Houseboat Living - boat designs for freezing, heating, winter, ice and snow.

by Jay
(BC Canada)

When it comes to winter houseboat living, here are some designs for freezing winter, ice, and snow. I've been considering houseboat living for quite a while now, but the lake I would call home gets snow 6 months of the year.

The lake doesn't freeze over, but the temperature can drop to -15c on the surface. I would like to design and build my own houseboat. I was thinking of having a sloped roof, that extended right down to pontoons at the waterline. I am also considering radiant heat, that could travel through the floor and then up the inside slope of the roof.

If made from aluminum, the heat would transfer to the outside, and if the outer surface of the sloped roof was kept above freezing the snow would melt upon contact.

After searching for designs or boats of this type, I have come up empty handed. Does anyone know of a houseboat design that has a sloped roof, operates in below freezing temperatures, snow, and or uses radiant heating?

Thank you, Jay

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Reply - Answer
Well Jay, congratulations on your decision on building yourself a houseboat designed for winter living.

I think you're onto a great idea with the sloped radiant heating on the roofs. If you insulated the floors, walls, roof, and use appropriate doors and windows, you can be living on a boat during the cold winter months.

You may also want to look into getting plenty of fresh water, and to be able to pump out you holding tank during the winter months.

Do keep us up-to-date with the boat building project, and do take some pictures (we all love to see photos).



Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about any winter houseboat living tips or experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN from all-about-houseboats

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