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A power cut on a houseboat in winter: what happens to heating and pumps?
Short answer
When shore power drops out in winter, heating and frost protection stop,
and often the ice protection and bilge pump with them.
An alarm that tells your phone,
a bilge pump on its own battery and someone who looks in regularly protect you best.
Through the winter many houseboats hang entirely on shore power. The heating keeps the water pipes from freezing, a frost heater guards the engine space, an ice protection system keeps open water round the hull, and the bilge pump often runs off a charger. If a breaker on the bollard trips, the RCD drops out or the marina has a fault, all of that stops at once. With nobody aboard it can go unnoticed for days, and one hard frost is enough.
The damage comes as a chain. First pipes, the calorifier and pumps freeze, then a pipe splits, and at the next thaw water runs into the boat. Meanwhile the open channel in the ice closes and the ice starts to press on the hull. And if without shore power the bilge pump only runs as long as a tired battery lasts, a small leak becomes a big one. Houseboat owners in the Netherlands, on the Thames and on the canals know the pattern, and the first thing asked after such a loss is what precautions had been taken for the winter.
So prepare the boat for the power cut, not just for normal running. A simple alarm with a SIM card that reports when power or temperature drops is cheap and tells you when to go. The bilge pump belongs on its own charged battery that can hold out for a while without shore power. Drain the pipes you do not need before the first frost. Agree with the marina who resets the breakers after a fault, and ask someone nearby to look in regularly. A short winter log with dates and photographs does more after a loss than any account written later.
Worth remembering
1 alarm
reports a power cut and frost to your phone
1 battery
keeps the bilge pump running without shore power
Prepare the houseboat for the day the power goes, not just for normal running.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
How will I know the power has gone?
Most reliably with an alarm that sends a message over the mobile network when shore power fails or the temperature aboard drops below a set level. These come as small units with their own battery.
Will the bilge pump keep running without shore power?
Only if it is wired to a battery and that battery is charged. How long it lasts depends on the battery and how much water comes in. Before winter, check what your pump runs from and whether the battery can last several days without charging.
Should I drain the water system for winter?
If you are not living aboard and the heating cannot be relied on to keep running, that is the surest protection against frost. If you live aboard, at least drain the pipes you do not use and protect the rest with heating and an alarm.
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