How Much to Add-on Air Conditioning ?

[Strygaldwir]

Hmmmm. You've seen our set up!!! We toss our unit into the forward/port sail locker other than that, it is exactly what we did and works MUCH better than our $900 CruiseAir! We made our "ducting" out of 4 x 8 insulated panels we bought from Lowe's. My wife made sunbrella cover for making it look good and keeping out the occasional rain.

We only paid $80 for our Haier window units!

[osirissail]

There is a "goal" for the engineering student in another thread - devise a system to install a fresh air cooled air conditioner like a home window unit into the boat so that outside fresh air could be used to cool the condensor coils versus having to use raw sea water.
- - Using raw sea water adds pumps, valves, and all kinds of complications - and cost to the units - that home window units do not have. That's the difference between a $300 Home Depot air conditioner and the Cruise Air/Marine type sea water cooled $5000 plus units.
- - Having a simple way to get outside air to the unit without rain or salt water ingression would make the unit infinity more economical. The home units have gotten very "efficient" in power usage whereas the built in marine units are still the old "hogs" when it comes to power supply. The new refrigeration/freezer units are now "air-cooled" and are quite efficient. Why not something like that for cabin air conditioning?

[Fishman_Tx]

Why does it require an engineer? Take an existing small unit and change the squirrel cage and comp for 12v versions. The only engineering is in figuring the efficiency. Oh, it'll run. The same with an A/C built for a car and don't hand me that "60 mph down the road to cool the condensor" BS either cuz that's a crock. You can use a DIFFERENT condensor arrangment. What do you think cools the condensor on a window unit? You can mix and match parts to get the system you need and there are custom automotive AC shops that'll do it for you. Don't wanna use the engine, fine, don't. Use a 12v compressor instead. But you all are looking at this with blinders on. You need to think outside the box. Like Strygaldwir and myself, do what works, unless you just don't WANT $30 grand and just feel the NEED to toss it down an air conditioned hole.
Hell, toss it down MY companionway.....it's an air conditioned hole...

[schoonerdog]

many people use RV top hatch units AirV Low Profile RV Air Conditioner Systems - JCWhitney

BTW, ours was about 12,000 not 30,000. If you were going to try it yourself, I'd guesstimate it would cost around 6-7k. But yes, this RV model would be far more cost effective.

My wife and I had been doing just that with window units on our old boat. It was a bit of a pain making it rainproof, running extension cords over to it, and of course needing to remove it prior to sailing. But it was a LOT cheaper. My wife wouldn't put up with it on our new boat.

[badbeth]

I disagree. You definitly need A/C in the Caribbean. I lived aboard a pretty stash 63 footer in the Turks and Caicos for many years. I have been all over the ocean there. It gets sooo hot that even the water won't cool you. There are no breezes some days and then they are really hot at certain times of the year. If you can afford it, get Air Conditioning! I was on a friends boat there once and it was so hot we wet sheets to cool us. I finally walked 3 miles that night to get back to my A/C. LOL Trust me.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, badbeth.

[crazycat]

I have a older 35 Prout and use a small Marine Air,( installed my self) the boat is small so it cools it pretty well . I do not have a built in Generator so I run it with a Honda EC 2000 portable generator. One pull and cold air. Some people thought It to be a strange set up but 4 straight days in the Panama Rains, Everyone was at my table enjoying the cool air. I meant a guy with a Cruisair that drops in a hatch it did the job for him, another option before you drop crazy money into a new system?

[SeaKing]

another reason you might want to crank up the AC is BUGS, sometimes we find an anchorage and the bugs come out at dark which runs us inside. The AC is very nice for that, close up, cool off and not fight the little ones that seem to get inside through screens.

[james3]

Originally Posted by crazycat

I have a older 35 Prout and use a small Marine Air,( installed my self) the boat is small so it cools it pretty well . I do not have a built in Generator so I run it with a Honda EC 2000 portable generator. One pull and cold air. Some people thought It to be a strange set up but 4 straight days in the Panama Rains, Everyone was at my table enjoying the cool air. I meant a guy with a Cruisair that drops in a hatch it did the job for him, another option before you drop crazy money into a new system?

