Newish Beneteau 41.1 2017 owner with a few questions

[Larrycadman]

1. I'm looking to install two air conditioners. Does anyone have this boat that can tell the BTU's of the two units. Also does anyone have any experience installing them that could pass along any tips. I got a quote of $20,000 to install both... yikes! lol. I'm pretty handy and my father is an electrician. I will get the local marina to put the through hall in for the water inlet.
2. Does anyone have a generator and if so what type and size?
3. I will need to put a new 30 amp connect and will place it next to the 32 amp (I'm going to change this to a 30 amp along with changing out the end of the cord). I have the two birth set up with the storage room. I will still vent the storage area as I'm changing it over to a third room when needed. I was going to put a separate panel in the storage area to handle the air conditioners and also a few breakers for outlets in the bathroom and storage area.
4. My bow sets pretty high out of the water. I ordered a water tank to put under the front birth. Maybe some more chain on the anchor? Any other ideas?
5. Best place to get a spinnaker? new or used. I have a code zero and was thinking of just using that halyard for both as a separate halyard would require something at the top of the mast putting out in front of the other two furling sails.
6. Should I vent the cockpit area and get a full canvas enclosure with zip offs for hot and cold days?
7. Opinions on adding davits / solar panels for a dingy?
8. Plan is to keep learning to become a better sailor on lake erie for the next full year and head way south down the coast after next years hurricane season. Any other additions to the boat you can think I'll need?

Thanks ahead of time for any help.

Larry

 

[Davidasailor26]

For the solar panels and generator questions you should figure out what your energy budget will be and how much battery capacity you have. That will help you know what size panels you need and whether you need to augment that with a generator.

I don’t know what size AC you’ll need. I do know the Beneteau 37 comes with a single 16K unit.

One consideration when you do the install is that boat electrical connections have different standards and considerations than home and commercial setups. For example the neutral and ground never get tied together on the boat (except in some situations like when a generator is running). Just be sure to know those differences and apply them in the installation.

 

[bb2021]

The answer on solar and/or generators is always the same, depends. It would be nice if generators gave some sort of general guideline of what different generators will power. Unfortunately, each power draining system varies widely so It's difficult to even give guidelines.

So far the best answer I've received is from another 45 owner who has three 300 Watt panels on his tender arch. They had just returned from wintering around the Bahamas and said everyone who has 300 or 600 watts was looking to expand. Their advice is to go bigger rather than smaller. I'm planning to get essentially the same set up.