It did take a while to get going but seemed to do a good job of taking the chill off once it got warmed up. I wouldn't say it was hot with it going but, we still wore sweaters, and maybe having 4 of us down below helped with the heat but it was quite comfortable for early spring and late fall cruising. It was a simple installation, the kerosene tank went in the locker directly behind the heater and we used a bicycle pump to pressurize it, the chimney went through the deck head directly over it. Starting was a PITA at first but we figured out a process that seemed to work reliably and it used no electricity so all in all I'd say it did the job with little fuss.