4M: Furnace
4M1: Furnace
Furnace Concept
The boat is equipped with an Espar Diesel Forced Air Heating
System. This is a very compact furnace that burns the same Diesel
fuel as the engines. The fuel comes from one of the engine tanks, but
it uses a negligible amount of fuel, about a pint each hour it actually
runs. The furnace heats air which is circulated throughout the boat.
Individual outlets with its own air control directs the air into each area
of the boat.
The furnace is controlled by a thermostat and switch, located
just left of the lower helm by the forward companionway. The
furnace’s built-in computer will warm up the furnace, supply heat to the
boat until the thermostat senses it is warm enough, then shut off the
fans while the furnace goes through a “cool-down” cycle. You need not do anything but set the
thermostat with the switch “on”!
To control the balance of heat between the boat’s areas, open, close, or re-direct the deflectors
on the outlets.
As you can see, this furnace system is very flexible and a great addition to the boat! As long as
the batteries can support the modest DC power requirement of the fans and furnace blower, you will
have plenty of quiet heat. In fact, this use of the house batteries’ energy for air circulation is a good
reason to limit use of the furnace to times when passengers are awake, unless the boat has shore
power available.
Furnace Exhaust Warning
Note the location of the exhaust aft on the starboard
side of the boat!
Care should be taken not to black this outlet with
fenders
or while rafting due to the very high
temperature of the exhaust gases from the furnace.
Furnace Problems
If battery voltage gets too low the furnace will shut down to avoid
running the batteries dead. After the batteries are fully charged, you must
reset the furnace control by turning the main furnace “on-off” switch on the
thermostat “Off”, wait ten seconds, and then “On” again. The furnace then should operate.
Furnace Thermostat
See above.
Furnace thermostat. The switch, upper
right, turns it on (in “1" position) and off
(“0"). The position of the dial shown is
about 70 degrees F.
Starboard side furnace exhaust.
Section 4M: Furnace 4.31