Portable AC - Who augments their cooling with them

I have a Carver 355 with many windows in the salon. I have a 16k AC that cools the salon and front berth. I also have a 12k that cools the rear bedroom very well and augments the salon as well. In the summer, these two units cannot keep the boat cool. I wake in the AM and the interior temp reads 72. By 10 am the temp is creeping up to 75. I use Phifertex mesh on the side windows and I have a reflective car type heat shield on the front window covered by the Phifertex mesh....what gives? Considering putting in a portable AC in the salon for the 3-4 months that this southern heat is so brutal and storing it on shore during the winter. Anyone else have this problem? If so, how are you solving?

Thanks for all of the useful tips you guys/gals provide!

you can see my window covers here. With ACs running thermostat read a constant 88!! Just had both units serviced.


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Companion Way door is it open or closed?
When we leave ours open it sometimes struggles to keep up.
Closed it has no issues.

Black absorbs heat, white reflects it, I question the black window covers.
At home, as well as fixed a/c, I have a portable a/c unit. Choose carefully, check noise levels, note they can lose efficiency when temps are into mid 30s centigrade.

I think a portable would drive me crazy, but your tolerance level may be higher.


I'll assume you may have '90s Marine Air or CruiseAir units, yes?


A much more expensive solution -- in case you need one -- might be to replace both your current units with Dometic's Vector Turbo units. Several of our owners club members have said their new VT replacements are much more efficient than their equivalent-sized previous models.


And then you could also consider upping the ante, with a 16K BTU unit to replace your 12, and maybe an 18 (if available?) to replace your 16.


Another advantage members have cited is the composite drain pan, so no rust stains on the hull at the condensate discharge.


That's all second-hand info, though; no first-hand experience.


But I do enjoy spending other folks' money!





-Chris

By portable, do you mean the freestanding units with a duct running outside? If so, make sure that you get one with two ducts- one for supply condenser cooling and one for discharge. The single duct units while simpler are very inefficient.


David

Given your southern climate, warm water and black window coverings you have a tough battle on your hands keeping an un-insulated boat cool. Bottom line is you need to throw more BTU's of cooling at it, the question is how much will actually help, not sure a 7-8kbtu portable would make much of an impact, most likely need another 12kbtu marine unit to really keep it down.

I meant to add a comment about blinds, inside. We have horizontal mini-blinds inside, and they help a lot, too.


FWIW, we also have black Textilene mesh over our front windshield... and it does make a BIG difference to internal temps. I have a white solid Stamoid cover, too, and I don't notice any difference between the windshield temps with white solid or black mesh.


-Chris

Thanks for all of the replies....boating on a budget so trying to come up with something that won't cost me an arm and leg. The black mesh makes a huge difference and even though black absorbs heat, it doesn't appear to be much of a difference from the white canvas we have on the boat....however, I can sew and have considered replacing it all with white canvas.


MBevins - Which companion way door? I have one forward and one aft.

Keeping the heat out is far cheaper than more refrigeration for the interior air.

The windows are the hardest to block insolation , but the deck even white can add to the heat load.

You might try a small pump and garden soaker hose if the deck is the heat source.

Use an IR heat gun and find where the hot spots are.

I think the IR temp device is a great idea, they are inexpensive and give you a real good temperature profile of the cabin. Just aside, we also open up our top canvas to allow the heat escape in case you don't do that already.
I wouldn't totally disregard a portable unit, maybe you can find one that has it in their house and you could do a little test with it.

FF said:

Keeping the heat out is far cheaper than more refrigeration for the interior air.

The windows are the hardest to block insolation , but the deck even white can add to the heat load.

You might try a small pump and garden soaker hose if the deck is the heat source.

Use an IR heat gun and find where the hot spots are.

Click to expand...

we don't have built in AC and have used a portable unit on occasion. Sure it helps. It is also bulky, noisy and has annoying lights on it (which we covered with masking tape). Do you have room for it and are you willing to put up with the noise? It is a few years old, they probably make them quieter now! Good luck.

djmarchand said:

By portable, do you mean the freestanding units with a duct running outside? If so, make sure that you get one with two ducts- one for supply condenser cooling and one for discharge. The single duct units while simpler are very inefficient.


David

Click to expand...

We had a single hose unit when we were on the hard for a retrofit. Expensive, noisy, and inefficient as David said and the unit was advertised as 12k BTU. We would have been better off modifying a second window unit like we did for the lower staterooms. We gave it a way when we finished the project and I will not buy another one.