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06-28-2020, 06:06 PM
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#1
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Guru
City: Savannah, Ga.
Vessel Name: Indigo Star
Vessel Model: 2006 Mainship 400
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 596
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Leave AC on when not there?
I was just wondering what most people set their Air Conditioning system to when away from the boat for a week or so??
It was recommended to set at 85F and another guy said to put in humidity mode.
The boat is on Hilton Head and it gets hot every day till about Oct...
Thanks for suggestions and comments.
Jeff
__________________
The sea is selective, slow at recognition of effort and aptitude but fast at sinking the unfit.
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06-28-2020, 06:41 PM
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#2
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Valued Technical Contributor
City: Litchfield, Ct
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,775
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I set my A/C in my Florida condo to 80 deg F when we are not there in the summer.
I don't know what humidity the "humidity mode" controls to on marine A/Cs and I kind of doubt it has a humidity sensor that it controls to.
So setting it to about 80 should work fine.
David
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06-28-2020, 07:04 PM
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#3
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Guru
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,538
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I leave one of mine on set to somewhere around 76-78 when away from the boat in hot, humid weather.
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06-28-2020, 07:05 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
City: Wrightsville Beach, NC
Vessel Name: Time & Tide
Vessel Model: 2005 34T Mainship
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 195
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I use Moisture mode. Here is the description from Marine Airrr Elite control panel.
Moisture Mode
While in the On Mode, press the Mode Button until the Moisture Mode LED is illuminated. Every four hours, the fan is started and air circulated for thirty minutes. During this time the air temperature is sampled and entered into memory. The cooling cycle is started and continues until the temperature is lowered 2°F (1.1°C). The compressor is allowed a maximum of one hour running time to reach the desired temperature. Four hours after the tempera- ture is satisfied, or the compressor times out, the cycle will be repeated.
The boat may get to 90 degrees, but it is always dry.
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06-28-2020, 09:11 PM
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#5
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Guru
City: Southport, FL near Panama City
Vessel Name: FROLIC
Vessel Model: Mainship 30 Pilot II since 2015. GB-42 1986-2015. Former Unlimited Tonnage Master
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,977
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I set a Peltier effect dehumidifier to run all the time draining into the galley sink. No marine a/c left on because I worry about some casualty to the water supply like the plastic end of a march pump or a loose hose fitting ot God knows what sinking the boat. I once had a hatch top air-to-air unit I did not mind leaving on, and the current boat has a rooftop unit in its hardtop which I could use, but the return for the electric bill would not be worth it since the little dehumidifier does s good job.
__________________
Rich Gano
FROLIC (2005 MainShip 30 Pilot II)
Panama City area
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06-28-2020, 10:03 PM
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#6
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Guru
City: Bayfield, WI
Vessel Name: Gopher Broke
Vessel Model: Silverton 410 Sport Bridge
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 904
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I left mine in humidity/moisture mode when I left it from mid March to early May unattended in Ft Myers FL. I was very concerned about the strainers because they would clog pretty quickly under normal usage in those warm protected waters. Temps were 80s and 90s.
The boat had no mold or moisture when I returned, and strainers had moderate accumulation. That might help you gauge.
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06-29-2020, 05:57 AM
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#7
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Veteran Member
City: Bonita Springs
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 87
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I leave the AC set to 85 deg in the summer but.....
If I leave for a week or two, I set it to dehumdify mode so the strainers don't get clogged. Water temp down here in Ft. Myers is 90 deg so stuff grows in the water easily. If I'm around the boat......
I clean the strainers every 3-5 days and fill them up with Bromide pool tablets. I've been doing that for years and it keeps growth out of the lines.
If I don't set the AC to 85 deg., the interior temperature of the boat will go to 125-135 deg in the afternoon and I think that's too hot.
__________________
Jeffrey F. Guttenberger
2020 Back Cove
Cathy Ann
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06-29-2020, 07:10 AM
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#8
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Guru
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,817
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During the summer, I leave one unit set at 80 to keep the boat dry and the temperature from getting excessive. The rest of the time I have a 2,000 square foot capable dehumidifier with a humidistat set at 50% relative humidity, that sits on the galley counter and drains into the sink. Both do a great job of keeping the boat humidity low to avoid mold and other types of growth.
Ted
__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
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06-29-2020, 08:39 AM
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#9
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Guru
City: Alexandria, VA
Vessel Model: 2000 Wellcraft
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,467
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If we didn't leave ours on, we would have a mildew explosion with our high humidity down here. Luckily, our marina charges a flat fee for electricity, so it doesn't matter.
We run a dehumidifier, too, that was built into the boat from the factory.
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06-29-2020, 09:18 AM
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#10
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Guru
City: Savannah, Ga.
