Engine room heater

[Jay Fusaro]

Hi everyone, did a quick search and didn’t see anything – please feel free to direct me to a thread if there is one. We should be closing soon on a ’98 445 and are very excited! We will be on a lake in MO and it will get below freezing during the winter but we do like to boat on nice winter days. In my current boat (29 Ranger tug) we have an xtreme 600W heater that has done an excellent job. We monitor the temp with the Govee app and this has worked really well. Obviously the 445 engine room is significantly larger. Any thoughts/ suggestions/ recommendations on heaters?
Thanks!
Jay

[g36]

I use a boatsafe 1000 watt heater in my 405. I also remotely monitor my boat cabin and bilge Temps. I made snap on covers for the outside air vents and have never had any issues. I'm also only 10 minutes from my boat if there's any issues.

[Jay Fusaro]

Thank you Admiral! Great idea on the covers for the vents. I have used the smaller boatsafe heaters and really liked them. Couple questions
Do you know how many amps it draws?
Did you put yours on a dedicated breaker?
Is it a three prong plug or did you hardwire it?
Thanks,
Jay

[km1125]

Have you looked into block heaters or oil pan heaters? Not as much current draw but they would keep the engines much warmer and that amount of mass inside the engine compartment might do an overall better job than a space heater.

I agree with the snap-on covers too for the vents. Just a bit of a breeze can blow any warmed up air right out of the boat!

What do you do for the HVAC and potable systems?

[Jay Fusaro]

Good point – I have winterized the HVAC only if I knew a long duration cold snap was coming. In the past I would shut off the water pump open all the faucets to drain the water out of the lines and leave the faucets open and not put much water in the water tank. So far haven’t had a problem. Do you winterize your entire boat?

[Jay Fusaro]

I forgot to answer your question I have not looked into block heaters that’s a great idea!

[km1125]

QR_BBPOST Good point – I have winterized the HVAC only if I knew a long duration cold snap was coming. In the past I would shut off the water pump open all the faucets to drain the water out of the lines and leave the faucets open and not put much water in the water tank. So far haven’t had a problem. Do you winterize your entire boat?

I do, but I'm in a "hard freeze" area so it's a completely different scenario.

[Jay Fusaro]

Understood. I really appreciate the input on the boatsafe heaters, block heaters and covering the vents. Good input thank you!
Jay

[g36]

Hi Jay I do not have a dedicated circuit for the heater, yes its 3 prong and I ran the ac cord out of the engine room to a plug in my aft cabin. I'm not sure the amp draw I've never had any issues with breaker on the circuit it's on. I have another boatsafe heater in my aft cabin bilge where the water tank and other plumbing, I do not winterize my boat but keep the cabins warm with 2 oil heaters on a plug in thermostats set at 45 degrees both affixed to large bases to prevent any issue with possible tip over. Have done this for 2 boats probably going on 14 or so years never a issue. I do monitor my boat with cameras and temp sensors I also live close by. This setup works for me.

[Jay Fusaro]

That’s terrific information I really appreciate it and that’s a great idea about using other boats safe heaters in other areas of the boat. I think they make a very good product. I also like the idea of monitoring with cameras in addition to the temperature sensors.
Jay