Heat And A/c

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

Everything costs more in New England. Check these Florida dock prices: http://www.docksearch.com/s/search_s...sting_state=FL

$8 to $25 per foot depending on the real estate.

Those top two are people renting their slips on canals at their residential house, probably illegally.

The next few listings are actual marinas: $800/mo, which far more than New England for the boat in question... $4800 for May to October.

Or... $245,000 to purchase the slip on the next listing.

Or... way less in the middle of nowhere north of Tampa on the West Coast.

The prices in the link are exactly what my post said they were.

[hoytedow]

Shows how much I know, huh?
That list was the result of my first and only search on Google today.

I googled Florida dockage prices.
There are several pages for anyone who wants to search on their own.

[mydauphin]

Back to heating a boat.... I realized a couple of years ago when the temperature magically dropped to 40 deg F that my boat was unprepared for such cold. Best I could do was bring it down to 50 degrees which was still too cold. I didn't ave enough AC power for all the heaters. So I thought why heat the whole boat at night, I just need to heat the bed. So I bought an electric blanket, only uses 14 watts and does a heck of a good. Laid it on bed, and cover myself with a good down blanket. I know it is good and comfortable to 40 degrees.

[pistnbroke]

and at that power you could run it on an inverter /12v battery ...hey good for camping ??

[CatBuilder]

For years, the wife and I just used really good sleeping bags. That's all you need for cold nights, even below freezing.

[pistnbroke]

Wait till you get old ....

[yipster]

About that getting hot in bed at night
a pc procesor cooler keeps the head cool
cost nothing uses minimal electra and runs pretty silent

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by pistnbroke

Wait till you get old ....

I just turned 40 and I'm now more interested in Hvac systems! Ha ha ha. However, it is due to a mold allergy developed by heating only part of boats we lived on. The unheated part of a living space, when in contact with a warm air mass from the heated space, develops condensation and mold, which i am now extremely sensitive to.

Something to think about when trying to save money on Hvac.

[michael pierzga]

Mold is an issue. After a recent Arctic cruise every square centimeter of uninsulated aluminium on the inside of the boat was covered in mold. Very time consuming to clean. Next time I will be more careful and install fans to keep the air moving and reduce condensation

[CatBuilder]

That is where it gets very difficult. You need good ventilation to keep mold down, but this is in direct opposition to a good HVAC system, which either heats or cools/dries the air inside the boat.

Does anyone have good information on how much fresh air you need into a boat vs how much heating and cooling you need?

I find it's a constant struggle to get it right. On one hand, you want to keep the boat closed up to keep it either warm or cool, depending on the outside temperatures. To do this efficiently, you need to keep drafts and/or outside air entrance to a minimum.

However, to keep it dry and mold free, you also need to allow outside air in.

Very confusing.

Even worse is... what do you do on a foggy, cool (but not cold), damp night?

Do you try to keep the boat closed up to keep the 99% humid air outside, or do you open up and let a mist of air and water blow through the boat?

Being very sensitive to mold now (after living with it for many years on a boat), I am trying to keep the boat dry and at proper temperatures to keep mold growth down. White painted surfaces will be everywhere inside for ease of cleaning, but that fog question really gets me. What do you do on those nights?

[michael pierzga]

Good question...At present its freezing , its raining outside and I am 100 percent bottled up in stale air.

Hopefully in another 48 hours the weather breaks an I can return to normal hatches open

[Wavewacker]

Are there any small, efficient dehumidifiers?

[CatBuilder]

Originally Posted by Wavewacker

Are there any small, efficient dehumidifiers?

Yes, I had one of these and it worked very well.


http://www.google.com/products/catal...32472279069244


However, with heating, air conditioning and dehumidification, it seems we are talking about towing around a lot of gear. Maybe it's necessary.

All I know is it's not an easy topic.

Maybe personally, since I'm building my own HVAC system, I can incorporate a different refrigerant flow rate somehow to make the heat pump act like a dehumidifier as an option in air conditioner mode. Seems that might require a different expansion valve, but I suppose there is probably one available for dehumidifier evaporator temps.

[michael pierzga]

Dont know, but I doubt whether a dehumidifier could keep up with the dripping wet human and atmospheric moisture in a small boat. I suspect your only defense is ventilation and air movement. Recycled engine room heat would be worth investigating

[rasorinc]

CatBuilder, Here are the suggestions from my son on heating and cooling your Catamaran. He suggested 2- 9,000 air handlers one for each room in the sponsons, and an 18,000 air handler for the main room. These are duckless air handlers but you can get ducted ones also. Each can be individually be shut off or turned down when not using that space. All air handlers run off a single sized condenser unit on the exterior. Two 9,000 air handlers and one 18,000 add up to 3 tons of air conditioning. It is a heat pump system and should draw no more that 30 amps (220)
a single 1/4" or 5/16" copper line is run to each airhandler from the compressor
(refrigerent line) and a power line from the compressor to each air handler. Thats it. Everything runs off the compressor. The units cost about $500 for each 9,000 air handler and 1,000 for the 18,000 unit. A 3-4 ton compressor will run you 2,000 to 2,500 bucks. Normally, you can run up to 4 air handlers with one compressor. Larger systems you can run up to 9 unit off one compressor. Use only Fujitsu or Mitsubishi units--parts avaiable anywhere. Other stuff is junk............5 year warranty on everything and a 7 year warranty on the compressor. They have installed these in 5 tug boats that push 1/2 mile barges from New Orleans up the Tennessee River tp Knoxville. Here is the web site for Fujitsu http://www.goductless.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=96 You may want to consider re-wiring the compressor with tined wire or see if the company could do it. My son did not know. These are great units and highly efficent. Hope this helps you.
Stan Rasor