Portable Air Conditioning

[Captain Anthony]

Ahoy, I’m just not going to be able to install a permanent A/C unit this year. I’m very seriously considering a portable stand alone Whynter 12,000 BTU for dockside only use. Has anyone had any experience with portable A/C whether good or bad?

[Cheechako]

The 6500 btu eases the hottest days in our 1400 sq ft house pretty well in the 3 big rooms. Like $168 new. So that ought to work well in a portable, you have to duct some air out right?

[Captain Anthony]

Cheechako, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I will make a companionway board specifically for the intake and exhaust. This system will only be used while dockside and primarily just before dusk until the morning. We are not fan's of god's little creatures that fly and bite. Although I have no issues sleeping without A/C, the Admiral will not leave all of life's comforts at home.
ANYONE else have any opinions? ( other than leave the Admiral at home, lol)

[Cyrus Safdari]

I tried to use one of those inside my boat during the daytimes in St. Augustine Fl. once and it just couldn't keep up with the heat & humidity even with the closed systems w intake & exhaust ported out. Constantly emptying the water res was also a pain (it filled quickly) If I was to use AC I'd get the ones that hang out. I've since reconciled myself with the fact that there are certain discomforts inherent in cruising that require accepting changes in standards of living, including heat, that nothing dries fully, and wine from a box. But heck if billions of people can and have lived this far without ...

[ttex]

I will warn you. Get a window unit. Portables are garbage. Do yourself a favor.

[wsmurdoch]

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...nt-232517.html

[a64pilot]

The portable will work fine, drain the condensate into the shower pan, like I do for my installed AC’s.
The single hose ones are inefficient, the dual hose ones are much better.

Climbing over a window unit to get in and out of the boat isn’t something that I’d want to do myself.
You can’t put the ducts in a portlight?

[MV Wanderlust]

We tried a 12,000 btu portable on our aft deck last summer. It produced cool air but only had one fan speed and couldn’t keep up. We sold it within a couple of weeks.

[a64pilot]

12,000, is only 12,000. Plus if it’s a single hose AC that means it’s blowing out cold air too.
I have two AC’s a 16K and a 5K, and I’m considering replacing the 5K with a 10K.
Boats aren’t well insulated and don’t have attic’s with air space to keep heat gain down, plus they most often sit in direct sun.

A decent portable AC will have multiple fan speeds and most likely a sweep function on its louvers

But even just 12,000 is better than no BTU

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

12,000, is only 12,000. Plus if it’s a single hose AC that means it’s blowing out cold air too.
I have two AC’s a 16K and a 5K, and I’m considering replacing the 5K with a 10K.
Boats aren’t well insulated and don’t have attic’s with air space to keep heat gain down, plus they most often sit in direct sun.

A decent portable AC will have multiple fan speeds and most likely a sweep function on its louvers

But even just 12,000 is better than no BTU

Do you run them only on shore power? How are they in consumption? Just curious.

[Cheechako]

I'll just add dont overdo it for btu's. We rented a window style unit in the Trinidad heat while in the yard. The damn thing was too icy on low even in that heat. (38 ft boat) It had switch settings but was just too much. A smaller unit would have been better. We had to keep turning it on and off.

[chris mac]

We have a window unit. The previous owner installed it through the cockpit window(catamaran) Not ideal, but it does work well. When we get the window replaced, I plan to keep it. Set up in front of a hatch with a canvas or vinyl enclosure. That way we can store it but still use it when needed. And can use it for our cabin only. It is also small enough that I can run it for 6 hours or so off the inverter.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by Cyrus Safdari

I've since reconciled myself with the fact that there are certain discomforts inherent in cruising that require accepting changes in standards of living, including heat, that nothing dries fully, and wine from a box.

yep. if you are far enough south to escape the cold then you will not be able to escape the heat. if I have an ice cold beverage in my hand and a good hat .. I feel like I have won half the battle.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by DanCan

Do you run them only on shore power? How are they in consumption? Just curious.

I have only a couple of times run them on the generator. Last year it got Africa Hot, I mean near 100F on the ICW coming back to Jax. I ran it a couple of hours then.
Then three or four years ago leaving Brunswick after Christmas it was cold enough that we had a small ice storm, I ran them then for a couple of hours.
That’s about it cruising wise, however if I”m in a marina plugged into shore power, like right now, they stay on pretty much 24/7.
The 5 kw pulls I think about 4 amps, the 16K about 11 amps.
The inrush current for the 16K is huge, 70 amps locked rotor, so I installed a hard start kit a few years ago which helped some. I just a week or so ago installed a soft start, and now the Honda can start and run it in Eco mode, it’s as if there is no inrush current anymore, just a slow climb in amps until it stops at about 11.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I'll just add dont overdo it for btu's. We rented a window style unit in the Trinidad heat while in the yard. The damn thing was too icy on low even in that heat. (38 ft boat) It had switch settings but was just too much. A smaller unit would have been better. We had to keep turning it on and off.

There is this thing called a thermostat .
I say be sure to size it so that in the afternoon on a hot day you can keep the inside of the boat below 80f. Many, many undersized thinking that’s best and the system doesn’t begin cycling until late at night, by 10 AM on a hot day it’s running full blast and by noon, it’s losing the battle and the boat is heating up, by 4 PM it’s warm in the boat and doesn’t cool back down until 10 or so.
Plus I want to be able to open the companionway and a hatch when she’s cooking and the boat cool back down when I close them.
So 21,000 BTU is marginal. It starts to get hot in the end with the 5K just about every afternoon, so thats why I want a 10K up there, which would of course take me to 26,000 BTU in a 38’ boat.
Many say go much, much smaller, but I often look to see where they live, and it’s up in Canada or something. They are not trying to live on a boat in Fl in August on a record setting day.

The difference in price between a 10K marine AC and a 16K is maybe $100, and when we are talking $1,500 or so $100 is nothing.

If it’s a clean install, meaning no current system installed, it’s more like $2,500 or so, so spend the extra $100.

But same principle even if a window unit, if it’s a little big, great, turn the fan on low and you can carry on a conversation, if it’s a little bit small, it’s running wide open and loud and still just can’t quite make it.