Visit our Popular Forums

Doodles · 25-06-2010, 20:55

The CruiseAir's have gotten bigger over the years. We have an older & smaller one, 5,000 btu I think. We had it in a 31 foorter and now a 35 footer, and it does O.K., but not great. They are convenient, no installation, no loss of locker space, etc. but on really hot days they just keep it bearable. We've seen plenty older ones for sale, just look around. We were lucky .... a neighbor got a bigger unit and GAVE us his older one. Can't beat that.

RainDog · 26-06-2010, 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by SV Escape Plan

What about one of these portable units? Does not mount in a hatch just would sit in the cabin someplace?

I use a unit like this (12K BTU) and it works great. When I want to sail I just pull the exhaust hose out of a port hole and lash the whole unit to the v-berth. Takes about 3 minutes to go from cooling to sailing or vice versa.

Certainly not as convenient as built in, but way easier to go sailing than the window unit on the hatch.

This unit will not cool both the main cabin and the v-berth at the same time. In the day I close the door to the v-berth and just cool the main cabin. At night I turn it around so it blows into the v-berth and it cools that easily.

Sailmonkey · 26-06-2010, 19:48

Raindog,
You don't draw in a ton of hot humid air from outside? That was my experience with the self contained units, wherever it wasn't pointing was just like a draft in the winter.......except not cold!

captainKJ · 26-06-2010, 22:52

I use a portable room air conditioner, 10000btu. I pipe the warm air out the hatch and use some thin plywood to cover up the extra space. I have ice on the walls and decks. sailboat is 44 feet long. I keep the unit under the stairs. Similar unit below

Walmart.com: 14,000 BTU Portable Air Conditioner: Home Improvement

RainDog · 27-06-2010, 08:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

Raindog,
You don't draw in a ton of hot humid air from outside? That was my experience with the self contained units, wherever it wasn't pointing was just like a draft in the winter.......except not cold!

I think the only places air can come in are the hatch boards and around where I am exhausting the hot air. I have not noticed a sense of a draft around these areas, but obviously some air has to come in. Whatever comes in mixes with the air in the room and it is plenty cool for me. It certainly could not get it down to 68, but it keeps it about 75 at night and 80 in the daytime (when it is 97 and sunny outside).

Currently I only have half the boat shaded and no insulation. I think I could drop it another 5 degrees if I tried.

SV Demeter · 28-06-2010, 09:11

I suspect this will be the route we go. I do plan to install an internal unit down the road but need to get something going for when Im trying to work on the boat at the dock. I would love to see some photos of what folks have made to adapt the window units to a hatch. Also wondering how big of a unit I will want to cool the cabin(s). My prior boat Ericson 38 had a 16k BTU Mermaid Air unit that did a pretty good job but this Wauquiez 43' Amphitrite has a lot more cabin. Maybe stick a unit in the FWD hatch and another in the Aft Cabin Hatch.

SabreKai · 28-06-2010, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

The biggest drawback to those is the hot air that is discharged out the duct. It needs to be replaced in the cabin somehow..........solution......draw in hot air from every little vent point on the boat. So in essence what you have with this little devil is a cool breeze while being surrounded by hot air coming in like a cold draft in winter

are you sure about that? I just bought a similar unit, 13Kbtu, and it pulls air in from outside to cool the exchanger, then vents it back outside. The inside air is drawn in and then put back inside. There is no net air loss inside to outside. I just moved into an unairconditioned apartment and just about melted the first night. Got this beast the next morning.

As for boat use, I picked up a cheap 5Kbtu unit for $199 at Zellers, and will make a mount and plenum for my maincabin overhead hatch. Should be super easy to do, and it can stay there all summer while I do the refit.

Sabre

Pelagic · 28-06-2010, 23:17

I have this portable unit as a back up or when in drydock that controls the master cabin down to a very comfortable 25C in the Philippine tropics, while still slightly cooling and dehumidifying the rest of the boat.

The hot air exhaust goes directly to a port hole where I made a blank to accept the hose without re-circulating any hot air back in.

