night
Rain. Low around 56. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Tuesday: Rain before 7am, then showers after 7am. High near 60. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Tuesday Night: Showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 48.
Wednesday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 64.
Wednesday Night: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 51.
Thursday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 63.
Thursday Night: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 54.
Friday: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 64.

Yes, I can provide some install pictures, but I used the identical setup that BWY uses when they install a Wallas 1300.