This year was the first year I bit the bullet and went with a bilge heater instead of winterization. I'd always been worried about power reliability during winter storms, but recently moved to a brand-new dock and felt much more comfortable that power would be more reliable.
That being said, I reached out to Steve since he was in my area and picked up an XXHEAT. (Boat is on a lift) Within minutes of picking, it up it was in my bilge doing work. When I plugged it in, I just happened to see my Kwh meter reading 8Kwh, thinking nothing of it, I left. I went back the following weekend to replace an extension cord and noticed it was reading 83Kwh and the heater was still running. After reaching out to all my buddies with the same heater and being told, “I just plug it in and forget about it – it just works”
I reached out to Steve and he was immediately ready to help in anyway possible. His first recommendation was to check engine compartment fresh air vents. I went out and blocked them off and this didn’t make any difference. (While I was out there I setup a Wifi thermometer & camera so I could monitor the heater.) Again, Steve was right there with me as I took a thermal camera out to look for leaks – He even swapped the heater with another to give me the piece of mind it wasn’t the heater.
Finally, after being fully convinced everything was blocked and no heat was leaving the boat, it came down to placement in the boat. Once Steve had me move it out of the engine compartment, we started seeing some progress! Went from running 32hrs + to heat the compartment….to 6. Steve still insisted something just wasn’t right.
Heat was getting out somewhere and said he would come out and look with me. I was out of town that weekend and couldn’t stop thinking about what could be causing it. Then it occurred to me, I have a Mastercraft and everyone I had spoken with had Malibu’s. And that was it – The Malibu’s rear compartments are almost completely sealed off from the front to the boat… Mastercraft’s ARE NOT…. CLOSE but NOT. So, I took some 1” foam out and quickly cut a couple pieces to block some key areas. It now took about an hour and could actually see the heater cycling each cold night.
So, this was a very long review to say Steve with Xtreme Heaters is great! Be confident in his product and the service you’ll receive with it.
Thanks again Steve – You’ve created a lifelong customer in me!
- Blane
