Boat Living: Sustainable But Not Without Its Challenges.
Sava’s Dan Garbett (who lives on a narrowboat) and Neil Cutland (who still lives in a house) explore the realities of life afloat.
The UK has just over 2,000 miles of navigable canals and rivers which are maintained by the Canal and River Trust (CRT), previously known as British Waterways. The waterways were once used for industry as it was a cheap and smooth transportation option for goods, especially heavy goods such as sand, fuel and foodstuffs. With the introduction of trains and heavy goods vehicles, the use of barges for industry came to an end.
After a period of stagnation the waterways were rejuvenated, and many now consider our canals and rivers a permanent home. Boat living provides a cheaper alternative to bricks and mortar with the additional flexibility of moving your home as and when required.
Along the network, there are service points offering bins, Elsan points (toilets), water taps and diesel, along with shops that sell coal and gas. Water is stored in a water tank onboard, and can be topped up by the taps at service points. Depending on the number of people on board, a full water tank can last between 1-2 weeks. The services and use of public moorings are covered by a licence fee payable to CRT, which is priced on the size of the boat.
The CRT estimates that more than 15,000 people now live on canal boats in the UK. But how sustainable is boat living? And where do cost savings occur?
Propulsion
One might think that narrowboats don’t use a great deal of diesel for propulsion, as they mostly travel at a speed of 2mph. The speed limit on most canals is 4mph, and when passing moored boats you should reduce your speed to “tickover” to avoid too much disturbance on the water. At these speeds, boaters reckon on using around one litre of diesel per hour on average.
That doesn’t sound like much, but doing the maths it comes out at about 9 miles per gallon – i.e. four times as bad as the 36mpg of a typical family car! Of course there is much more to canal cruising than simply getting from A to B (how do you put a price on contentment and wellbeing?), but it’s interesting to note how inefficient propellors are compared to wheels.
Narrowboats use ‘red diesel’, which is cheaper than normal diesel because the fuel duty is only 11p/litre as opposed to 59p/litre for normal diesel. However, when purchasing this from a canal-side garage, a boat owner must declare the percentage split between propulsion and heating, and pay different prices for each element. This was introduced to bring the UK in line with European tax law – full tax for propulsion and reduced tax for domestic uses. There are also different VAT rates for each, which further increases the price of diesel for propulsion as opposed to heating.
Insulation
Narrowboats, despite being insulated to some extent, are not great heat retainers. A narrowboat is essentially a steel tube floating in 2,000 miles of navigable cold water!
The boats are generally single-glazed, and as a result suffer from a lot of condensation. Some newer boats are now using double glazing, but condensation can still form on the inner surface of the cold hull.
Heating
Narrowboats have a number of options when it comes to heating:
- Multi-fuel stoves (burning wood and/or smokeless coal). These can heat a boat very quickly, although throughout the winter months the stove is normally burning 24/7 to maintain a warm space.
- Diesel stoves can be used in place of a multi-fuel stove. They provide the same level of heat but only burn diesel from the boat’s diesel tank. This is a much cleaner option in terms of the dust and fumes inside the cabin, but it does provide more of a dry heat.
- Central heating, which is generally powered by diesel (either sharing the diesel tank with the engine or a smaller separate diesel tank), to supply radiators throughout the boat.
- The gas bottles that you often see on narrowboats are, in most cases, only used for the oven and hob.
For the climate geeks amongst us, the carbon dioxide emissions are around 0.03 kgCO2/kWh for wood, 0.37 kgCO2/kWh for coal and 0.24 kgCO2/kWh for diesel. By way of comparison, the mains gas used in the majority of (non-floating!) homes with central heating emits 0.21 kgCO2/kWh.
Electrics
Narrowboats have leisure batteries on board, the number, capacity and power of the batteries differing from boat to boat. These give 12V DC electricity throughout the boat, so 12V DC fridges, freezers, TVs, lights, etc. are normally used. Where 240V devices need to be used, an inverter is required to change the battery output from 12V DC to 240V AC.
Most narrowboats have solar panels on the roof, topping up the batteries when the conditions are right. Alternatively, when the engine is running, either travelling or idling, an alternator charges the batteries.
When narrowboats are moored within a marina they can be connected to shoreline mains power, which can then be used for all electricity needs as well as battery charging.
Newer electric-powered boats
Battery power is increasingly being used for propulsion, where the number of solar panels and the battery capacity are much greater, allowing for a day’s cruising from battery power alone. As well as the obvious environmental benefits of potentially zero emissions and no water pollution, this provides a nice silent cruising experience and can cost relatively little to run.
Electric boats are usually fitted with a petrol or diesel generator as a backup, should the batteries not have sufficient charge to get you to your next mooring.
Conclusions
Boat living is not for everyone, but those of us who have embraced it tend to be passionate about our chosen lifestyle. We have spent far less than most people to buy our chosen home, we can up-sticks and move every few weeks, and we enjoy the peace and tranquillity of constantly being in nature.
Many boaters run businesses or carry on conventional ‘working from home’ occupations in their narrowboats, and in their spare time enjoy the unsurpassed camaraderie of the canal community. Admittedly one could argue about the sustainability of boat living; we’ve set out the facts in this article, so let us know what you think by sharing on social media.
Dan Garbett (boat-dweller) and Neil Cutland (landlubber).