I am contemplating adding air conditionsing to our H-30G. There is a large cavern located forward of the water tank under the V-berth. Has anyone installed an AC unit in this location? Do you have any advice in general on the project?
Air Conditioning H-30G (1990)
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I am contemplating adding air conditionsing to our H-30G. There is a large cavern located forward of the water tank under the V-berth. Has anyone installed an AC unit in this location? Do you have any advice in general on the project?My Catalina 310 had the factory installed AC under the forward berth ahead of the water tank; a bit noisy with the compressor right under the mattress. Also hard to get to if you need to access it. My current boat has it under a settee and I've seen others in a cokpit locker both of which seem to work well.
On my 30T I installed the A/C in the rear berth on the Port side. The berth was plenty long enough to put the A/C by the head. I ran the ducts through the head and into the saloon, under the nav station and in the port settee. I then made a cover for the back of the berth and made a storage area. Good luck.
BEFORE you commit to a location consider how the air ducting and returns will run. Do you have enough room/access to run the hoses? How are you going to power the unit? Most will take the majority of a 20 amp circuit so you will probably be looking at installing a second 20 amp service/receptical and the associated wiring and circuit breakers. If you are considering or have an inverter you need to consider how you will prevent the inverter from accidentally powering the AC. Where will you get your cooling water? Since you will not be using the AC except at the dock you don't have to contend with the inlet coming out of the water but things get pretty tight in the bow so factor the thru-hull into the space requirements.
I personally don't use my AC due to the hassle and noise and only being able to use it at a dock. We anchor out mostly and when at the dock go home or sailing soon enough to not warrant turning it on.
12 volt battery operated fans are a great cost effective option. Also sleeping on deck. The view is better up there too!
Good luck.
I personally don't use my AC due to the hassle and noise and only being able to use it at a dock. We anchor out mostly and when at the dock go home or sailing soon enough to not warrant turning it on.
12 volt battery operated fans are a great cost effective option. Also sleeping on deck. The view is better up there too!
Good luck.
I have A/C in front of the water tank on my 29.5. The batteries are under the setee mid ships and behind that is the A/C followed by a small storage shelf. The unit has 2 ducts. One a grill on the star'b bulkhead athe other in the v berth. Thermostat is on the hanging locker wall. Works great when we are at the dock or marina.
Thanks Sailgunner, I'm taking your advice. Curious though, did you insulate the cabinet you constructed? Did you route the return air through the head? I'm a little leary of having the return air come through the rear cabin, your thoughts would be apprciated.
I did not insulate the cabinet. No need to. I only had one return in the rear berth right into the unit. The boat is open everywhere except the v-berth. So you just need to keep that door open for return. I had three supplies. One in the rear berth (I made a duct out of wood and had the grill towards the entry into the berth), one under the nav station and one under the port settee. I did not run a duct in the v-berth but could have.
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