Portable split air conditioning?

[svloki]

We are looking at a relatively cheap split unit, one that is designed to be moved, rather than bolted on. Not a marine unit, air cooled. It looks pretty easy to transfer the deck unit below when sailing. One umbilical cord for the gas hoses 3m long.

"Prem-I-Air" Brand

15k btu
14 kg deck unit weight

This would be way easier to move than the current 12k BTU window unit we have that ducts to a hatch. That one is over 40kg.

We would love to hear other's experiences with this type of unit. Yes of course a marine water-cooled unit would be way better, but this is just for marina use.

[b_ohare]

Following...

Not intending to derail your thread but I had researched this as well and couldn't find a reasonable solution for my boat. The ones that probably had the most potential (but I didn't try) were the camping/tent aircon units (e.g., https://amzn.to/3VfDViz) for just the cabin where I sleep. But while searching, I came across a very good solution that does keep me cool for sleeping only: an AquaPad Breeze Water Cooling Mattress Pad (https://amzn.to/3Kwl3ah). I have no affiliation with this company - just a satisfied user. It really does work. The benefits:

- Small, portable, and unobtrusive
- Low electrical requirement/plugs into USB
- Customer service is amazing for any issues or to get a longer tube; they even gave me a coupon discount that I didn't see/apply after the fact (they noticed I missed it and brought it to my attention)
- Quiet
- Can get REALLY cold if ambient/room temperature is below 76°. There are 3 settings on the unit - low/med/high; I typically set my aircon to 67° but when I use the pad, I don't have to use the aircon at all as long as the cabin temperature stays below 78°. If the cabin temperature is below 76°, I can only use the low or med settings else I'll be too cold.

Negatives:
- If the ambient temperature is about 80°, doesn't seem to have any impact
- You have to use filtered water (needs to be refilled every 2 or so days if used every night)
- I sometimes wake up feeling a bit "clammy" but it goes away within a minute of getting out of bed
- It leaves an imprint of the pad squares under your sheets
- I bought a waterproof mattress pad to put under it in case it leaks (extra cost)
- Won't do anything for humidity - really only to help sleeping

[svloki]

Good idea there. I did a lot of reading on those, and bought the Chillipad system 6 years ago. It's also on Amazon. It's expensive and not perfect but works pretty good.

Most of those mattress coolers use evaporative cooling, Chillipad uses a Peltier effect device to cool the circulating water. It works in very high ambient temps, and adds no humidity to the living space. It's been a while since I looked at those, not sure if Chillipad is still the best?

Now that it's warranty has expired, I am thinking of hacking it to power off 12 vdc.


Of course daytime needs remain.