Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:33pm

I have seen some boat fitting on Sky TV where the floor was put in on top of plastic snaked plastic water pipe which was on top of tin foil covered insultaion. Is there any draw backs on this form of heating if the deck head and sides are also insulated?

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:02pm

Dear Liam, Much depends upon what type of boat you have in mind and how tall you and your crew are. Narrowboat headroom tends to be somewhat limited and you must have an air gap between the ballast and the floor so dropping the floor is not an option. I would also want something more than reflective insulation below the system because any heat moving down will only serve to heat the canal. So if you have the headroom or are short them that will probably be OK. I am far more concerned what you will use to produce the hot water. These systems seem to use very long runs of small bore pipe so you will have to ensure that the pump used to circulate the hot water is designed to cope with the resistance. I am fairly sure that for example the Alde one would struggle. If you are thinking of using one of the "main stream" forced draught diesel boilers of which there are three major very similar makes then I think a number of boaters who would question your decision on the boiler front. If you have a mains supply and are thinking about a domestic type boiler rather than a 12/24 volt one then success is more likely. Tony Brooks

Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:20pm

Thanks for that I will give the Ballast gap some thought and thinking about it Alan the presenter is a Short Carpenter compared to Tommy Walsh. The boiler is something I will give very careful consideration too Thanks again