Installing a heater
After 13 years of co-owning a Contessa 26, David Pugh finally warms to the idea of fitting a heater
Our Contessa 26, has been in the family for 13 years this year, and installing a heater has been a recurring topic of conversation. Cost, as always, is a consideration, but we spent a long time wondering if the space taken by the unit and ducting was really practicable on such a small boat.
On the other hand, I’m married to a lady who can sense a cold draught an hour before it arrives and, in our maritime climate, a heater can really help extend your sailing season. Even my colleague Ben Meakins, a keen racer, says that his heater is one bit of weight he’s never considered removing from his boat Polly. Instead, the ability to switch it on after a race, thaw out the crew and dry their oilies makes winter racing more pleasurable.
Taking Red Dragon out of the water for what turned into a two-year refit provided the ideal opportunity to finally take the plunge and fit one. We wanted something you could switch on at the press of a button, which ruled out solid fuel and paraffin, and besides it seemed logical to choose a fuel which was already on board. That narrowed our choice to gas or diesel, but as I’m nervous about gas and Red Dragon only carries small cylinders which rapidly deplete given our tea-drinking habits, diesel seemed the way to go.
Choosing a heater
There are several brands of heater on the market, but the majority of boats of Red Dragon’s size fit the Eberspächer D2, and we found no good reason to differ. Parts and service are readily available, and the units have an excellent safety record. From a professional perspective, it also provided the opportunity to check out Eberspächer’s recent claims to have addressed the number one cause of complaint about these units: noise. Anyone who has walked around a marina on an autumn evening will be familiar with the howl of an unsilenced