Portable through-hatch ac units

[daviddiscenza]

Hi.

We have a 10 year old portable CruiseAir unit for our boat. It is noissy and sometimes leaks into the cabin. We are looking to replace it. Does anyone have suggestions for a similar type unit?

Thanks.

[S/V Illusion]

Why? The replacement will also eventually leak and be noisy and as much a pain to remove and store every time you go sailing.

[daviddiscenza]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Why? The replacement will also eventually leak and be noisy and as much a pain to remove and store every time you go sailing.

The "why" is simple. It gets hot and humid on the mighty Chesapeake Bay which makes for very uncomfortable sleeping. "So why not install an on-board system?" I hear you ask. Because I'm not willing to shell out several thousands of dollars to have one installed. The next boat (when and if we get a next boat) will have to have it. (BTW...not being sarcastic. Just answering the logical next quetion.)

[Cheechako]

Maybe spend your time devising a well made hatch adaptor for a $165 home AC unit. Mine cools my 1140 sq ft house fine in the summer and is only about 18 x 12 x 16

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Maybe spend your time devising a well made hatch adaptor for a $165 home AC unit. Mine cools my 1140 sq ft house fine in the summer and is only about 18 x 12 x 16

They look so junky on a boat though, and are even more of a pain to remove and re-stow every time you go out.

To answer the OP, I don't know that there's a better solution, I struggled with one of those damn things for years and it was a big part of the decision to buy a bigger boat I could put an installed system on. The plus side is that every time I walk up to that controller and push a button and cool air starts coming out I smile happily knowing I didn't have to lug the Cruisair out and don't have a gallon of dripping water to look forward to...even now several years later. I certainly appreciate it far more than my house AC unit!

[astokel]

I use a portable AC unit and vent it through the hatch. I bought a 5000 BTU de-branded LG for $100 and it works fine. The drain feeds into the bilge.

[TBW]

Look at dometic. Had good luck with portable freezer. Found some good helpers on the phone too. Not sure they make what you want.

[Tingum]

Originally Posted by astokel

I use a portable AC unit and vent it through the hatch. I bought a 5000 BTU de-branded LG for $100 and it works fine. The drain feeds into the bilge.

Beat me to it! Just buy a cheapie at Home depot do the above. Pitch it when it dies. Heat and humidity are second on the Bay to those damn flies!

[keith001]

I bought a vented AC unit from HD and it worked OK. Made a plexiglas window with a hose attachment for the exhaust. Cost about 150$ but worked for a few years. Till I got the Webasto in.

[NorthCoastJoe]

Last year Costco had portable units that vented heat through a 4" hose. One of the guys on my dock had one said it worked fine.

https://www.costco.com/De'Longhi-Pin...100463429.html

[boatman1]

I use a portable Freidrich (sp?) that uses two 5” flex ducts to the exterior. I plumb them to 90 degree elbows mounted to a plywood plate that replaces a smallish coachroof hatch. Sort of a bother to deal with, but a LOT better than no A/C at all. I grew up spending lots of time on various boats owned by my father in the before A/C days: I don’t know how we stood it.

[four winds]

Maybe check out the Dometic RV rooftop units. Helped a friend install a 15k unit that cost $800. Works good on his 32.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by NorthCoastJoe

Last year Costco had portable units that vented heat through a 4" hose. One of the guys on my dock had one said it worked fine.



https://www.costco.com/De'Longhi-Pin...100463429.html

They work OK, but are very inefficient, reason is because they are sucking the cool air out of the boat to blow out, so you of course have to have as much hot air leaking into the boat to replace what was blown out.
However there are two hose units, that suck air in one hose and exhaust out the other an d work much better, cause they aren’t sucking in a whole lot of hot air into the boat.

[zengirl]

I have a new Emerson quite cool 8,000BTU from Amazon. Friend of mine installed it in saloon hatch so it's completely enclosed and it's rock solid on the outside. I don't have to remove it sailing. A cover was made and if sailing covers for vents are attached. it's awesome.

[Moontide]

If using a portable AC, pop the extra $ for a dual hose unit. With single hose the unit uses inside air to coll the compressor then exhausts it outside/overboard. This means that you are constantly pulling some of your "cool" AC air to cool the unit then expel overboard. With dual hoses it draws outside air to cool the unit. This means you are not pumping your newly cooled air overboard.



Fringe benefit is that it will cool faster and use less juice. Lesson learned after I bought a single hose one. But that was all that was available at the Chiapas MX Home Depot.