Where to install a water heater

[Escapade]

Hi, my B35E 1997, has come out of the factory without water heater as the original owner was using her mostly for daily cruising.
I am now willing to install one but I do not know where it is best to place it.
It seems i have little room in the engine compartment, while under port settee there is a lot of space, but on the other hand it looks very difficult to lay the new water pipe from there up to the toilet.
My boat layout is attached.
Any one of you with a similar layout can help with some guidelines?
Many thanks in avance.
Cheers

[Symphony]

They are normally installed under the aft cabin berth or in the void under the cockpit. Best to find out where the factory installed it and replicate that if you can. Probably means finding another boat of the same model - maybe find one for sale and view that or ask the broker. My old 2001 37 which is essentially the same boat as yours had it in the starboard cabin inboard of the fuel tank.

Looking at your layout, in the front of the cockpit locker might be a good place, but I don't know what else you have in that area. While the most common calorifiers like the Quick ones often fitted are usually cylindrical you can get rectangular ones which might be easier to fit.

[Craig]

I agree with Symphony. My 2010, 2 cabin  model Bav 38 is basically set out the same as yours. A tank under the aft berth is probably the best position but check with someone with the same model. They are generally engineered to just fit in the space provided.

The original DL heater broke down after 2 years so I replaced with a Quick heater. I had to go down a few litres in tank size to fit the Quick heater in.

One thing I did when I installed my new tank was to add some expanding polyurethane foam around the tank to retain some heat in the tank and keep the aft cabin cooler. You can buy this type of foam from B & Q in Britain or Bunnings in OZ. I think I used 3 cans.

Craig
" Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[Escapade]

Hi,
I have tried to find a similar boat without result so far. They were built only from 1997 to early 2000 as a faster version of the 34/35 holiday. As a result freeboard is lower and beam is also much less than the holiday version, hence less room available.
Today i have checked every possible place, unfortunately underneath the aft cabin berth there is one of the 2 water tanks and the area below cockpit is occupied by the waterlock, the exhaust pipe and the 2 bilge pumps outlet pipes. only a say 20x20x30 cm. Water heater may be installed.
One other option i have found is the space beyond aft cabin where you have access to the rudder quadrant. Plenty of room but the access is limited to 25 cm. hence i am now looking on the market if slimmer than normal heaters are available.
Thanks to both for the valuable guidance.
Cheers.

[Jeff Jones]

on our B34 2000 the hot water clarifier / heater is in the space behind the sail drive under the rear bunk, screwed to the bulkhead that divides the deep cockpit locker and the rear berth.

in the photo the saildrive is at the bottom and clarifier / heater is on the left with the wet exhaust muffler on the right side. 

hope that helps

[Noelio Abrunhosa]

Hi. have you given consideration to a gas water heater? like a junker?

regards

Abby

[Escapade]

Jeff
Thank you for the picture.
Your arrangement is very similar to mine, and if I understand well the two large corrugated black pipes should be the bilge pumps outlets.
If that is the case I can relocate mines which are both fixed on starboard side, hang the heater and reposition the pipes one above and one besides, as it is in your boat.
Cheers

[Escapade]

Hi Abby,
I have not considered a gas heater as i am a bit scared of using this type of equipment on a boat.
Have you got experience with that?
Cheers

[Noelio Abrunhosa]

hi.
I had one on motor boat many years ago. we loved it because we never ran out of hot water. also at anchor you didnt have to run the engine or generator to have hot water. i also saw one installed beneteau i was thinking of buying. the new ones have a lot of safety incorporated in the design.

regards Abby

[PEA-JAY]

Same here. I had one on a motor sailor I owned 30 years ago and it was just great. I didn’t think they still existed nowadays. Of course we always kept the hatch wide open in the shower when using it but come to think of it I still keep the hatch open while showering!☺️

[Jeff Jones]

Escapade,

the two black hoses running across the photo are electrical flexible conduits with the engine + and - cables to the starter motor / alternator.

the other black hose running under the clarifier / heater is a heating duct for the Eberspacher.. just thrown in by previous owner.. still on my tidy up list.

my bilge lines (2x) run on the right above the wet exhaust pipe.

Jeff

[Boatname]

Picture of my 2001 34

[Escapade]

Thank you all for the pictures, I have now a plan to install it similarly to the B34 and relocate the bilge lines on the opposite side.
By chance I have found the german manufacturer Elgena, which is making a nice unit with a squared shape which can be heated with cooling water from engine and both 230V and 12V.
It is a lot of flexibility
Any one has ever heard about this brand?
Cheers

[Symphony]

Not heard of it, but looks OK. Not sure of the value of 12v heating. You will consume an awful lot of amps at 12v to heat water! so probably more of a gimmick than something really useful.

[Craig]

Escapade,

Beware of using your 12 v system to heat your water. To heat 20 litres of water from 20 degrees to 50 degrees would need 700 watts or a draw of 60 amps if you wanted to heat it in 1 hour.

Most heaters are fitted with 2000 watt elements to heat the water much faster. This would kill your batteries.

We changed our element from 2000 w to 500w so that we could heat the water and charge our batteries using a 1kva generator. Easy solution if you need to charge batteries and heat water and don't want to turn on your main engine.

Craig
" Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia

[Escapade]

Hi, Craig
You are right, in facts what i did like of the Elegena water heater is the 230V - 660W resistance.
(12V is only 200W).
I agree that 12V to heat water is not the best choice. I suppose this heater has been originally developed for caravans and they can use the 12V while on the road.
As they offer the option to select the heating systems you want to have, I will definitely go for 230V-660W option. I dont need to heat water in a very short time and it allows to use a 1000W genset as you rigthly said.
Cheers

[Craig]

Escapade,
Your 230v -660 w may still be a bit high.

When we have our generator plugged in to our shore power inlet, we find that the battery charger installed by Bavaria draws a maximum of 480 watts. This is why we put in a 500w element. With a 500 w element we could charge the batteries and heat the water. One hour was sufficient to get enough hot water but we really needed longer to heat the water as hot as the engine heats it. It really depends on how cold the water is to start with and what the maximum temperature in the water heater gets up to. As a rough guide, you need 700 watts for 1 hour to take 20 litres from 20 degrees to 50 degrees.

With 660 watt element you may have to charge your batteries up to a level where the charger drops from the initial 40 amps to below 25 amps before switching on your water heater.

Craig
" Shirley Valentine"
Gold Coast
Australia