Heating System
In our system the heater unit houses both the hot water tank and the radiator water tank making the unit quite compact. Both are heated with an Elco oil burner which is very common in Europe and can be serviced easily. The entire heating system consists of the tanks and burner mentioned plus a circulation pump, pressure tank, two distribution connections, lots of pipe with foam rubber insulation, and for our sized boat, nine radiators and a thermostat. All but two of the radiators have an intake and exhaust directly connected to the heating system. The other two are daisy chained off bigger radiators so the output water of the first becomes the input to the next. This provides a satisfactory level of heat for the two bathrooms, which do not need a lot of heat as they are quite small closed off areas.
The heating system planning is necessarily one of the early construction tasks as the piping is usually located beneath the floor. In our case we did not want visible radiators so we built cupboard areas for each with a rattan screen to let the heat out. In order to get a flow of air over the rad we allowed a gap along the base of the cupboard. Each rad area is lined with a thin reflective insulation which helps to keep the heat moving and prevent the plywood from drying out. After two seasons of use we are very satisfied with the operation, the even nature of the heat, and the fuel bill, which runs about 800 Euros a year at a per litre cost of .43 Euros.
