Portable Air Conditioners

[SailinJay]

I''m thinking about buying a portable air conditioner for my 35-foot sailboat. I''ve done some research on the Web and can only find two types. One is called a Cruisair Carry-on and fits into any hatch 12-in X 12-in or larger. The other is called Aqua Cal Krusin Kool and looks like a briefcase or small suitcase, goes inside the cabin, and has a hose that is dropped over the side.

Anyone have any experience with these or other portable air conditioners? Thanks.

[Paiscool]

I have owned a Cruise Air when I had a 28 ft sailboat but I ended up selling it and putting in a marine a/c unit instead.The cruise air unit only supplies about 4800-5600 BTU and for it to be useful in a 35 foot boat you would have to sleep under it.For the price they want for those portables you can buy a 16K unit from Flagship or Marine Air and put it in yourself.It is not that hard,especially if you can pull the boat to put in a thru hull.Good Luck!

[ross99]

I recently found a new type of a/c unit that might meet your needs... a stand-alone unit designed for room air conditioning, but a lot more flexible than the standard room a/c units... and more powerful than the 7000 btu Cruisairs.... copy this link to your browser....
http://www.compactappliance.com/xq/JSP.detailmain/Sunpentown_12_000_BTU_Portable_Room_Air_Conditione r___Heater/itemID.7409/itemType.PRODUCT/iMainCat.23/iSubCat.38/iProductID.7409/qx/shopping/product/WA1210H.htm

you need to have a place to vent the hot air... in my Catalina 34, I had a solar vent in the aft cabin that worked perfectly. and you need to route the condensate to the bilge or a holding tank (pail) .... but it does keep the cabin liveable for less than 500 bucks... vs 2 grand ++ for a real marine a/c system... draws less than 8 amps, and is pretty quiet too

[JIO]

Ross99: I am in the market for AC. The unit you use sounds like a decent option. Curious how much water is generated from use in hot temps for like 8 hours of continuos use. The description says it has a self contained water holder that you can set up for regular draining or it will just hold all the water in its tank until filled, and when filled, the unit will turn off until you drain the water tank. It sounds like you may drain into the bilge, but curious if you know how long it would take to fill the tank in the unit? Also, could you vent the hot air out of an opening port window? How large is the unit and where do you store it while underway?

Thanks. Jon

[ross99]

The unit I have drains into my bilge. I have an automatic bilge pump, so the water isn''t a problem for me -- I only run the unit while hooked up to 120v ac so any drain on the pump is handled by the battery charger. The dimensions are on the link --- as I recall it''s about a 15" by 15" footprint, and 30" high. I have it sitting on the aft berth of my Catalina 34, venting thru a solar vent directly above it. ... we sleep on the salon berth and V-berth, so this compartment is storage on our boat. As for venting out the hot air, there is a vent hose about 5'' long, and they say you shouldn''t extend it much more than that -- back-pressure, I guess. email me direct if you have further questions.