Help us settle the Air Conditioner debate

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Krabimike

Yes but now that your sporty around in that shiny new fancy boat! I bet you are hanging to the air con along with a cold martini in your hand! In fact do you ever get the sails up?

Lol....try not to, it disturbes my zen. Just started heading west, chat in a couple of weeks.

[bensolomon]

Get the air conditioner. You'll have more options. If you don't get the built-in air conditioners, I use two of those stand-up air conditioning units and I put the exhaust hose out one of the portholes. This way, I can also move the air conditioner around as I need it. I don't have to maintain water pumps and I have no through Hulls. I actually have two of them. I have a small 500 BTU stand-up air conditioner for my cabin and I have a 12000 BTU stand-up air conditioner for the main salon and v-berth. All totaled they both cost a combined $1,200. It has been five years since I've been using the same units and they stay on my boat year-round.I do not have a generator and therefore I cannot run air conditioner at anchor. I figured by the time these go bad, I will get two more air conditioners just like them. It was too expensive for me to retrofit air conditioning into my boat which I purchased 5 years ago. They stole very well with a bungee cord. I have one under the nav station when I'm sailing and I have one anchored to my Centerline Queen berth in the AFT cabin.

We Cruise in the Chesapeake Bay Area, and it gets hot as hell in the summer. It is very nice to be able to swing into a Marina and have the ease of getting on and off the boat with my family and my dogs and not sweating to death.

I keep eyeing up the leopard 45, and I assure you I will spend for the air conditioning if I ever get that boat.

Ben

[LTDsailing]

I would definitely recommend AC and Generator. You usually don't need it at anchor but if you spend any time in marinas it can be a life saver. It can also be good at anchor in late summer when the wind dies down to chill the boat down before bed. The biggest reason though will be resale value when it comes time to sell the boat. We had a Helia 44 in our school fleet with no AC. The owner really wanted to re-fit the boat with AC but found that it was financially prohibitive to retrofit.

[FlyTheCoop]

Yes to the AC! Happy wife, happy life. We make water when we run the AC off the genny. It depends where you are really, our reverse cycle AC served us well during frosty mornings in France in April, then perfect for hot Spanish nights in July.

[foreverfreedom]

Replied earlier in support of getting air-con. Don't be distracted on just cooling aspect - it can also act as heating as well and, particularly in moist atmospheres (drying laundry in winter), dehumidification (e.g., laundry) as well. You will not find many people who wish they had not got it it, and that will usually because of an alternative reason - lack of generator power probably.
Drink when posted - large quantity of limoncello - following kagre Itallian meal

[iyamwhatiyam]

I have a Catalina 30 which I purchased for $28K. We live in Florida, so A/C is probably a necessity and if I have any doubts about that my wife has no problems setting me straight. It doesn't make sense to spend large sums for my little vessel, however a window mounted unit through the companionway seems like it would be a bulky PITA.
For a portable unit that exhausts through a port, I've heard they are self defeating as the air that is exhausted causes the sucking into the cabin the nasty outside heat and humidity, although bensoloman seems quite happy with his, so maybe I can get more insight on whether this is really an issue or not. What would you do that would be economical, efficient and commonsense for 30' sloop?

[Dave22q]

Originally Posted by iyamwhatiyam

I have a Catalina 30 which I purchased for $28K. We live in Florida, so A/C is probably a necessity and if I have any doubts about that my wife has no problems setting me straight. It doesn't make sense to spend large sums for my little vessel, however a window mounted unit through the companionway seems like it would be a bulky PITA.
For a portable unit that exhausts through a port, I've heard they are self defeating as the air that is exhausted causes the sucking into the cabin the nasty outside heat and humidity, although bensoloman seems quite happy with his, so maybe I can get more insight on whether this is really an issue or not. What would you do that would be economical, efficient and commonsense for 30' sloop?

Best solution I have seen is a window unit mounted at the forward hatch. You can construct the housing to be removable. Of course a marine unit installed in the cabin is desirable but retrofitting one can be unreasonably expensive. Portable units are neither cheap nor efficient but that is based on hearsay not experience.

[ValiantV]

Originally Posted by iyamwhatiyam

I have a Catalina 30 which I purchased for $28K. We live in Florida, so A/C is probably a necessity and if I have any doubts about that my wife has no problems setting me straight. It doesn't make sense to spend large sums for my little vessel, however a window mounted unit through the companionway seems like it would be a bulky PITA.
For a portable unit that exhausts through a port, I've heard they are self defeating as the air that is exhausted causes the sucking into the cabin the nasty outside heat and humidity, although bensoloman seems quite happy with his, so maybe I can get more insight on whether this is really an issue or not. What would you do that would be economical, efficient and commonsense for 30' sloop?

