The last thread I ran was trying to get feedback on portable AC units. Well we bought our Haier 9,000 BTU portable unit this weekend and tried it out on our Catalina 30, and must say that indeed it cooled the boat off for nighttime dockside comfort, but came up a bit short as noon approached the following day. Could it be that it has been in the upper 90's down here in the south with no wind or cloud cover? To its credit the portable unit is on wheels with an extendable 8-10 foot vent hose that would fit in any porthole (4-5" diameter)with cardboard protecting the remaining open port area. The condensation evaporation feature did not require any draining on deck or in the bilge. What was nice was being able to roll it around a few feet here and there to direct the air flow, but heat does come off the vent hose as it has no insulation. Something to consider for a permanent set up. I made the mistake of venting thru the quarterberth porthole, which only pumped very hot air into the cockpit without benefit of a breeze for rapid dispersion. Nothing like cooking the back of the boat!! Lesson learned on that one. My neighbor who has an Endeavor 35 with built in 16K AC unit had to constantly cool his deck with water to keep his interior cooler, which was something we failed to do to provide better cooling. So, 9,000 btus on an incredibly hot summer's day it too little to cool a 30 footer that is heating up from the sun unless you huddle in front of it, BUT it was worth its weight in gold as darkness fell and it made our cabin quite cool (almost cold) and great for sleeping, which is really all that mattered to us. Well worth the $399.00!! I would suspect in cooler weather (80's) it just might do just fine. Bob Catalina 30
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Hot?
Over the weekend my 16K BTU unit was holding the Hunter 35.5 at 85 degrees when it was 100+ outside. Most boats have no insulation in the deck area and does the heat come on thru.
Over the weekend my 16K BTU unit was holding the Hunter 35.5 at 85 degrees when it was 100+ outside. Most boats have no insulation in the deck area and does the heat come on thru.
that's about right...
my 19k btu can't get the boat below about 83 in the mid-day sun....and it's blowing very cold air. Sunshades over the foredeck and any other area you can cover will help a lot.
my 19k btu can't get the boat below about 83 in the mid-day sun....and it's blowing very cold air. Sunshades over the foredeck and any other area you can cover will help a lot.
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