Vessel Name: Indigo Star
Vessel Model: 2006 Mainship 400
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 596
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OK, a dehumidifier sounds like a good plan, can I get a few recommendations of what type or size?
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06-29-2020, 09:37 AM
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#11
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Veteran Member
City: Stuart FL
Vessel Name: Miss Sheila
Vessel Model: 54 PAMA Pilothouse MY
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 78
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https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-20-Pi...20LY/310574305 Used this one in S FL on my old 43 Mainship. Set to 50% and drain to overboard sink with hose
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06-29-2020, 10:26 AM
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#12
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Technical Guru
City: Wilmington, NC
Vessel Name: Louisa
Vessel Model: Custom Built 38
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 6,194
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I put a household dehumidifier in the salon of my boat. Unit cost about 200bucks. Has a hose connected so it piddles into the aircon sump. Uses about 3.5A when running. Boat gets hot as heck in the daytime, but heat decreases RH so unit does not run during the day. Comes on at night. Boat stays nice and dry. I leave the AC units off. Power bill on my shop/dock meter went up about 10bucks a month. When I left the AC's on to control humidity, power bill was up about 50-100bucks a month. And they would come on mostly mid day what humidity was not an issue fighting the solar heat. The dehum is the cat's meow.
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07-01-2020, 11:53 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
City: San Francisco
Vessel Name: Couple’s Retreat
Vessel Model: 2019 North Pacific 45
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 460
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Use humidity mode. That’s what it’s for.
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07-01-2020, 11:58 PM
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#14
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Guru
City: West Coast
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 1,789
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I leave mine on. I would rather pay a little extra in electricity than bake the inside of my boat. And as far as wearing out the equipment, if it is going to fail, I would rather have it fail at the dock than away from it.
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07-02-2020, 08:37 AM
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#15
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Guru
City: Oriental N.C.
Vessel Name: true heading
Vessel Model: marine trader 38 dc
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 572
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i use 30 quart dehumidifier. just be sure your wife doesn't put the drain stopper in. yes that was a disaster . i think i'm going to connect my forward ac unit to my monitoring system so i can turn it on before i start my 3 to 4 hour drive to the boat. should make the first entry much better .
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07-02-2020, 10:01 AM
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#16
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Guru
City: San Francisco
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 3,089
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It is sometimes inconvenient to place a portable dehumidifier in a location where it will self drain. For a few more bucks you can find one with a built in pump that will pump the condensate uphill into a sink or overboard.
I solved the problem by building a whole house dehumidifier into the AC ductwork. It can be run on batteries an anchor.
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07-02-2020, 12:09 PM
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#17
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Guru
City: Boston Area
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 2,605
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Couldn't you just drain the dehumidifier into the bilge and let the bilge pumps take care of it ?
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07-02-2020, 12:30 PM
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#18
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Guru
City: Portland, OR
Vessel Name: Our Heaven
Vessel Model: 1997 4800 Navigator
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 801
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30-35 pint dehumidifier drained directly into the sink is great, no pumps to worry about. I am at the boat frequently enough to empty the tank on the unit but if away for any length, hook it up to a hose make sure to weigh the other side so it doesn't pop out of the sink and let it do it's thing. If temp is the concern then run the AC unit. Have a boat neighbor stop by and check on it for you say every week or every other week.
__________________
“Try something you could fail at. We all do things that we can comfortably achieve, but rarely do we set the high bar one notch above what we think we can clear, and that’s what’s driving me on here.” Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Edward Henry Worsley MBE (4 October 1960 – 24 January 2016) Explorer
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07-06-2020, 01:38 PM
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#19
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Veteran Member
City: Orange Beach
Vessel Name: Seminole
Vessel Model: 42 Grand Banks Classic
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 41
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I did not want to run any of my 3 dometic turbo DTU air conditioners while the boat sat for a long time in the Florida heat/humidity. I bought a relatively inexpensive ($350 USD I think) Haier two hose portable air conditioner.... It has no water accumulating ability.. the water vents outside with the hot air that blows from the Haier. No need to run a cooling water pump like my dometics use... so all thru hulls can be closed....
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07-06-2020, 02:54 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Vessel Name: Sanderling
Vessel Model: DeFever 41
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jefndeb
I was just wondering what most people set their Air Conditioning system to when away from the boat for a week or so??
Jeff
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Like others have indicated, we use a dehumidifier from Home Depot draining into one of the sinks. Why run a $2K marine AC when you can run a $300 dehumidifier that also cools the air a bit? A couple of fans on a timer help circulate the conditioned air around the boat and it's three cabins.
Sanderling's asking price has been reduced to $75K!
__________________
Bob McLeran and Judy Young Manatee Cove Marina
MV Sanderling Patrick Air Force Base
DeFever 41 Trawler has been sold Melbourne, Florida
Blog: https://mvsanderling.net/Blog
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