Drop in Ac

[vonnwonder]

Thanks every one for your ideas.We have an awning so that is good.We have a small house type that we are renting at the present but it seems to be a pain to take out when we want to daysail.Thought there might be something,cost wise, between the West product and a modified home portable.
We keep the temp at around 77degrees because we do not want to have weather shock entering the heat.

[Wahoo Sails]

We mounted our household A/C over the V-berth hatch opening. Sorry, I don't know the name of the specialty foam board that's commonly used for this, but it has a silver skin on the outside ... also used "aluminum tape" ... now THAT is some handy stuff!!! Tied the whole shebang to the deck with some utility cord. I'm sure we got zero points for style, but just made a 200 NM trip with it attached .... and had no problems whatsoever ... matter of fact, when we tied up in a marina .. we used it!!!
Bob

[Princewig]

When I was looking into A/c I was worried about draw, wiring in the boat etc, but knew that I needed it on both of my boats to make them useful in the hot, humid Florida summers.
I played with the household a/c units but had difficulty removing them, keeping them safe from theft when in strange marinas, sealing the openings and most of all I had issues with keeping the water out of the boat. I had to deal with a constant flow of water from the unit over the top of the boat.
When I priced out the cost of marine units, my eyes came out of my head as usual with anything that has "marine" in the title.
For one season I had an a/c unit installed on deck from a motor home shop. The look was horrific, however the unit had a built in system to ease the draw upon start up. The unit was grossly overpowered for a 50 ft boat and only lasted two seasons before it started to continually fail.
I had purchased my second boat at that time and wanted to find something small and practical that could work off a small generator or my battery banks.
I purchased three portable a/c units. Two for the 50 footer and 1 for the 26 footer.
I have not had an issue in two years, the boats are not only cool but they are dehumidified. I only ever ran the two units at the same time in the 50 footer. Generally we found it to be over kill.
I have never run the a/c off of the battery pack.
The install was easy, I simply have a exhuast hose that is run out of a porthole. When not in use the vent is stored and the port is closed.
http://www.compactappliance.com/xq/JSP.detailmain/EdgeStar_12000_BTU_Portable_Air_Conditioner___Heat er__Dual_Motor__Silver___FREE_SHIPPING/itemID.11829/itemType.PRODUCT/iMainCat.23/iSubCat.38/iProductID.11829/qx/shopping/product/AP410HS.htm?mtcCampaign=1501
The above link is to a similar item but not the same a/c unit. I purchased my units new off of ebay for 1/4 of the price (scratch and dent)
Just my opinion.