Portable A/C

L

Lominack

New Member
Jan 6, 2013
20
Lake Murray
Boat Info
2012 Sundancer 240
Engines
MerCruiser 5.0 260hp Bravo III
2012 240 DA owner. Would like any recommendations (with links would be great) for how best to cool our cabin offshore during the summer. We have a 6 month old and fans and open windows just wont cut it for him in 100 degree SC weather. I'm not interested in a generator or $1000 additions. Just something that will run off DC. Thanks yall!
 
AC uses huge amounts of energy. It is virtually impossible to power AC from a battery bank and the cost would be big as well. Fans a about it.

MM
 
Lominack said:
2012 240 DA owner. Would like any recommendations (with links would be great) for how best to cool our cabin offshore during the summer. We have a 6 month old and fans and open windows just wont cut it for him in 100 degree SC weather. I'm not interested in a generator or $1000 additions. Just something that will run off DC. Thanks yall!
Click to expand...

The only thing that will cool you on a budget is a spray mist system - but then you do need a lot of dehumidifiers as well for afterwards. I would not recommend it in the cabin - but it is doable.

Alternative - dependent on your trip length - a hatch mount A/C + Inverter + about 60-125 Ah of usable battery power pr hour dependent on how cool you need the cabin.
 
i have done exhaustive research on this since i also want/need AC during the summer months of boating here in the SE....as has been mentioned trying to run an AC unit (even a small 5,000 btu unit) off of batteries for any length of time will require a very large bank of batteries....then you have to decide where they can be mounted and then charge/maintain them and the weight of the batteries could be a concern.....we just purchased a used 7,000 btu carry-on AC unit (see pic) that fits over the deck hatch and runs off of 110VAC....we plan to use it at our dock when we want to camp on the boat during hot summer nights.....while we are on the hook and want to camp we just use 12V small box fans....they work OK but not great.....

with a small child on board you may just have to pick your days and the time of day that you go out to keep the cabin comfortable.....

cliff

View attachment 35097
 
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Cliff, had one of those on our first boat, 28ft. Those things will run you out, they work great. Better bring some heavy blankets, you will need them
 
Those solutions are both pretty cool! (Pun intended)
I'd probably try the bucket first for cost & size considerations.


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Todd
 
that is the plan. i will be attempting the simple version and then modifying it to fit the cabin layout better. could also make it solar powered from a small panel and not run on battery juice. this would just be for maybe the aft cabin while my daughter is napping and switch to 12v fan power for the night time cooling.
 
I just made one of those. It works pretty well. I was thinking of modifying a cooler to make a larger one and power it with a bilge blower maybe with a solar panel.

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That bucket cooler is a neat idea. :thumbsup:. :thumbsup:
 
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