Black boat and the tropics, a good idea?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

You wanna really test your IR thermometer??? Over here we measure the surface temperature of our metal clad buildings, almost all of which are about 18% reflectance. During the heat of the day with an average shade temperature of 120 degrees F, we've IR measured the surface at 160 degrees!

At these extreme temps I doubt black versus white makes much of a difference in reality - it's just too damn hot!

At work we had some cities paint our signal cabinets black to make them look pretty. They are typically gray galvanized.

After a few burnt out controller cabinets, we realized the black paint was the problem. The city liked the black, so they said it wasn't the problem.

We measured two cabinets one with paint and one without on a 90 degree day. The gray cabinet got to 140F. The black got to 165F. Both cabinets have vents with a small thermostatically controlled fan exhausting hot air.

Obviously, insulation will help and if you throw a big enough air/con at the problem you can overcome it but definitely a negative.

PS: While it may not show up in every dark colored boat, there are definitely, some that show the effects with the cloth showing thru and even delaminating if the temperature difference between the inside and outside skins get too high.

[TKDSailor]

Originally Posted by ScubaNinjaB

I'm looking at a boat and am about to submit an offer, my hesitation is the boat is black and I'm going to be sailing and living in the tropics. I wanted to know if anyone had experience with the heat and whether it would be that big of a problem. Another thought would be keeping it clean and if the saltwater would make it more difficult to keep looking nice.
I love the look of this boat and the black hull, mast and covers are very sharp.

We have lived aboard a black hull (bright white Petit Easypoxy Deck) in St Pete FL for many years- No problem. I must profess that we have 4" of foamed in insulation from the waterline to the deck of our Steel 38' ketch, then 2" of styrofoam under the deck. If you love the boat, go for it. You will find naysayers on any subject!

We do have A/c 18000 btu Mermaid (20 yr old unit works great), and need a cover in the summer...

[zeehag]

the issues with black or dark hulled boats, contrary to the popular opinion, which is false, that they will experience more rapid osmosis is simply bs.
sorry folks
the only issues of heat would be and are the heat of water below the hull and the sun shining full onto the dark surface heating the interior. possibility of more rapid underwater growth of oysters and barnacles is also issue, but tolerable. in summer we get oysters and slime growth. not blister growth. someone has a helluvan imagination.
placement of skirts over the dark paint when anchored or in a marina has prioven effective on boats so equipped.
i have personally found th eheat produced by sun baking houseroof is more a concern than heat of hull.
friends in a 55 ft ferro felt the heat of the sun on hull was an issue so they painted their dark blue hull beige.
other friends in a black wood boat have not experienced the issues of sun heating boat so much as to be uncomfortable, much less significantly more than a white hulled boat(my own). i watch movies with these folks and eat food with these folks and spend time on board their boat since 1997, without noted increase in interior temp in temperate zone, san diego or in tropical zihuatenejo or in tropical barra de navidad.
neighbors with a red hulled boat used skirts on weather side top reduce interior temp in la cruz de huanacaxtle.
as hull color is a personal issue, try whatever color you desire and use in the areas of planet between tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn to judge how tropical sun will affect YOUR oat and YOUR comfort in tropics.

for the record-ANY uncovered boat will be HOT inside in tropical zones. ask me how i know hahahahahahaha
delamination happens faster in desert settings than tropical per history

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

I love the look of the dark hulls. Yeah, they're likely a bit hotter, but they look COOL!

On the downside, keeping a dark hull clean & beautiful (i.e., not showing the salt), will take more work. In the Med we see a lot of black or dark blue hulls, but they're often the superyachts with multiple crew busy cleaning the hulls. The rest of us more commonly have white hulls.

Lots has been said about the heat of teak decks too. We've had both white non-slip on a white hull, and teak on a white hull. We noticed no noticeable difference on the interior temp, but the teak decks are definitely hotter to walk on. Still, they look so much nicer I wouldn't give them up.

If you like the boat, I'd go for it.

Quite agree that teak decks really are no hotter than fiberglass decks. If you let them go natural, they actually feel cooler. What burns feet are the oils clueless folks apply to their teak decks.

[Prairie Chicken]

A bit off topic, but yes, reed1v, I fully agree regarding letting teak decks stay natural! Ours are natural & looks lovely. I'd always strongly recommend leaving teak natural. It looks great & is far, far less maintenance than treated teak. Still, white non-slip is far cooler on the feet. It just doesn't look nearly as good.

And now, back to your regular program, er, topic.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Which colors absorb light more than others and which is "hotter" in temperature, as measured by an IR camera?

Here is one interesting video using an IR camera to show the difference in how colors absorb light and the temperature differences of the same material that has a different color surface.

I am also including the original image or test panel of colors used in the IR video, so you can see which colors match the video.

NOTE! The panel of colors is flipped 180 degrees half way through the video, presumably to show the difference remains. So don't jump to the end of the video to make your judgement.

https://youtu.be/tKpkJ5wxr-E

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tKpkJ5...ature=youtu.be

Which is coolest?
White would be the coolest, and one can see that because the white areas around the tinted or color bars are shown as darker blue in the IR view.

Aside from white, which of the colors would be coolest?
My favorite (second coolest color) is Yellow.

[David B]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

A bit off topic, but yes, reed1v, I fully agree regarding letting teak decks stay natural! Ours are natural & looks lovely. I'd always strongly recommend leaving teak natural. It looks great & is far, far less maintenance than treated teak. Still, white non-slip is far cooler on the feet. It just doesn't look nearly as good.

And now, back to your regular program, er, topic.

We treat ours with Semco - far prefer the 'new teak' look. We last treated the decks in late May 2015 (2.5 hours work on a 50' yacht). Will be treating again May 2017. Each to their own, but just pointing out, there is very little effort to keep teak looking like it was just laid (as we often get people questioning "no it is not a new boat, it is getting on to six years old now").

[ScubaNinjaB]

Thanks for all the info, I've decided to go ahead with my offer. I'll let you know how it goes.