So it is efficient and I keep one shaded hatch open slightly at night for fresh air changes

Cost me about $300 here in Manila

Portable Air Conditioner - Guangdong Chigo Air Conditioning Co., Ltd.

http://www.chigogroup.com/en/product...TU=10&keyword=

I have another one at my house that has run for 3 years almost full time without a problem other than annual cleaning

Sailmonkey · 29-06-2010, 11:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by SabreKai

are you sure about that? I just bought a similar unit, 13Kbtu, and it pulls air in from outside to cool the exchanger, then vents it back outside. The inside air is drawn in and then put back inside. There is no net air loss inside to outside. I just moved into an unairconditioned apartment and just about melted the first night. Got this beast the next morning.

As for boat use, I picked up a cheap 5Kbtu unit for $199 at Zellers, and will make a mount and plenum for my maincabin overhead hatch. Should be super easy to do, and it can stay there all summer while I do the refit.

Sabre

The unit that I tried only had a hot air exahust......perhaps the design of the newer units has changed to use outside air for the "hot" side.
the unit i tried was several years old, and took cool air into the bottom of the unit and vented it out the dryer tube on the middle of the back of the unit.

aboutgone · 29-06-2010, 12:17

I have both a CruiseAir and a GE WAL-MART SPECIAL....If it were up to me ,I shouldn't have bought the cruiseair .....way to expensive.....$89 and some pink board and you'll be frosty...........

Jetexas · 29-06-2010, 12:50

My Cruisair unit is pretty lame. During the day it can barely keep my 27' boat to a bearable temperature. (Of course, this is Houston, so it's much hotter here than some other places.) It will freeze out the V-berth at night, which is great for sleeping, but it's really loud, which is not. It's also annoying that the fan only has high and low, which there's not much difference between the two.

The bag that goes around it to seal the window doesn't really seal well at all and blows up and leaks in the rain.

It had a register to redirect the air, so it wasn't blowing straight down into the V-berth, but it was covered in green mold and not knowing how expensive they were I made the mistake of throwing it away instead of attempting to clean it up.

The other downside is that it's heavy and awkward. We sailed a couple times with it stowed in the V-berth, but it started clunking around when the boat heeled. It's a pain to have it in the floor of the cabin, so now we have to leave it on the dock whenever we go out.

Mine came with the boat, which is why I have it, but I would never buy one. When this one gives out I'll pick up a $100 unit from Sears and build a light-weight box for it with a nice seal around the bottom. Heck, I might even spring for the $110 unit that comes with a remote control.

Sailmonkey · 29-06-2010, 16:37

Some scrap wood and a $10 can of polyester resin from Home Depot makes for one hell of an A/C hood!!

well, it seems that if you want to see the airconditioner you'll have to look at my profile.

RainDog · 29-06-2010, 16:53

Having extoled the virtues of carry-on air before, I feel I should point out that it is good enough, but everyone I have talked to seems to agree a $100 window unit on a hatch works better than a $400 carry on unit.

Starting from scratch, I would for sure prefer the window unit because it is cheaper, works better, and does not take up roon in the cabin.

The only reason I use carry-on air is 1) I got the unit for free and 2) I like to sail, and it is WAY easier to go sailing with carry on air. 3 minutes on either side and I am ready to go. For me the ease of going sailing makes it worth putting up with the fact that for every other reason a window unit on a hatch would be a better AC.

Sailmonkey · 29-06-2010, 17:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by RainDog

Having extoled the virtues of carry-on air before, I feel I should point out that it is good enough, but everyone I have talked to seems to agree a $100 window unit on a hatch works better than a $400 carry on unit.

Starting from scratch, I would for sure prefer the window unit because it is cheaper, works better, and does not take up roon in the cabin.

The only reason I use carry-on air is 1) I got the unit for free and 2) I like to sail, and it is WAY easier to go sailing with carry on air. 3 minutes on either side and I am ready to go. For me the ease of going sailing makes it worth putting up with the fact that for every other reason a window unit on a hatch would be a better AC.

Actually the way I built mine, 2 people can have it sitting on the dock in about 30 seconds and I can by myself have it on the dock in way less than 5 minutes!!

And this time I got the picture to post!!!!