Hot water system for houseboat

[Matty1986]

Hi

Basically I'm building a houseboat from scratch and the time has come to contemplate the plumbing...
I'm not a plumber nor do I have any plumbing experience so this could be interesting.
I've got a system in mind using an indirect vented cylinder to work with a solar heating unit and/or wood burner. As I'm not connected to the mains supply water pressure will rely on pumps.

I've attached a crude diagram of the setup I'm thinking of.
What I would like to find out is if this system will work?
Wether this cylinder is suitable for the job? (See attached image Rm Indirect Vented copper cylinder 900x450mm)
Or if there is one that is but not exceeding 950mm in height...

I think that is it?
Thank you for your time?

Matt.

 

[dancinplumba]

Why not just spend some money and get a professional in ? Make life easier for ya

 

[Matty1986]

I would like to understand what I'm building, it maybe easier but that's not an option

 

[SafeGasInstall]

i dont think it will work as the way have designed it you will never get hot water out !
As steve already said it could cost you more if you dont get a pro in

 

[stevetheplumber]

your probably better asking this question on the boat forums as marine plumbing is covered by different rules to houses
i suspect using the solid fuel stove for hot water is going to be difficult as you have little height for tanks and solid fuel isnt safe to use with sealed system either for heat or hot water
it will aqlso be different depending on usage permenantly sited house boats are different to those that mainly travel
many boats use calorifiers from the engines to heat water when moving and many have lpg

 

[Reg Man]

You really do need a qualified plumber who understands the water regulations for this project and a HETAS registered engineer if your considering a wood burner. This project is beyond DIY level.

 

[rpm]

As Steve said in #5 you will need a calorifier which are small enough nowadays to fit under a bed along with a wood / coal burning stove with a back burner that pumps hot water along copper pipes for heating radiators. My sister lives on a boat and has an electric shower pump to take care of the shower. Living on a narrow boat covered this in detail either this year or last so it should be easy to research but there is a lot of "red tape" and regs regarding pipes & hose`s and LPG to comply with or you will fail the boat inspection. Good luck with the project.

 

[Matty1986]

Hi, thanks for all the replies.
After consideration I've decided not to use a wood burner for heating the water but I'm still interested in using a solar collector. The boat is static and hooked up to the shore power constantly so an immersion heater will be used.

Would the cylinder I described in my first post be suitable to work with a small solar collector, this model has a larger heating coil which I understand is needed for such applications.

Thank you.