What is best marine Air conditioner brand?

[mydauphin]

A friend is looking to replace all his a AC units. What brand would you all recomend? Think of these criteria;
Effiency
Durability
Ease of install
best integration to electronics
Price of unit
Availabilty of parts

[mydauphin]

Come on guys!, no one has a thought on this...

[rasorinc]

http://www.portableairshop.com/Commercial-Portable-Air-Conditioners/Commercial_Portable_Air_Conditioners,default,sc.html?psortb1=category-pos_Commercial_Portable_Air_Conditioners

I'm thinking of using 1 or 2 of these in my build. Look at both residential and commercial. They show data on 4 different brands. Any ,I believe will run off the smallest Honda generator(quiet) but it appears it will draw down a battery pac pretty fast. Not an expert in that though. When under way they will run off your 12/120 convertor from your engine alternator.
My son, who is in the AC business, said there are very reliable and he knows of no reason they could not be used in my 30' x 9' Caramaran. It has a full cabin with bed and bath in the forward section. Main cabin is 9' x 14' I will build them in but be able to carry off if needed for service..

[FAST FRED]

The size of the boat , depth of owners pockets and seasons used come into play.

For most small 25-55 ft boats the Cruise Air is time tested (30-40 years) and is very reliable and can be serviced by most anyone.

For thin wallet folks there is a marinized version of an RV unit , that simply mounts in a 14x14 hatch and works on 13A /120V.

Fast cheap and can be used on the next boat.

For deep pocket guys the Carrier system that circulates chilled , or in season heated water is the nicest to live with. Each cabin or space can have its own thermostat , and with 1 or 2 or 3 compressors operating only as required it is the most efficient system.

IF a compressor setup dies it is removed to be repaired , and a spare dropped in , with OUT touching refrigerant , only water hookups to the circulating coolant.

First class , priced as such.


BUT a smart guy could copy it ,,,if desired.

FF

[kenJ]

I've had great luck with product from this company. Got all the bells and whistles with out all the advertising costs associated with Mermaid, Cruise Air etc.

www.oceanbreezeac.com

[mudman]

Just an idea, but my friend actually uses an automoive ac at his fishing camp. He coupled a 6.5 hp briggs to a Mopar AC compressor. I think that the entire build costs about 1200 brand new, which includes the evaporator unit. It looks nice since he put it in a small aluminum box that he fabed and painted. His unit is about a 1 1/2 tons. A great idea for off grid, but for shore power, not the best idea.

[mydauphin]

Interesting... Comments on each
Rasor Portable air... Boat presently on hard. I have two of those... work ok, but won't cool as predicted, Lots of hot air, not enough cool.
Fast Fred, Chiller idea is intriguing I can land based system and avoid plumbing salt water and will live longer. Using salt water is my concern since it eventually corrodes.
Kenj, those oceanbreezeac look good... will look into it.
Mudman looking for system at anchor and dock... When boat running the breeze will hopefull work.

So in summary either a chiller with cooling tower, keel cooler or raw water. I will eventually need like 6 of these. I want get like 5000-6000 btu units. One per room but only 1 or 2 would ever be used at one time. Silly to have a 20,000 unit on all day if your somewhere else.

Should say boat 50', very narrow, broken into 5 compartments.
Anyone know rule of thumb for btu to sq ft on boats? thanks