Building a Solar Electric Houseboat

[gotoluc]

Hi Luc,

For liquid propane
• 4.16 litres= 1 therm = 100,000 BTU = 29.3701 KW

http://www.lpg-solutions.co.uk/how-will-a-supplier-calculate-the-cost-of-lpg-to-an-end-user/

Thanks Tim for the quick reply.

I made a mistake on the weight of the propane tank, it's 20 pounds of liquid propane which is about 18 litres

So from your information it's about 7 KW / litre x 18 = 127 KW per tank @ 88% efficiency, so about 111 KW of heat.

Luc

[lechancel]

Hello LUC and everyone
please Luc: explain me how to tranform the water heater on demand you bought
as a floor heating system who works in a closed loop
thanks
Régis

[gotoluc]

Bonjour Regis,

you would need to make some modifications to the propane heater ignition system so it can be operated by a room thermostat. A small electronic circuit may be needed with temperature sensors to operate the propane ignition system to turn it on and off when the fluid reaches a certain temperature. I have not done that yet but I don't think it will be hard to do. Maybe even the existing circuit can be modified to work. I have not checked whats needs to be done yet as I'm not at that point.
You also need two other parts to make a closed loop. One is a circulation pump and the other is a small storage tank for the fluids (glycol) to be able to expand or contract with the changes in temperature. If you don't add a small tank for expansion, the hose lines will burst open.

That's about all I can tell you at this point. I will later on (when I build it) share a video of how I made it work.

Luc

[gotoluc]

Hi everyone,

I have another video update of the houseboat build.

Part 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5exPjMTf0WU

Luc

[picowatt]

Bonjour Regis,

you would need to make some modifications to the propane heater ignition system so it can be operated by a room thermostat. A small electronic circuit may be needed with temperature sensors to operate the propane ignition system to turn it on and off when the fluid reaches a certain temperature. I have not done that yet but I don't think it will be hard to do. Maybe even the existing circuit can be modified to work. I have not checked whats needs to be done yet as I'm not at that point.
You also need two other parts to make a closed loop. One is a circulation pump and the other is a small storage tank for the fluids (glycol) to be able to expand or contract with the changes in temperature. If you don't add a small tank for expansion, the hose lines will burst open.

That's about all I can tell you at this point. I will later on (when I build it) share a video of how I made it work.

Luc

Luc,

Just a few thoughts regarding your heating plans.

First, why all the extra weight and complexity of the heated liquid loop in the floor as opposed to an air/forced air furnace?  I would think you would want to go with minimal weight and power consumption...

Second, it would be unsafe to operate the heater you specified inside the living space due to O2 depletion and combustion gas venting into your living area.  Possibly you could mount it outside, but, doesn't Canada have any inspection/regulations regarding the type of boat you are building and/or require marine certified appliances?  If not, consider a marine certified (or at the very least an RV certified) externally vented furnace anyway (and at least a  couple combination fire/CO detectors as well).  Same goes for stove or frig, I'd suggest marine (or RV) certified...   

You might consider adding an air to air heat exchanger to allow efficient venting of your living space in cold weather.  You can't live in an airtight box!


Regarding your "2000 watts" is that just your panel rating for charging?

How many HP do you plan to have for thrust and how much battery storage to maintain that thrust for how long?

In wind/high winds, a house boat is sorta' like your sailboat, only you can't furl the sheets... 
 

PW