Espar D5WS
Hi Shaun,
I guess we should get together so you can see what I had done with my Espar Hydronic installation. I ended up having it installed by Yachtmasters on Lake Union. There's a thread out there that discusses various heater experiences (here:
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=2542)
that you might read through if you haven't seen it.
I'm happy with mine, although this winter will be the first real test of the cabin heating performance. I can't comment on other types of heaters, except the old wood burner that used to be in my boat. In short, I got the Espar D5 to run two cabin heat exchangers and to serve us instant hot water after the water tank cools. I have a Raritan 12 gallon water heater that the PO installed. Running the motor to charge batteries simply does not sufficiently heat that much water, so we went the instant route using a coolant-water heat exchanger on the outlet of the water heater. There is also an anti-scald mixer installed. This system works great and only takes 15 minutes to be ready for showers or whatever you need hot water for. This installation does siphon off some heat from the hot water when the heater is off and water heater is hot from the engine, but it's not much of an issue. I did not mess with the option of using engine waste heat to heat the cabin. Too much extra valving for my taste. We discussed this extensively before settling on our final configuration.
I chose the hydronic because of the water heating option, better options for locating the heating unit, and to avoid the surgery needed to get the air large air ducts into the cabin. Others have done this very nicely, but I was thinking about the hot water situation, too. Espar seemed to have more support here on the board, and both installers I was in serious discussion with did more Espar installations and recommended them above Webasto or others.
The boiler is installed high in the aft lazarette, right in the center. It has an exhaust muffler, an expansion tank, and the exhaust is run out on the hull just forward of the transom on the starboard side. The muffler was necessary to quiet it down because of the relatively short exhaust run. Very good for your dock and anchorage neighbors. This location has not proved to be a problem with the contents or normally used space in the laz. I used a separate fuel pickup in the diesel tank, on the recommendation of the installer.
The heat exchangers are installed aft and mid-cabin. We sleep in the bow and we want it to be cooler there. We have the starboard settee with table. One HX is under the settee's aft seat. Takes up very little storage. The second is under the companionway steps. A tight fit, but it blows straight forward and increases the flow towards the bow, for those morning warmups from a cold cabin. Also will be useful for when we warm up after a turn at the helm in wet/cold weather. Both have dual fans and so there is a hi/off/low fan switch for each. The thermostat/power switch is mounted amidships on the bulkhead forward of the galley.
I had three companies that I discussed the installation with before deciding on Yachtmasters. The biggest uncertainty was whether I should use the D10 or the D5. The D5 was chosen because we wanted the system to run at high output proportionately more than the lower boiler setting. The hope is that the ignition/burner system will go longer between maintenance, and that the boiler life will be OK. It's a guessing game because the boiler automatically decides what it needs. My experience with cabin heat was mainly at the dock last winter (January 2006 and on) and it did well on those days when I went to work in the boat. I did some relatively crude cabin volume calculations, too, that might interest you.
If you want to arrange to see it sometime, contact me back channel and we'll set it up. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
