Electrics
The electrical systems onboard a narrowboat can be complex. and it's often the topic of huge debate.
Firstly, while away from a mains power connection a bank of 4 x Lead Acid Leisure batteries will be providing power to all the devices we intend to use on the boat. Therefore the batteries need to be charged regularly. Secondly, consumption of power could determine how your electrical system is designed. Lets consider these two areas in a little more depth.
Consumption
240 volt Devices or 12 volt Devices? Or both? - We chose to use both 12 volt and 240 volt appliances on board. We realised that to use 240 volt appliances exclusively across the boat would be possible but the inverter/charger will need to consume some nominal power just to convert 12 volts to 240 volts. We'd prefer to be more careful about our power usage so we are installing a 12 volt circuit as well as a 240 volt circuit. We have chosen to install the following sockets:
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7 x 12 Volt Single Socket (Car Style)
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5 x 240 Volt Double Socket with Double USB.
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4 x 240 Volt Double Socket.
See the boat plan for the location of these sockets.
Consumption via a 240 Volt Hook Up - When you can connect to some form of land power (normally in a marina) then the Inverter/charger will provide all of your 240 volt sockets with power directly without draining your onboard domestic batteries.
Charging the Batteries
Charging with the Engine - Most narrowboaters will charge their domestic or leisure batteries by running the engine. As well as propulsion, our engine also provides electrical power through two alternators (1 x 100 Amp to charge the domestic batteries, and 1 x 75 Amp to charge the engine starter battery and Bow Thruster Battery).
Charging with Solar - An alternative way to charge these batteries is to use solar panels. You can charge either the domestic or starter batteries, or indeed both if you have sufficient panels, a big enough roof and solar controllers in place.
Of course, the yield from solar has many dependencies (power of the sunlight/time of year, position of the panel in relation to the sun, type of panel, power generated, etc.).
We have chosen 4 x MiaSolé Flex-N Solar panels to charge the domestic batteries through the Sterling MPPT50 Solar Controller. The panels were selected because they have bypass diodes to reduce shading losses when moored under trees.
The solar controller is needed to regulate the power harnessed through the panels into batteries and to ensure the batteries are charged correctly.
Charging through a 240 Volt Hook Up - When you can connect to land power then the Inverter/charger can charge your domestic batteries as well as providing all the 240 volt sockets with power directly.
The Inverter/Charger fitted as standard on our Shearwater 2 is a Sterling Combi 2500w.
Our electrical system is being installed. The control panel as well as 240 volt sockets and 12 volt sockets have been installed too, along with water and fuel gauges, Inverter/charger, and the galvanic isolator. Solar panels and MPPT controller will follow soon!
Plumbing
Plumbing onboard a narrowboat seems relatively simple at the start, when you consider there is a fresh water tank under the well deck and you'll be piping water to the taps from the tank using a water pump. While this is fine for cold water, we also need to consider hot water, how we heat it, how hot water expands, and where to store it. In addition, we need also to consider grey (waste) water.
Source
For obvious reasons, you cannot pipe water out of the canal and consume it like you would in your home. For this reason, the boat is fitted with a stainless steel tank to store fresh water. Fresh water is available for boaters via "water points" dotted around the canal network, and you use a regular hose pipe to connect to the water point and fill up with water on a regular basis.
Cold Water
To draw water from the fresh water tank the system is pressurised with a water pump. As soon as the tap is opened to release water, the pressure drops and the pump starts work to continue pumping until the pressure is maintained again (when you close the tap).
Hot Water
Fresh water fills a hot water tank (calorifier) at the rear of the boat. Because the pressure/volume of water will change due to the temperature, a header tank is also added to allow the calorifier to remain under a safe pressure. The water in the calorifier can be heated in 2 ways:
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Using the diesel engine
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Using the Webasto heater (think of this like a central heating boiler at home, only diesel powered)
The delivery of hot water is again using a similar system to the hot water - using a water pump.
Grey (Waste) Water
Grey water is normally pumped through a holes in the side of the boat. For the sink and basin (above the outside water line) this is emptied using gravity.
The washing machine uses a pump to empty water so again we can use a hole in the side of the boat to empty this water.
The shower tray is below the outside water line, so we have a pump installed to remove the water from the tray, raising it above the outside water level and then again empty into the canal via a hole in the side of the boat.
We will only use ecologically friendly products that are plant based to wash and clean with when we know the water will end up directly in the canal.
Toilet waste is collected in a cassette and emptied into an "ELSAN" point located at regular points around the canal network. Toilet waste is never emptied into the canal.