Carry-on Air Conditioner for 31' Boat ?

[thinwater]

I posted this about a cruise-n-carry a while ago.
Sail Delmarva: Keeping a Cruise-and-Carry AC unit On-deck: Good Idea, or Dissaster in the Making?

It ALMOST makes it on a 32' catamaran; cooling a 31' mono would be very reasonable, I think. When the sun is high, a deck shade is always recomended, as it greatly reduces the load.
Sail Delmarva: Bow and Forward Cabin Sun Shade for PDQ 32

[Sailmonkey]

except they are VERY expensive, and rumored to be out of production

[SV Demeter]

Looks like I am picking up a 5200BTU Cruisair from a gentleman on Craigslist. I think it does not have the canvas boot and I will need to make one. I suspect this unit will be big enough to cool our palatial aft cabin but thats probably about it. Im going to hook it up and see how much it will cool. I have never measure the interior volume of our Wauquiez 43 Amphitrite Ketch. I am thinking of either looking for a second cruise air for the forward hatch and using a fan to help get the cool to the middle of the boat or possibly one of the portable units mentioned earlier.

At this point I'm a little unclear on whether the portable single hose (exhaust only) units are okay or not. It makes sense to me that they would create a vacuum and suck in hot air but it sounds likes this was not so much of a problem for others? I suspect I will look for a dual hose unit if I go that route. Im too lazy to build a plenum and am hoping I can find a new canvas one for the cruisair Im buying. Anyone know where I can find one?

Down the road I a plan to install an internal AC/Heat system on the boat but we have so much other work do first. I am mainly looking for a simple way to keep it cool at the dock and toss the units in my trunk or dockbox when we head out sailing.

[RTB]

I kept thinking about this thread after another toasty night on the boat last weekend. We went to the Super Target in Kemah and picked one of these up Amazon.com: Haier CPRB08XCJ 8000-BTU Portable Air Conditioner: Kitchen & Dining

I was worried about it only being 8000 BTU's. We have a foam panel to fit the companionway, and I cut a hole for the hose to exit. Turned it on, and got the first good nights sleep of the summer on the boat. The wife got up in the middle of the night to change the setting because she was cold. It does come with a remote btw. I'm going to Home Depot to find a piece of wood to replace the bottom board, and will cut a hole and mount the attachment for the exhaust hose. The unit is in the way somewhat, but does stow easily under the V-Berth.

If you are in the Kemah area, the price at the Super Target is $299.00.

Thanks for this discussion. It's still going to be a long, hot summer here in Texas. At least now we can sleep comfortably!

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by RTB

I kept thinking about this thread after another toasty night on the boat last weekend. We went to the Super Target in Kemah and picked one of these up Amazon.com: Haier CPRB08XCJ 8000-BTU Portable Air Conditioner: Kitchen & Dining

I was worried about it only being 8000 BTU's. We have a foam panel to fit the companionway, and I cut a hole for the hose to exit. Turned it on, and got the first good nights sleep of the summer on the boat. The wife got up in the middle of the night to change the setting because she was cold. It does come with a remote btw. I'm going to Home Depot to find a piece of wood to replace the bottom board, and will cut a hole and mount the attachment for the exhaust hose. The unit is in the way somewhat, but does stow easily under the V-Berth.

If you are in the Kemah area, the price at the Super Target is $299.00.

Thanks for this discussion. It's still going to be a long, hot summer here in Texas. At least now we can sleep comfortably!

Hi RTB,

Funny my wife was just pointing out this same unit at our local BJ's.
Could you describe how loud it is when running? We would be running it in our forward berth with the door closed when sleeping. I like quiet but could put up with a little noise. I wonder if a little EU2000 would be up to the task of starting this unit up. Are you using a generator or shore power?

[S/VSkylark]

I use the 6700 btu Cruiseair on my Cal 34 and it has trouble doing the whole boat in 90+ degrees. The forward cabin is cold, but the rest is only tolerable. Thinwater mentioned the use of a shade tarp and they certainly are right. In the Florida sun, without my boom tarp, I don't think the unit would work at all.

[SV Demeter]

I was able to pick up two cruise air hatch units off craigslist for $400 ea. One did not come with the canvas boot but my canvas guy is going to make a matching set from Sunbrella for less than the cruiseair replacements. These units are the older 4800 BTU versions and by putting one in the v-berth and one in the aft cabin we seem to get enough cooling. We have a 43' CC ketch rig so there are big hatches in both the aft cabin and v-berth for the units. The main salon of the boat does not get frigid but certainly cool enough and the sleeping areas are plenty cool. The best part I have found is that there is significant demand for these units on craigslist so I am hopeful that two years form now when we get around to installing the central unit(s) I can resell the Cruis airs for what I have in them.