What Is a Bilge Heater and What Does It Do?

A bilge heater is a heater specifically designed for boats. It’s a huge benefit to boat owners because it’s safer than a standard portable electric heater, which can cause fires and damage to your boat. Learn more about bilge heaters with Xtreme Heaters! 

What Is a Bilge Heater?

At Xtreme Heaters, we created and designed our line of bilge heaters to be the safest, most reliable, and more efficient product available. Our heaters come in three sizes so they can fit any boat engine compartment. The added benefit of our multiple sizes lets you pick and choose which heaters you need for your space so you can mix and match. Our heaters are the most compact to fit into any engine compartment. They are also easy to install and mount with our optional Quick Release Bracket. No tools are required! The Quick Release Bracket lets you mount your heater in any orientation, including upside down. 

What Do Bilge Heaters Do?

The most obvious purpose of your bilge heater is to keep your boat engine warm during colder temperatures to prevent damage from freezing and wet weather. So not only does it keep your engine warm, but it will keep dry and prevent mold. 


The biggest benefits to owning a bilge heater are safety for your boat and saving money on winterization and from damage. When boat owners don’t properly prepare for winter, the colder temps can cause repair bills of thousands of dollars. And if they are winterizing and using a portable heater, they’re asking for trouble. As covered in our Freeze and Fire Prevention, portable heaters are the leading cause of winter vessel fires according to Boat U.S. Marine insurance claims. Read the horror stories of boats and marinas aflame. 


But don’t believe us, our customers love us! One testimonial mentions using our 800W for their winter days and not even needing to winterize thanks to the boat heater. For only pennies a night, our bilge heaters keep your engine safe. 

What to Look for in a Bilge Heater?

Besides safety, there are other important factors to consider before purchasing a bilge heater. One of them is size. The size of the boat and engine should be your first measurement. As we mentioned before, we have three sizes to meet your needs. The small XHeat with 400 watts is perfect for boats up to 24 feet. The XXHeat is our medium size to provide 600 watts to boats of 21 feet to 28 feet. The last and biggest option is the large XXXHeat for 800 watts to serve boats over 28 feet. 


The next factor to consider is the type of boat you have. Our small XHeat bilge heater is great for ski/wake boats, runabouts, and deck boats. While cruisers will most likely need a medium bilge heater. And the larger boats such as larger cruisers and boats with multiple engines and large engine spaces will need a large XXXHeat bilge heater


When it comes to choosing the right bilge heater for your boat, there is no science to it. It’s about creating a circulation flow in the engine compartment that will keep it warm. If you’re going back and forth between which heater to choose for your boat, check out our testimonials to see the boat and heater combinations our customers have found to be successful. 

Why Choose a Bilge Heater with Xtreme Heaters? 

At Xtreme Heaters, we desired to create the safest bilge heater, and we did! We designed our bilge heaters with safety in mind. In addition, we have been independently tested and certified through safety organizations like American Boat and Yacht Council, Military Specification testing, and Coast Guard standards. 


Our bilge heaters use Positive Temperature Coefficient technology which means our heaters are self-regulating. This is another safety and efficiency heaters feature of our heaters. Lastly, to guarantee the safety of your boat, we have a 2-year warranty for your Xtreme Compartment heater.