Boat owners attempting to battle winter damp aboard their yachts are urged to use desiccant rather than compressor dehumidifiers and to maintain and monitor units, to minimise fire risks according to a recent article from Practical Boat Owner.

Published 3 weeks ago

Source:  Practical Boat Owner

The UK-based Yacht Havens Group have issued a safety guidance to its berth and mooring holders following a blaze at one of its sites, which destroyed the interior and damaged decking of a berthed vessel.

A spokesman said: “A recent investigation into a boat fire at one of our Yacht Havens discovered that a domestic compressor dehumidifier had been set up to drain permanently into the bilge. The coils within the dehumidifier froze and subsequently overheated.  A Sadler ’29 was written off. It was predominantly internal damage, rather than structural, but the fire damaged large parts of the decking too.”

Insurers often require dehumidifiers to be rated for marine use as a condition of cover.

Matt Elliott, the chief engineer at Meaco, an international seller of both desiccant and compressor dehumidifiers for ‘domestic use’ – the type primarily used on boats – urged boaters to invest in ‘over-engineered’ appliances.

He told PBO: “If I was lucky enough to have a yacht worth thousands of pounds, I wouldn’t risk its keeping in the winter to something I’d bought on Amazon or eBay for £50. I would want to buy something over-engineered with fireproof casings for any component with a slight chance of igniting.”

To read the full story see:

Boaters Warned of Dehumidifier Fire Risk – PBO