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Air Conditioning

V

vansicw

Wayne Van Sickle
I live in SW Florida and would like to consider AC for the summer
months. We enjoy staying on the hook which rules out shore power.
Has anyone installed AC run by a generator or an inverter? If
so, could you advise me what units that you use, the BTU's,
installation, ect. I sail a 38-4. Thanks. John
 
We found it necessary to run 2 ac units in our boat. Morgan 381. We run them at anchor off of a generator (6kw). The generator is loud. It doesn't effect my sleep but my wife complains. I am trying to add some sound deading, but there isn't much room. With both units running and it 98 in the shade you had better have a blanket to keep you warm. It sure beat sleeping in the cockpit and fighting bugs on windless nights. We discussed other alternatives to try to make the A/C work. You can find adds on equipment that runs off your engine. Everybody I discussed this with recomended against it. I don't think you can get an inverter to work because of battery life. Hope this helps. Feel free to email me if you need more information.
 
<div>We have an Entec 4.2KW generator and are able to run our Cruise Air, hot water heater, and microwave with no problem. Our A/C is under the v-berth and doesn't bother us while we're sleeping, it was originally in the closet in the salon, but we felt that space was to valuable, so the a/c was moved. Last year we replaced the entire headliner and added lapstrake to the v-berth. During this project we added insulation to the cabin roof and v-berth sides. The insultaion seems to make a world of difference. AE Bolin
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Installed a 16k btu A/C with 3.5kw genset on my M-382 last year. The genset is a single cyl diesel and only uses abt .5 gph. With sound insulation it can run all night and not cause enough noise to bother anyone (inside or out). The evaporator located in the closet area ducts forward to the V-birth and has one outlet to the main cabin will drop and hold the cabin in full sun 30 degrees F. below Ambient. With the AC compressor located in the engine compartment noise is not a problem. I have full reflective insulation in the cabin overhead. The electrical system remains as at thirty amps. Contact me for further information.

 
Paul - Thank you for your quick reply. Could you please provide me with the manufacturer of your genset and where you installed it? What AC system did you elect? If you had to do it over, would you make any changes? Thanks for your help. John
 
Bob - I want to thank you as well for your response. Please see the note that I sent to the attention of Paul concerning my questions on the genset manufacturer and mounting location in the boat. There is only about a 13.5" opening which rules out some units without structural alterations that I would like to avoid if possible. I will be interested to learn ya'lls approach. Thanks again. John
 
<div>John, We apparently have more space than you do. It was a very tight fit. As a mater of fact, I talked the man who installed it today. He said it was an installation he wasn't going to forget soon. In my profession, we have an expression. 'There is no problem that can't be solved with enough of the owners money.' It might be better to find a long extension chord and plug in to a dock at night. We enjoy the A/C on the boat at night. I have found it nice to crank the generator up while on the ICW and have the cabin cool when you hit the dock. Good Luck with the installation. Hope it doesn't damage your pocket book to bad. Bob

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