To run the A/C or not..

[krush]

There is a simple and cheap solution to all these problems!

 

[MikeP]

There are a couple of small sailboats here that use exactly that solution!

 

[Maynard Rupp]

It sure looks like the two schools of thought here are very climate related. Sky is from the great lakes and should almost never need his AC. Our Hat now lives in Florida and from May to October must have the AC running 24/7. You would not want to subject the inside if your boat and its refrigerator to the extreme heat that the Florida sun and hmidity would generate. There are no good options. I am sure Sky and other northern climate boaters would do the same if they were in the south.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It sure looks like the two schools of thought here are very climate related. Sky is from the great lakes and should almost never need his AC. Our Hat now lives in Florida and from May to October must have the AC running 24/7. You would not want to subject the inside if your boat and its refrigerator to the extreme heat that the Florida sun and hmidity would generate. There are no good options. I am sure Sky and other northern climate boaters would do the same if they were in the south.

Maynard,
I have boated in FL and I have done exactly the same as up north. I leave the ports open in the showers, close all of the blinds/curtains and let it cook. My grandfather had a house on Barfield Bay (Marco Island) for years with a big dock out back and a couple of larger boats, then we had our Gulfstar MY in the Tampa area for a year when she was new. Later we took her to Alabama for a couple of years, but we had a covered slip there on the rivers (still quite hot though in the summer).

I don't buy the refrigerator argument either. Just about everybody has a spare refrigerator out in their garage. How hot is it out there?

Do as you please, it's your boat, but I would not leave my A/C on if I was not on the boat and I also would not leave the dockside water on. I even turn off every non-essential breaker if I will be away for more than a day or so. I have heard stories of fires from some appliance etc and it's easy to just flip the breakers off as I leave. The refrigerator and the battery charger circuits are all that I leave on while I'm away.

 

[34Hatt]

There is a simple and cheap solution to all these problems!

Well I think Krush is right Cheap and Safe!!







Hey Sparky you need one of those for the 41

 

[Pascal]

ragboters dont' install them that neatly with wood trim... it's usually all duct tape!

 

[J's Dream]

I don't buy the refrigerator argument either. Just about everybody has a spare refrigerator out in their garage. How hot is it out there?

Do as you please, it's your boat, but I would not leave my A/C on if I was not on the boat and I also would not leave the dockside water on. I even turn off every non-essential breaker if I will be away for more than a day or so. I have heard stories of fires from some appliance etc and it's easy to just flip the breakers off as I leave. The refrigerator and the battery charger circuits are all that I leave on while I'm away.

Sky,

That's exactly what I do EVERY TIME I leave the boat. Only things on are the fridge and battery charger. All other breakers are off, and all TH's are closed...including main engines sometimes.

If I'm going to to ER and bilge checks when I get to the boat, how much work is it to open a few TH's if I'm already down there?

Jason

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Sky,

That's exactly what I do EVERY TIME I leave the boat. Only things on are the fridge and battery charger. All other breakers are off, and all TH's are closed...including main engines sometimes.

If I'm going to to ER and bilge checks when I get to the boat, how much work is it to open a few TH's if I'm already down there?

Jason

Plus, exercising your thru-hull valves is always a good thing. If you really need to close one, you want it to work.

Its funny, I also turn off the breaker to my water well when I leave home to go to the boat for the weekend. Same principal--I don't want the house to sink while I'm away.

 

[krush]

Another new popular thing is these small split units: http://mrslim.com/ac/

 

[stormchaser]

Those are VERY popular in Europe and down in the Islands...they work great.

 

[fissioneng]

I've considered putting a portable on my aft deck, but can't really figure out how to duct it out of my enclosure in a way to please the judges. These are pretty inexpensive, but do draw some current.

http://www.sylvane.com/delonghi-air-conditioners.html

If you could find a way to duct the hot air out of your saloon, you could use one of these while you're gone. No water needed and many are self evaporating so you don't even need a drain.

You could put a Y fitting in your blower exhaust and plumb into that I suppose.

 

[rofish59]

Thanks for your sage advice.

I'm leaning towards running most of the units on a "dehumidify" setting and leaving the salon control to a low cool (78-80 degrees).

Thanks again for help.

 

[Nonchalant1]

I just left mine for the summer in Columbus, MS. It's usually ion the 90s there, but I was only worried about humidity and ambient temps because it's under a roof. All I did was buy a new dehumidifier and set it for 70% and run it in the galley sink so it drains out. I ran it overnight 2 nights just to test that its operation was OK.

I did not leave any shower windows open, as the partial pressure of water vapor will always equalize humidity from outside back into the boat through those windows and the humidifier will run continuously to no avail.

Doug Shuman