1. If I have to have a built in AC, I only want to deal with one.
2. It must produce sufficient BTU to cool the boat on a HOT day, in a hot place.
3. Its primary task is to cool the saloon and galley but if I can duct some air to the aft cabin I will.
4. I am prepared to carry a small window unit which can be used in the after hatch to cool the aft cabin if I cannot use the main a/c. (e.g. On the hard, when the main system in down).
This Site has a formula that seems to agree with the the opinion of my fellow boaters in Miami. (This does not mean that they are all not wrong).
Area of saloon and galley (12ft x 12ft x 6.5ft x Factor 12.31) gives 11.5K btu. If you add the V-Berth and have any hope of getting some cool air to the aft cabin you are looking at a 16K unit.
At the moment I am looking at the;
Dometic Turbo vector series 16K unit
2 comments:
Have you given ant thought to a sit on top of the main hatch low profile RV air conditioner? It will not require you to occasionally clean the heat exchanger with an acid solution as there is no sea water to deal with which means no feed pump $350.00. When our Mermaid air units(10 years old) fail I will switch to the RV style just for the less maintenance. The less sea water in the boat the better.Also you don't have to give up 2 nice lockers.
Hi Lew
Yes I thought about that option on my last boat. It is certainly an idea. Just a few issues, one is the size and weight (approx 65lbs) PITA if you want to sail the boat on a regular basis. I know you could leave it in place. The total cost was about $700 when you add the controls. But I like the less maintenance part.
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