Portable Air Conditioner

Here's what I've purchased, where I am with it, and why I did what I did. It might, if nothing more, be helpful in terms of the kinds of things to think about. Right now I have parts but everything else is essentially theory.

I've purchased (but have not yet installed or really used) a small General Electric AC unit, about 5000 BTUs I believe. I have a CD-25 and I'll do a "removable installation" utilizing the small aft port window. The EER rating is 8+and it draws 4+ amps (120 volts). I have run it and it's a very quiet unit. It cost $94.00 at Sam's Club last fall. I bought it even before I knew I was going to buy a CD-25.

I also purchased a 1200 watt generator (1050 watts continuous operation). Under certain conditions I can envision using the AC with the generator. At full load I got about 5.5 hours from a tank of fuel (used it at the house doing a winter power outage a few months back). The manufacturers spec says I should get ten hours of operation at half load. I don't know where I'll mount this when in use, but I'm guessing it will be some sort of a platform aft of the transom. I want to minimize the possibility of carbon monoxide difficulties.

We live in Maryland on the Chesapeake which means high summer heat and humidity so therefore an air conditioner. I'm not supposed to use an AC in my marina (they only charge me $15 /yr for power). I'm not going to use the generator where the noise from it could affect others relative to using the air conditioner, so I have some constraints.

I don't think I'd want something as large as the Sharp unit for three reasons: 1) I don't need something that large for a CD-25 cabin; 2) I think I'll get better dehumification with the smaller unit because the compressor will be on longer; and 3) the 4+ amp draw may work (fingers crossed) with the generator although I haven't tested it. I realize the starting surge current may be too high for the generator and if so, a part of my scheme may fall apart but that's life. I'll run that test on shore in the driveway (very shortly) before I start any work on the boat.

Don't know if all this idle discourse is any help but for what its worth, that's where I am at the moment.


Bill
Edgewater, MD
 
Bill-

Keep us posted-many of us have the same problem/concerns with heat, humidity, air conditioners, and genrataors.

Have the same BS deal with my marina operators. Don't want you to use shore power (except to charge batteries), but won't allow you to put in a meter and pay for the current either!

Maybe a noisy generator would put some pressure on them to decide on something workable???

$420 a month (2 slips) = BS!!!

They make "soft start" kits for air conditioners that make the starting load less by
1. adding condensers that allow easier motor start up, and
2. have a time delay so the compressor can unload the compressed gas to reduce the torque required. Might try searching this site: Honda EU 2000 Generators


A little Hot and getting HOTTER IN REDDING,


Joe.
 
I guess I'm on a similar brain wave, because I just got back from Best Buy with a Frigidare 5000 btu unit. Very small and light. I ran it in the store for quite some time and it seems to put out twice the cool as it does heat from the coil fan, so there might be nothing more to do than set it on the table or atop the wallas and run. I'll have to check how much condensation comes out, a pan should take care of that for my needs. What I need is simply something to cool the cabin down for sleeping at night. If it will do that, money well spent. I also looked at the upright models and came to the similar conclusion that if this works, it was cheap, easy, and immediate relief.
 
Nothing of any real value here guys unless my sympathy is worth something. Even after 15 years away from those environments I still remember what it was like to NEED air conditioning to sleep. I'm sorry you live in such a hostile environment! :lol:
I guess if I drug a hunk of Glacial ice into the cockpit that would qualify as "Portable Air Conditioning".
Our snow is just now leaving and it will be another month before we get er wet! Then it will all be over 4 months later!
Mike on Huda Thunkit
 
There is a reason to use an RV airconditioner on the roof, or a marine air conditioner (water cooled). The Sharp unit in the first post, will run fine, but you have to have some ducting of the waste heat out of the interior of the boat. The second problem is where to put the unit when running the boat.

The 5000 BTU unit will be marginal for a 25--but may work if the waste heat is ducted outside of the cabin. There is no defying the laws of physics--and if you produce cold, you will produce slightly more heat. A window unit blowing out 5000 BTU of cold air in a concentrated stream will be radiating 5500 or so BTU of heat out the back end in a more diffused pattern.

One has to be cautious with inexpensive generators. They often are very noisy--for example the Honda EU 2000 produces 53 to 58 dB--(about conversation level). The Honda Conttractors type of generator EG 2500 produces 70 dB or about the same level as a vacuum cleaner. Since sound level is a logrythmic scale, the contractor type produces over 4 times the sound of the alternator/inverter EU2000. Also the Honda ( Yahama also produces similar generators) will drop to an idle when the air conditioner is not drawing power. As Joe noted, the start up power is key for air conditioners--and although the unit draws 4 amps running it sill draw much more when starting the compressor--and some generators don't have the reserve to cope with this.
 
I suspect it will all work out just fine. I'll test it when it warms up, as right now we're in the grips of global warming and in the 50's tonight.

They have certainly improved "small" units, as this is the size of the one-dish microwave I carry. I'll just set it on the sink so any condensation runs into that, crack a window slightly to let any heat out if that is in fact a problem at all. Since cold sinks and heat rises and I'm sleeping much lower than the unit, it should all work out well.
 
We purchased a small, inexpensive AC unit (a Samsung, I believe) about 10 years ago to use with/in our 13' SCAMP trailer.