Could you share pictures,scheme installations and more details about your A/C Air Marine system?
How much did it cost to you ?

[Nibiruwayne]

Jacket fan
Think small self contained portable ac on wheels at Lowes. A cat has stowage when not in use. These units have a condensate bin you can dump as necessary ( or even drink with a water tablet in an emergency) . They have 3 speed fans, thermostat, and are 110v or 220v. They size up to 16000btu. No hard plumbing, new seacocks, or condensate drains and ductwork. Can be reverse cycle for heat. Power with inverter, genset, or dock power. Can be moved where you want it.
From $200 to $500 US.
It's what we use
Nibiruwayne

[osirissail]

I assume you are talking about the new "world standard" portable air conditioners. They are self contained units in a vertical cabinet and have casters (wheels) under them so you can push them around.

Only problem with them (I have one) is that they require at least one duct hose to transfer the hot air from the evaporator unit to outside. And the flexible vinyl hose is a royal pain to try to get fitted to a porthole or some other way to the outside of the boat's cabin. The hole is a non-standard 5 inch (125mm) diameter hose that is near impossible to find so you could extend it. And extensions are technically not allowed according to the instruction manual. So you end up with restrictions like in the diagram below.

[Nibiruwayne]

Hello osirisail, you are correct about exhaust. The condenser heat needs to be extracted for unit to be effective.
We fit the exhaust duct to a dorade vent or through a hatch. A compromise but still inexpensive. A more elaborate exhaust or return air could be devised depending on a given application. What have you done to solve the problem o. Your boat?

[maytrix]

Interesting read. I'm not sure why so many are against it. I understand if the concern is someone thinking you'll run it 24x7, but in a warm climate, its nice to have when you want it - especially at night when sleeping.

We have it on our boat (which is in the Moorings program) and will add a generator when we take her out of the program. For me its not an option, its is a necessity. I can't sleep if its too hot. If there's a breeze, no problem. If there is no breeze it can get uncomfortable.

As far as the loads on it and it building up crud, how long does it take before this is a problem? jacket_fan - Might want to ask next time you are at the Moorings - obviously they have a lot of boats with gensets so perhaps they may be willing to tell you how often they need to re-hone the cylinders. My guess would be its not often and may not be done at all until they go through their phaseout. If its a problem every 4-5 years, then is it really that big a worry?

And cooling the boat at the end of the day, it would run under a good load for a while to get down to a reasonable temperature, so wouldn't this burn the crud off too?

[osirissail]

Since I am back inside the USA, I purchased a window unit from Home Depot/Lowes and use R-Max foil foam board to make a box so that it fits into the overhead hatch.

I called the "portable unit" world standard as, at least in the Caribbean, you cannot purchase the window units anywhere. They only sell the roll around units with the hot air exhaust hose. When I was using that unit I cut a piece of 1/4" plastic Kingboard to fit the porthole and then cut a 5-inch hole in it to adapt to the hot air exhaust hose. Problem was the hose was too short to allow the unit to sit on the floor so we had to put it on top of a box elevated off the cabin floor. Not a very good solution. The units are large, bulky and difficult to deal with which is why we went back to the good ole window style units in the hatch.

With either unit and a pet onboard, the grills and filters in the air conditioners "dirty up" in about a month. Enough so that the unit freezes up due to lack of air flow.

As to the normal installed marine air conditioners like the Dometic versions - Cruiseair, and Mermaid, etc. the units are now totally on a single "pan/plate" and you mount them inside a locker or enclosure. Then you install furnace style air filters to capture any dirt or other contaminants which keeps the evaporator coils and fan blades of the unit clean.

[geoleo]

Heres my 2cents----anyone staying on a sailboat docked or anchored anywhere in the summer months in the entire east coast south of NYC ,florida,or gulf coasts ------better have some AC!!