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Old 29-08-2016, 18:33   #16
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

12vdc air conditioners have existed for some years. You still have to feed them though, because unless you fundamentally rewrite the laws of physics, energy is required to move heat.
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Old 29-08-2016, 18:43   #17
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

I just saw one that drew a mere 40 amps. It also cooled xx sq. ft.
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Old 29-08-2016, 20:01   #18
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

OK two things first they do list the power usage and how long the battery will last on medium
Secondly they do rate portable ac units by sq ft cooling using the standard building codes that state homes will have a 7 ft ceiling. So a 50 sq ft area would be approx 350 cubic feet which is just about the size of my main cabin if I close off the vee berth . The estimated run time would allow me to sleep comfortably. I would like more of the specs such as what makeup for the battery bank charging curve/ requirements. If I could run it at night and charge it during the
day off of a 100 watt solar panel it would be something iI would actually consider purchasing.
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Old 29-08-2016, 20:14   #19
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

Quote:
Secondly they do rate portable ac units by sq ft cooling using the standard building codes that state homes will have a 7 ft ceiling.
Thanks newhaul, I just learned something new after shooting off my big mouth...er, typing off my fingers.
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Old 29-08-2016, 20:49   #20
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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Originally Posted by newhaul View Post
OK two things first they do list the power usage and how long the battery will last on medium
Secondly they do rate portable ac units by sq ft cooling using the standard building codes that state homes will have a 7 ft ceiling. So a 50 sq ft area would be approx 350 cubic feet which is just about the size of my main cabin if I close off the vee berth . The estimated run time would allow me to sleep comfortably. I would like more of the specs such as what makeup for the battery bank charging curve/ requirements. If I could run it at night and charge it during the
day off of a 100 watt solar panel it would be something iI would actually consider purchasing.
You also need to account for the fact that boats have no insulation and the residual heat from the decks, hull and bulkheads would greatly diminish the cooling effect of the AC unit. (i think we should double the cycle time)

I have a question to ponder, i recently sold my 40 footer, it had fore and aft cabins a genset and two 10,000btu cruisair AC units. It cooled of the entire boat fairly well. Does anyone have a setup where they just cool off the sleeping cabin with a 5000/6000 btu unit run solely off of batterys? I am thinking my next boat we will forego a genset and get 600Ah lithiums and 1000-1200 watts of solar and a wind genny.
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Old 29-08-2016, 21:14   #21
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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You also need to account for the fact that boats have no insulation and the residual heat from the decks, hull and bulkheads would greatly diminish the cooling effect of the AC unit. (i think we should double the cycle time)
Actually for me my lil 24 is insulated with a half inch of closed cell foam on the hull
Also in my cruising grounds we would only need ac about three weeks a year.
I also am at least half cabin below the waterline. The warmest water I have seen in many years was 67 degrees when the air temp was just over 90 YMMV.
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Old 30-08-2016, 08:15   #22
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

Just by way of interest, from what I can make out, Zero Breeze is a portable, rechargable aircon with its own battery.

Its rated to last for 5 hours.

This should limit the power drain on the battery system overnight and during the day there should be enough solar to charge and run it in Summer or thats the idea.

Granted it has limitations but I havent seen a better idea within the price bracket of approx $300 to $400 for a pre order.

One cant help wondering how a car aircon would go driven by a DC motor, petrol engine or equivalent?
My electric winch motor takes 100A under full load but I feel sure an aicon will take less at a duty cycle.

Just an idea anyway....
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Old 30-08-2016, 08:28   #23
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

Your suggestion is more or less what Im doing.
I have mounted a fan in the front window and it forces a breeze through the boat.
I get away with it in Sydney Australia in Summer on a swing mooring.
The beauty of it is the boat always turns into the wind with the result that I seldom need the fan.
Good suggestion and I thought you might like to know it does work well!
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Old 30-08-2016, 09:20   #24
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

Was wondering about heat pumps, I've heard their not much good at heating if the water was much below freezing, but alot more expensive than a window unit.

$5k for a 12v 6k btu on west marine web page
POMPANETTE 12V DC Air Conditioner | West Marine
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Old 30-08-2016, 11:04   #25
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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Originally Posted by DeepFrz View Post
And why would you assume that? Anyone that advertises that it's product will cool 50 sq. ft. instead of a proper measurement (cu. ft.) is not exactly being honest. When it comes to people hawking their wares I take nothing for granted.
+1, agreed!
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Old 30-08-2016, 11:17   #26
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

I always wondered if a guy couldn't drop a submersible pump overboard deep enough to pick up cooler water, and then run it through a heat exchanger in the cabin. Would only work while moored, of course. But you'd only need power for a small pump and a small fan.
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Old 30-08-2016, 13:22   #27
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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Originally Posted by svGenesis View Post
You also need to account for the fact that boats have no insulation and the residual heat from the decks, hull and bulkheads would greatly diminish the cooling effect of the AC unit. (i think we should double the cycle time)



I have a question to ponder, i recently sold my 40 footer, it had fore and aft cabins a genset and two 10,000btu cruisair AC units. It cooled of the entire boat fairly well. Does anyone have a setup where they just cool off the sleeping cabin with a 5000/6000 btu unit run solely off of batterys? I am thinking my next boat we will forego a genset and get 600Ah lithiums and 1000-1200 watts of solar and a wind genny.

I do sort of, I have a 5000 BTU in the Fwd stateroom, original plan was to run it off a single Honda genny, but gave up on the Honda. I can run it off the alternator when we are motoring. However it draws about 60 amps at battery voltages, assuming a LA bank of 600 AH capacity, it would chew through that all by itself in 5 hours.
Battery powered / Solar is theoretically possible, but you had better have a huge bank, Life-PO would be better, and then you would have to tow a barge full of Solar panels. Run the numbers, I'm not exaggerating all that much.


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Old 30-08-2016, 13:23   #28
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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Originally Posted by FREDDYJ View Post
I always wondered if a guy couldn't drop a submersible pump overboard deep enough to pick up cooler water, and then run it through a heat exchanger in the cabin. Would only work while moored, of course. But you'd only need power for a small pump and a small fan.

Great Lakes or somewhere up North where you could get to say 50 degree water, that would work, but down South, cool water is DEEP.


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Old 30-08-2016, 13:36   #29
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
I do sort of, I have a 5000 BTU in the Fwd stateroom, original plan was to run it off a single Honda genny, but gave up on the Honda. I can run it off the alternator when we are motoring. However it draws about 60 amps at battery voltages, assuming a LA bank of 600 AH capacity, it would chew through that all by itself in 5 hours.
Battery powered / Solar is theoretically possible, but you had better have a huge bank, Life-PO would be better, and then you would have to tow a barge full of Solar panels. Run the numbers, I'm not exaggerating all that much.


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The only example i have (where i got the idea) was an RV with a 10000 btu ac unit running off of Life-PO, their draw was 56 amps. thinking maybe a 5000 or 6000 btu would draw less. thus being practical to use for sleeping in warm climates.
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Old 30-08-2016, 13:44   #30
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Re: 12 Volt air conditioner may be availabe soon

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The only example i have (where i got the idea) was an RV with a 10000 btu ac unit running off of Life-PO, their draw was 56 amps. thinking maybe a 5000 or 6000 btu would draw less. thus being practical to use for sleeping in warm climates.
I'll bet you the RV had a generator, was mostly plugged in at the campgrounds and ran off the alternator when on the road.

Edit: if a boat is very well insulated, like most metal boats are, then of course you are going to cut down on the heat load and smaller ACs will be needed for shorter periods of time. That is really the way to go. However, production boats are not insulated.
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