Window A/C on a Sailboat?

[HansSolo]

We used one for a year and a half when we were on the hard. I mounted it in a piece of plywood that I put on hinges so that it could open like a door. Much better then having to step over it whenever we wanted to come and go. I also ran a hose from the drain plug down into the cockpit drain so that water would not drip and pool. If you went this route and used lift off hinges you could easily remove the whole unit for a day sail.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by HansSolo

We used one for a year and a half when we were on the hard. I mounted it in a piece of plywood that I put on hinges so that it could open like a door.

Thats a great idea. When it came time to sail off you could ditch the AC unit and keep the door for future use.

- z

[HansSolo]

Originally Posted by zboss

Thats a great idea. When it came time to sail off you could ditch the AC unit and keep the door for future use.

- z

Thanks. Thats exactly what we did. We have a built in unit that works when we are in the water, but we saved the frame for the next time we end up on the hard for any amount of time.

[a64pilot]

The 30 amp DC one is interesting, I hope to have a system that I could spare 100 amp hours from, My 5,000 BTU 120V AC one pulls about 5 amps AC, so I think it would pull 50 at 12VDC, diff between 30 and 50 is quite large

[Blue Crab]

Cool thread. I'm using a white neck indoor rollaround with an 8" duct. It works but cost double at least, and takes up too much space.

I hope Sailorchic is reading this. Seems like she'd be a great fit with one or two of you low budget guys.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by SargassumFish

Haha. Don't eat that stuff! Ya I made a bimini for about 20 dollars as well.

Best AC we put on the boat doesn't use a single amp/hour....

Its a pair of white super-duty plastic tarps with grommets every 18 inches from the home superstore... $15 x 2. They have dropped our interior temp by at least 10 degrees.

They are nice enough that from a short distance, they look like white canvas. We have had more people come by and ask us about the deck awnings than anything else!

[lonesoldier0408]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I hope Sailorchic is reading this. Seems like she'd be a great fit with one or two of you low budget guys.

Did I just get called frugal or cheap.?
Well, let me check my bank balance and get right back with you. 😳😁

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by SargassumFish

I was looking at a cheap window air conditioner and was wondering if it's a good idea for a sailboat? I can actually fit a small 5000 btu GE one in the forward cabin hatch. Thoughts? Also I would frequently take it out and be moving it around. The marine A/C units are extremely pricey, this ones 100$

I was walking the doc last week in Marina Palmira in La Paz Mexico and all you could hear was the hum of the 5000Btu window air conditioning units keeping the boat occupants alive in the 106-deg heat.

Easy....cheap....go for it.

[h20]

i kept it simple. LG with foam and duct tape. if not at dock, turn on the honda

[AKBILL]

Originally Posted by SargassumFish

Do you mean because of the power consumption they are only good at the dock? What if you have a large solar and wind power setup? Plus even if I wasnt at the dock I'd just want to run it an hour or two at night before bed.

I would look into evaprative cooling. Not a swamp cooler. It uses about 1 tenth the power. Check out coolarado. All you will need is a small pump.a couple of fans and an understanding of the principle. You could definatly run it on solar panels. I plan on building one as a fridge. To cool a boat You may use 100 to 150 watts. My fridge will use about10 to 20 watts. AKBILL

[a64pilot]

Evaporative cooling is what a swamp cooler is. Works great in the desert, pretty much useless in high humidity. So find a hot dry place to cruise and evaporative cooling will work for you.

[AKBILL]

That is right, but not the same thing. Check out coolarado. The Idea came from swamp coolers. These units vent the moist air overboard, thus only blow cool dry air in Your living space. Generally where it is hot enough to bother this will work. These guys make big units, One would have to build Your own unit, for a boat. Or wait untill I get around to it.

[Lubber4now]

Originally Posted by SargassumFish

It definitely would. The a/c im looking at runs about 4.7 aH. But I only want to use it for about an hour when not plugged into shore power. I have 2 225 aH batteries. But need solar to charge them. Should I find a different a/c unit? They also have ductless A/C units, anyone ever used one?

If by ductless you mean a cassette type, they have to be hooked to a central compressor.

They replace air ducts with coolant lines - however a really schmott wiz could strip down a window a/c to where it fits in a machinery space, then run lines to a cabin cassette unit. It might even use less juice than a regular a/c.

On a different track an a/c unit generates an appreciable amount of drain water per day that could be used for flush water.