Air Conditioning...

[CoastalLiving]

Our ideas are not working. Got a free standing one from walmart and it's going to overpower the boat (electricity wise), plus it doesn't really fit on the boat....anywhere...30 foot boat. So then I started looking at hatch mounted units but where do you actually buy them from? Anyone have some reliable websites to look? All that keeps coming up is eBay.
Thanks,
Isabel

[pesarsten]

I don't know where you are, but ,,, check out RV equipment websites.

We have used roof mounted units designed for motor homes , some will need to have a "collar" made from plywood to adapt the unit to your overhead hatch.

Or, there are the cruiseair portable units from westmarine or defender

I have a 5000 btu cruiseair that Im selling if your close to st pete fl

[djmarchand]

90% of the freestanding A/Cs are crap. They take room air (that you have already cooled) and exhaust it through the condenser. So you lose a lot of your cooling power.

The better units have two hoses- an inlet and an outlet to use outside air for the condenser. These should be about as efficient as a window or RV rooftop unit.

David

[Neeltje]

For what it's worth, my vintage raw water cooled A/C unit is barely bigger than a breadbox, yet it keeps the boat cooler than a Cadillac no matter the ambient temps. Granted, it requires 2 through-hulls and a dedicated pump, but it might be worth looking into.

Jacques

[bobconnie]

Maybe some folks are tougher then Connie and I, but we HAVE to have AC in order to live aboard here in Louisiana!! And having tried pretty much all types of boat,RV, house types of AC, we have found that Marine ACs just do a better job !! Yes ya have to have pumps, hoses ect to have them, But your cool, and that's what ya are looking for! We have 3 aboard, one for the aft berthing cabin, one for the galley, saloon area, and a unit for the forward berthing area and the Head/shower area. we only use the salon area during the daytime and the aft berth unit at night, and the forward unit when we have guests! Sure they cost more at first, but they are a easy repair if they give ya trouble, if the other types give ya trouble ya have to get new ones as they are not really DIY type of units! I guess it depends on how tough yall are!! LOL and Connie and I are old foggies and love our AC

[CoastalLiving]

Thank you all for your feedback. I think in the future we are going to have to have a marine one installed we are just not ready to sink the money, yet. Now, ask me again in August and I will probably give my first born for some good air conditioning ha ha
Isabel

[Ita]

on my boat I have a window unit 5000 BTU over the hatch, and a plastic bin from Walmart as a cover, living full time in south florida.
Works great at night, not so good at noon

[CoastalLiving]

What temperature do you think it is at noon?

[Neeltje]

Originally Posted by CoastalLiving

What temperature do you think it is at noon?

In your neck of the woods, I'd think "relative humidity" would be as much of an issue as "temperature" per sey. Marine (water cooled) air conditioner are designed to run 24/7, which is what you need to keep the R/H down to bearable levels day and night.

Turning an air/air unit on every now and then (or until it self-destructs) only cools the "wet" air long enough to condense it. When you finally shut it down, you don't bake, you broil.

Also, Marine units seem to be much quieter than the portable ones I've seen. Mine's behind the paneling in the salon, right next to the dining room table, but you'd never know it.

I've got a single dual-zone unit with individual controls for the salon/galley and each of the 2 staterooms, and even with 7-8.5' ceilings, it keeps the corresponding 500 sq.ft. of uninsulated steel living quarters as cool as a cucumber, even in 90 degree weather.

[tdoster]

I have a Kruisin Cool unit that sits in a suitcase that is a proper marine water cooled portable AC. I have had it for years and used it on past boats, but have not used it in a long time (sitting in the garage) because have a marine unit in our current boat. It did the job really well.

Before buying that, I experimented with many ways to try and save a few bucks and ended up spending a few bucks more in both time and materials then if I would have just gone with a marine unit in the first place.

Portable stand up units as someone else explained are garbage, especially on a boat except to spot cool a very small area very inefficiently.

Experimented with a window unit in the hatch. Worked, but was a pain, plus condensation issues.

The Kruisin Cool was the best alternative to portable as it worked and was not too difficult to remove when sailing.

The Cruisin Carry units are OK, but you have to remove and store it someplace before sailing and operate in the same fashion as RV units.

[hellosailor]

$100 used to buy a 5000-btu window unit. Nothing fancy and you'd have to prop it in your hatch or companionway, but compared to something like a $600 1400btu Pinguino freestanding floor unit...the difference can justify a lot of kludging around.

[ReMetau]

I would suggest a standard window unit in a hatch or companionway until you are ready to do a full marine unit. You can get a window unit that should cool a 30' boat relatively cheaply.

We had a window unit for years until we switched to a 16k btu marine unit, but the window did okay for it's cost and time.

[Neeltje]

I don't know how well a classic window unit would fare in a marine environment, plus it's going to have to stick out somewhere, and as mentioned before, you're going to have to deal with a considerable amount of condensation, especially in damp climates.

[ReMetau]

We used a window unit in our butterfly hatch for a couple of years. It served us well especially for the price. Many people down here use one and make an special board to mount it in their companionways, and you can't get a much more damp environment than south Florida in the summer.

[hellosailor]

Window units get used in shoreside homes all the time. If you're using one at the dock, that's not a "marine" environment, not until you offshore with salt spray and presumably beyond the extension cord with the a/c stowed.

Then again, for a hundred bucks, it isn't an expensive gamble. Especially if it has a one-year warranty and your credit card adds a second year...You're guaranteed to get two years for that hundred bucks.

Condensation is a problem for any air conditioner. The Pinguino may heat it up and blow it out, but many use a catch tray. Stick a window unit in the companionway, or by a hatch, and all you need is six feet of ploy tubing to lead the condensate down the cockpit drain, or overboard.

Sure, a built-in water-cooled marine a/c unit is nicer, but find one for a hundred bucks.