I'll admit: I'm a self-confessed hothead. Sailing in the Baltic Sea in the early and late season is a hardcore challenge for me at temperatures below 10 degrees. Even after 40 years of sailing in the Baltic. However, as a department head for travel and charter, I have also been regularly travelling in the Mediterranean for over 20 years. I probably picked it up somewhere along the way ...
When my wife and I decided in 2020 to buy our own boat for the Baltic Sea again, a Grinde, only 8.20 metres long, it was clear that she would have few of the "blessings" of modern cruising yachts, such as a gas cooker, hot water, on-board shower, fridge compartment - and diesel heating. And what a shitty 2021 it was... Spring. Constant rain, freezing cold and plenty of wind. The first nights with chattering teeth at night. The old DIY store fan heater from the basement, which was far too loud for the night, and when it got hot, it stank of plastic and you were afraid of poisoning yourself or burning down the boat if it fell over.
Ecomat, the Rolls-Royce of fan heaters
But then came a tip from the Grinde community: "Buy the Swiss secret weapon, the Ecomat. It's the Rolls-Royce of fan heaters!" I googled it immediately. The price was already Rolls-Royce-like: around 300 euros depending on the variant (>> e.g. available here ). But still better than installing a diesel heater, laying fuel lines, sawing fat holes for air hoses through the fixtures and so on and so forth, I thought.
And the features made me wonder: the power can be regulated in three stages from 450 to 1,500 watts, so that even the most scruffy jetty electrics in the harbour don't constantly blow the fuse when we (hopefully) want to be cosy. The ball-bearing fan, which is designed to guarantee "whisper-quiet operation" even at night. Ceramic elements and powder-coated metal housing, so that nothing really smells of plastic. Thermometer-controlled. Frost monitor. Heats up to 80 cubic metres of space. Hello? I have a Grinde, not a Lagoon 420, and at some point I thought: The Swiss are crazy (the fan is a Swiss design). But: Swiss army knives have been with me all my life. To be honest, I also like Ricola and Toblerone. I've had super nice fellow Swiss sailors (in the Mediterranean) for almost 15 years. Okay, maybe I'm a bit of a Helvetia fanboy - so I ordered this thing. When I unpacked it, I thought it was a joke: the Ecomat is a small cube about half the size of a shoebox. To call it compact is the understatement of the century.
The Ecomat can extend the sailing season
We've been using the Ecomat 2000 Classic Plus for two years now. And what can I say: it has really extended our season! The Plus setting, with its powerful and admittedly louder fan, gets the place piping hot in 15 minutes. Then you turn it down to 750 or 450 watts, set the desired temperature and then it doesn't bother you any more. Damp oilskins dry, there is no more condensation on the ceiling at night, no clammy feeling when you get up. There's no need to worry about it accidentally falling over, because it has an incline switch-off function that works perfectly even if you raise it just a few degrees. This is no problem because it is not red-hot to the touch. And even if something were to get into the fan grille: Nothing in the appliance gets so hot that it exceeds the flash point of paper or anything similar. It doesn't stink, it doesn't make noise - it just works. And it works really well.
The only thing you have to keep an eye on are the fleece filters in front of the air intake. You have to clear them with a hoover from time to time or order replacements, otherwise the blower performance will drop significantly. In combination with my cosy transitional sleeping bag (DIN temperature range down to -21 degrees from the much cheaper camping shops), I can still sail in April and October, and I'm happy to do so. At least when it's not raining and I'm wearing ski underwear under my oilskins.
Good Friday is now the first day of the season for us. According to Windy, the air temperature is zero degrees at night. The Schlei has a water temperature of 5 degrees. That will be the new endurance test for us. We'll see, keep your fingers crossed!
