I picked up a used Dickinson Newport Diesel heater and wanted to know if anyone has a diesel heater, where you put it, and what you'd do differently. Also, if you use a pump or gravity feed.
Thanks
This is where our Dickinson stove is. It works quite well there and the lower location makes the whole boat warm and gives us good draw. The down side is that it crowds the companionway to the Vee berth. It isn't a big issue because we have a heat exchanger shroud on the pipe so there is actually not much danger of getting burned. The main mast is right next to it so it only takes a couple of inches from the companionway width, down low only.
The other small issue is that with the port settee pulled out, the cushion is close to the stove. Not an issue stowed, but if you want the stove on at night and you want to sleep on the big bed, that's a limitation. There is some clearance, but it's worth that thinking about.
We do have a pump, and that represents some electrical draw, and means the fuel solenoid has to be on. It avoids a header tank though, so it's a trade off. With the fairly long stove pipe, it draws well, so we have not needed a fan, but dickenson sells them and in some situations I can see the value in it.
Ours is actually mounted wrong according to the instructions, it should be facing fwd or aft, note sideways, but because it's on the centerline, so it still works fine. If it were me, I would have put the chimney penetration a few inches farther from the mast, but it works fine. Even running full blast the exhaust is not that hot and the mast and lines never even get warm. It does put a small amount of soot on the deck on start up. After it's hot, that isn't an issue. That location is more resistant to getting kicked.
The other location that I think Pearson really meant was on the port side fwd of the settee. There is a spot for the chimney to go through the deck there. Downside there is you give up a horizontal surface and a small locker, and the stove pipe is short, so draw is an issue. Might need a fan. It would be really hard to find a location for a tank there, so that would have to be a pump installation and a long fuel line run. You could reclaim the locker by adding a door on the aft side, but that's a bit of work.
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