The SCAMP has jalousie windows on the rear sides. One can take out the top pane of the jalousie by simply removing four tiny screws. The AC unit then fits into the window perfectly, and screwing down the top (remaining) jaloulsie pane holds it in place. A couple of pieces of (thin, foil-covered) insulation closes up the few extra inches on the sides of the window opening.

The same AC unit also fits pefectly into the middle front opening window of our CD-22!
 
C-Dawg-E, If your saying you plan to put the unit face down in the hatch it wont work for long. The compresser has an oil sump in the bottom for lubrication. The oil will go into the evaporater coil and the compressor will lock in a very short time.

Little Mac, how do you fit the unit in the front window? Do you remove the window?

I hope we can find a good solution here. I would like to have the ac option as well. I was considering buying one of those cooler units. It fits over a coleman cooler full of ice and draws air thru the ice to cool it and then blows it into the cabin. The are in the WM catalog and from what I hear they really work.

The law of thermodynamics requires that waste heat from a mechanical air conditioner must be exhausted some how. There is no such thing as a table top air conditioner, but the cooler thing comes close.
 
Damn, I'm having more trouble with you guys than getting AC on the boat . . .

The center hatch is the center "window" . . .

Room to spare, nothing to do but put a couple strips of duct tape up at night to keep the skeeters out (along the sides).
 
Forgive me. I'm not trying to be dense but I guess I am.

So you can open the front window (hatch), and insert the ac from inside the cabin? That sounds like it might work by golly!
 
Open the center window.

Put the unit in the window.

Plug it in.

Turn it on.

Stuff some towels or duct tape around the edges to seal it (it's smaller than the window -- a good thing).
______

I haven't got to the "turn it on" part yet because I couldn't get the Honda to start . . . (always something).
 
Yes, the center window on the CD 22 pilot house is like a hatch and opens foreward.
If the AC unit is the correct size (or any size if you can use short pieces of door skin plywood/duct tape etc) and direct the cool in--and hot out.
We tried using the portable airconditioners on other boats in the past, and the problems involved with taking it in and out of the area, storage etc made it so difficult for us, we abandoned this type of use.

We have also made "ducts" out of door skins, plastic, cardboard etc for temporary air conditioning thru top opening hatches. Definately keep the air conditioning unit level!

The reason we used an RV air conditioner: it sits in place without taking any cabin space or restricting vision. It does cost about $400 more than the Wal Mart Fedders (we use one of the Wal mart Fedders in our Road Trek--there it is vented out of the back of the top of the RV.

I have talked to several who have used the ice chest--yes it will cool, but not near what a regular air conditioner--but most folks end up using a quality fan thru a hatch or going with a real air conditioner. To look at it scientifically: to raise or lower the temperature of 1 lb. of ice by 1°F, it takes only 0.5 BTU. However, to change 1 lb. of water into ice, we have to remove 144 BTUs of energy. Conversely, to change 1 lb. of ice into water, we have to add 144 BTUs. so to get 5000 btu of cooling you will have to melt 35 lbs of ice an hour! That is a lot of ice! Yep, I tryed that in college when we didn't have AC--and 100 lbs of ice got me thru a night of cramming for finals.

On the other hand, we just use a "endless breeze" or Wal mart 12 volt fan on a hatch once the sun goes down to keep the bunk area livable after we go to sleep, even in the Florida summer.
 
The procedure I use is the same as outlined by C-Dawg E.

The AC unit is inserted into the opening middle pane of the windshield, not the V-berth hatch. I find it easiest to do this from the outside (where all but the face of the unit rests anyway).

To close off the extra space around the window opening, I use a thin insulation (about 1/4" think) covered with aluminum foil on both sides. (I think it normally is used for heat insulation, to wrap heating runs.) It can be easily cut with scissors to size: one can even cut out a single piece which fits across the top and down both sides of the AC unit, and thus stays in place on its own. Being thin and clean, it can then be easily folded (if desired) and hid away (I slip it under the V-berth cushions).

All in all, a very simple procedure. By the way...the simpler, the better... since the AC unit is not permanently installed, it has to be put into place and taken down with each use.
 
Wayne-

Do you use the AC only when at the dock with Shore Power, or on the boat with a generator?

Where do you store it?

Passing thought: If you're not going to use it at anchor or underway, but only in a slip, it could be mounted on the dock instead with a flexible tube linked through a window and a remote switch. Easy to cover and store, too, but would have to be locked down somehow. Probably more difficult around salt water.

Thanks,

Joe.
 
Joe:

I use it only when at a dock, connected to shore power. I don't have a permanent slip; my boat is kept on the trailer when not in use.

I only take the AC unit along on a trip, when it may be needed; otherwise it stays at home.

When underway, it will fit and can be stored under the transom between the gas tanks.

Wayne
 
Is the center window of the 22 smaller than the 25? I was considering one of those "under the table, stand up" units, vented out a window. So far, there have been very few times we needed A/C... part of that "going where the weather suits our clothes" plan. But, this idea sounds promising.
 
In our part of the country (western NY), we only need AC occasionally. We average only about four days per year above 90 degrees.

Rarely is AC needed when underway: open windows on the CD supply enough ventilation to stay cool.

Sometimes (when the temperature is in the mid to high eighties) it's nice at night, however, especially when sleeping in the V-berth.

Boaters in the northern climes more often feel the need for heat than AC.
 
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