Founder's Statement

It all began in 1990. Being an avid boater, and wanting to enjoy my boat (a 32' cabin cruiser) year round, I became disenchanted with the weekly ritual during the winter months of having to de-winterize my boat's engines on Friday afternoon, then re-winterize them on Sunday afternoon before leaving the marina. What a hassle and a chore that routine became. So, I began searching for a heating system that would be safe and efficient to use in an engine compartment environment where explosive vapors could be present at any time. There was nothing on the market to be found that had been designed specifically for that application. I tried all of the usual things –100W light bulbs, 150W clamp-on work lights, standard, off-the-shelf, household type space heaters, and oil filled radiator heaters. They all worked to some degree, but I could never sleep well at night knowing that I had put a device in my engine compartment that was capable of producing a raw, live, electrical spark. My boat at that time carried 220 gallons of gasoline, and I knew that even a small, pinhole leak in a fuel line or a carburetor gasket could release enough gasoline vapor to blow up my boat and half the marina if the vapor should be ignited by any type of spark.

So, I set about the task of designing a heater for my engine room that would be totally SAFE (no sparks) to use to keep my engines from freezing during the cold, winter months. The very first model was a simple heating element enclosed in an aluminum case, and it stayed "on" 24/7. The next model added a remotely mounted thermostat, with a temperature sensor in the engine compartment, that would turn the heating element "on & off" at preset engine room temperatures. Then, we incorporated a small, computer style fan to help distribute the heat from the element. Finally, after many years of continually working to improve the original designs, we have perfected the current generation of BoatSafe® Heaters, with built-in thermostats, that are testing-lab certified to be totally spark-proof and ignition protected, and, therefore, safe to use in any marine engine compartment application.

We accomplished all of this the old-fashioned way: we worked for it. Since we were the first, and for many years the only, engine compartment heater on the market, there was no one out there for us to copy or emulate. We had to refine and perfect the product through a process of testing and improving to reach the pinnacle of excellence that we enjoy today.

Do not be fooled or misled by statements or claims made by any other heater producer. In fact, one of the other heater producers apparently thinks so highly of our products that they have copied, almost verbatim, about 75% of our marketing literature to use in an attempt to sell their products. They even make the claim that their product is "boat safe". If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we are, indeed, flattered.

BoatSafe® Heaters are the original, the first, the finest, the safest, and still the best Marine Engine Compartment Heater that you can purchase to use onboard your boat. Period!