Rethinking A/C

[Cheechako]

Having Air Conditioning on the boat comes up often. Oft not mentioned are today's smaller or different options.

This is more spendy than it should be but nice and small:
https://www.kapsulair.com/products/k...QaAnhMEALw_wcB

These are a great idea, move it around where you want it. The hot air could duct out a port:
https://www.amazon.com/MAP08R1CWT-Po...671766487&th=1

[wingssail]

The Kapsul looks clever but I don't see anywhere in the specs what cooling capacity it has. From the 480kw I'd guess less than 5000BTU. Not enough for most boats in tropical conditions but for one small cabin it would help. Of course the price is impossible. A good 5000BTU unit would be about $250

The Midea 8,000 BTU is more like the right capacity however it takes up space on your salon floor, and where to do you put it and thew ducting when you go sailing (if you do).

Our solution, not much better but it works for us, is a window unit which sits in the companionway when in use (others put them over an open overhead hatch). No ducts but you have to climb around it to enter or exit your boat. It fits in a locker during the cooler months when we don't need it. 8000BTU is under $500.

We learned years ago that we could not live in a hot/humid climate w/o air conditioning. Of course it requires shore power, so at the dock only. At anchor we usually stay cool enough with out it

[Ballsnall]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Having Air Conditioning on the boat comes up often. Oft not mentioned are today's smaller or different options.

Very hard to beat a residential split system on cost and performance.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by wingssail

The Kapsul looks clever but I don't see anywhere in the specs what cooling capacity it has. From the 480kw I'd guess less than 5000BTU. Not enough for most boats in tropical conditions but for one small cabin it would help. Of course the price is impossible. A good 5000BTU unit would be about $250

The Midea 8,000 BTU is more like the right capacity however it takes up space on your salon floor, and where to do you put it and thew ducting when you go sailing (if you do).

Our solution, not much better but it works for us, is a window unit which sits in the companionway when in use (others put them over an open overhead hatch). No ducts but you have to climb around it to enter or exit your boat. It fits in a locker during the cooler months when we don't need it. 8000BTU is under $500.

We learned years ago that we could not live in a hot/humid climate w/o air conditioning. Of course it requires shore power, so at the dock only. At anchor we usually stay cool enough with out it

I was mostly trying to consider alternatives to those considering hatch mounted and rv units etc rather than extremely expensive inboard installed marine AC units.
Yes the Kapsul is 5k btu.
My 1100 sq ft house has a 6500 btu. Is it as frigid as a Florida drug store on a 90 degree day? No. Is it cool enough in the main rooms? Yes.

I had a rented larger home unit on the overhead of our 38 footer when aboard in Trinidad on the hard. Based on that, I would not want much more than 5k, We had to turn it off and on as the boat was so frigid. Thermostat didnt seem to do the job until you were freezing.
But like you, other than that one time on land in the boatyard, I never felt I needed AC on a boat. But we never spend time in the marina where you have no wind to cool.

You put the portable where you yourself have to put the home unit, or anyone with a hatch unit has to put it when they sail.... in the locker.

A home unit is a bargain for sure. Just a bit more complicated to use on a boat, and if you ARE going to store it in a locker, then the portable for a couple hundred more $ seems to me a better way.

These just seem like a cleaner solution than home units on boats, and still less than a 'boat buck".

[rslifkin]

We generally cool our 1300 sq foot house with about 12k btu in the hot part of summer. The boat takes significantly more. It's not nearly as well insulated as the house and absorbs far more solar heat through the decks and windows. Plus the boat is less airtight than the house even with everything closed up.

[Fatbob]

I just installed a unit from Home Depot....cost about $250.