We have AC on our C30, but it's on the fritz right now. We THOUGHT a "portable" unit (6,000 BTU) would do the trick while repairing the central unit. As you mention, the portable units fight against themselves by sucking a lot of freshly-cooled air OUT of the boat/room to cool its condenser. This might be OK if you're trying to cool a room in a home with central AC, but not so great in a small, relatively sealed space like a boat. The hot, humid air rushes in and "dilutes" the cooled air.

I've used portable air conditioners in my cabin in the woods previously, but based on this experiment, I'm swearing them off entirely.


As for the "what to do?", If my existing marine AC is beyond repair, I'll buy a new one for $1,500 online and install it myself.

Window unit? Clunky, ugly, kludgy. No thanks.

[john61ct]

I see the Webasto units for around that, are they energy-efficient and well made?

Is DIY installation really that much of a pain?

[iyamwhatiyam]

Quotes from ValiantV"

"We have AC on our C30, but it's on the fritz right now."
"As for the "what to do?", If my existing marine AC is beyond repair, I'll buy a new one for $1,500 online and install it myself."

"I've used portable air conditioners in my cabin in the woods previously, but based on this experiment, I'm swearing them off entirely."

"Window unit? Clunky, ugly, kludgy. No thanks."
************************************************** ****
ValiantV: Thank you for your insights and the fact that we both own Catalina 30 MKIIs is a big plus, as you have the practical experience on the same vessel that I am researching A/C Solutions.
Questions: Did you install the current A/C or did it come with the
boat when purchased?
Were you satisfied with your current unit when it was operable?
What make is it? What are the basic specs? (BTU's, Power Demands? Modifications required? Anything else I should be aware of?)
If you decide to replace it, what would you replace it with?
Many Thanks,
Bob&Tammy

[Hudson Force]

We bought a window unit to drop in our companionway aboard our first liveaboard cruising sloop in 1972 while we were stuck making repairs in North Carolina. We kept the unit, but found it awkward to remove when we wanted to leave the dock for sailing. Aboard our next boat, a Morgan OI 33 with a large quarter berth, I placed the window AC in the aft end of the quarter berth and it exhausted into the lazarette. I added a 110V window fan that blew the hot air out of the lazarette hatch. This worked very well as all we had to do for sailing away from the dock was to close the hatch. Our best AC's from 1985 until this year was with a heat pump system using the sea water exchange instead of air exchange.

[iyamwhatiyam]

Hudson Force,
Can you share any technical details re: your current A/C setup?
Thanks,
Bob & Tammy

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by iyamwhatiyam

Hudson Force,
Can you share any technical details re: your current A/C setup?
Thanks,
Bob & Tammy

I just sold my boat so I have nothing at present, but my latest system was very common. I had a 9K BTU CruiseAir forward and a 6K BTU CruisAir aft. Both were supplied with seawater cooling from one March pump with the greater amount of water sent to the larger unit. I used the large gallon sized Raritan seawater filter basket before the March pump.

These, of course, are 110V units that were operated by shore power or with my diesel generator. In some locations with more debris in the water or in the Chesapeake with all the jellyfish, there was a need to tend to the filter basket more often. To care for this easily I placed a T-fit hose between the March pump and the Raritan filter as a means for back-flushing and I kept a spare filter basket for a quick change if it was full.

[GulfportBarb]

Originally Posted by Lepke

Most women don't like boats. If you have one willing to try, it's worth the money for some comforts. Besides, AC drys the air and bedding, clothes, etc., will be dry. Less chance of mold, too. Better resale. Cheaper than divorce.

What a sexist comment! What most women don't like is the men on the boats. Men who don't take care of their stuff, wait until things break before replacing them, basically livaboard bums. There are over 10,000 women who belong to the Facebook group Women Who Sail who love to sail. What I don't like is anyone who goes out cruising without proper safety equipment and that includes a functioning engine and functioning sails and rigging. Good nav equipment, an EPIRB, a satellite phone or DeLorme or SSB, and a certified life raft. Oh, having a functioning head with a wet shower is also mandatory in my opinion. So those women who don't like to sail just don't like to sail on your crappola boat. And yes, I use my A/C when it is in the 90s and the humidity is 80%. Makes life much more bearable here in Southern Florida.

[thinwater]

I wonder how many people on this forum own a car without air conditioning or own a home without air conditioning. While there are a few, I'm sure it is a small number.

I've used portable. Just don't. I installed AC and use it at the dock.

Obviously it depends on where you are. Most south east marinas are cooking hot. On the hook is better, so a generator is less necessary. But I wouldn't consider that much boat without AC in the budget. I would skip the generator for now--you can always add that, but probably will not.