Last revised: April 2019
24
17. Heaters
Highlights
•
Webasto forced air, set thermostat to desired temp
•
Use to warm the cabin before bed and in the morning
•
Not practical to run all night, noise wakes light sleepers
•
Portable electric heater for use on shorepower
Details
The Webasto thermostatically controlled forced air heating system draws from the main
diesel fuel tank and runs off of the house batteries. In our waters, we use the heater on
cool evenings or to take the chill off in the morning.
The thermostat is in the galley. To use the heating system, first turn on the main breaker
for the heater on the 12 volt panel. To start the heater, move the sliding switch on the
thermostat to “on.” Use the arrows to set the temperature. It takes about 5 minutes to
go through the start up sequence. Be patient. There are hot air outlets in the aft cabin,
galley, main cabin under dinette, and in the forward cabin.
To turn off the heater,
switch the system to “off”
on the thermostat. The heater goes
through a 5 minute shutdown sequence.
It is very important to NOT use the 12 volt
panel switch to turn off the heater.
It is the main breaker, NOT an on and off switch.
The 5 minute shutdown sequence must be allowed to complete or serious damage can
be done to the heating system. Wait at least 10 minutes before turning the breaker off.
We normally turn off the heater at night, both to sleep cool and to avoid the air blowing
sound and the clicking sound of its electric fuel pump.
It just isn’t practical to use the
thermostat to hold the temperature through the night.
We have found that making too many changes to the temperature or turning the
thermostat on and off too quickly can “confuse” the control system
.
“Rebooting” solves
most problems.
