Heat And A/c

Wave,

I would take a look at one of the portable AC units. They vent through a hose instead of off the back, so they can be semi-permanently installed. I use on at the dock with the hose pushed out a deck hatch. They are slightly more expensive than a window AC, but don't have to be moved every time you head out. A log of them now also can be used as dehumidifiers, and as heaters. Though they do require AC power.

 

In terms of heat, I agree with Michael. The diesel fired Webasto, Espar etc units are excellent. There are various options available, but the simplest ones blow ducted warm about and will have the boat toastie in a flash. They can also be used to heat water as well.
They will blow ambient temp air about too, which may be of some benefit in terms of cooling, or at least for increased airflow.

 

Great info! Good point Michael, taking advantage of natural heating and cooling must be practiced, conservation and manipulate your environment to your advatage. Just a great point from experience obviously.

Will, ducted air? It appears that the plans I have looked at there has been no consideration to palcement of such units nor any venting ducts. I suppose this is all up to owners to arrange. Not a bid deal, but a fireplace needs some attention.

I wonder too if that low voltage heating strips use in bathrooms would help if you had a tile sole, or lightweight concrete, in a boat that size it wouldn't be much, only a couple feet wide. Just a passing thought...

 

If you want a good nights sleep in the tropics, lift up the floor boards, grab a pillow then bed down next to the keel bolts. The sea temp will be 25 degrees, the bilge temp 25 degrees and you will get a good night rest. In the morning simply grab a towel, wipe the oil and bilge scum off your body, grab a coffee and you are ready to do battle. Since we are all getting old and crunchy we may no longer fit in the bilge so.... Every mean lean cruising machine shall have SUFFICIENT FLOOR SPACE so that when things get grim you can bed down low on the cabin sole.

I worked the oceans racers for years. One thing you notice when you get on cruising boats is that they are hot and stuffy. This is because of all the bulkheads, cabins and doors blocking air flow. On an ocean racer there is no furniture inside to block air flow , they are naturally cool inside..

When you have a bulkhead blocking air flow...CUT A WINDOW IN IT. Air must move fore and aft...hot air that rises from your body when you sleep must be allowed to escape.

Bilge air is cool...with a simple computer fan suck this cool air out and circulate in the cabin.

Grab your pillow...load into your bunk and look up at the underside of the deck...now grab a hole saw and blast a hole straight thru. When sailing plug this hole with an attractive deck plate...when swinging on the hook remove the plate, screw in a dorade cover, fit a computer fan and Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...hot air and deadly gasses are expelled from your bunk.

 

After 30 some years of living aboard without hot water, refrigeration or A/C, the following notes:
The first stove we had was a Shipmate coal range we ran on wood. Dirty, fuel takes a lot of room and brings insects, rot etc on board. Hard to find anthracite which is the proper fuel and keeps a fire overnight.
Then a series of cheap RV propane ranges, then a couple of Dickinson Adriatic diesel fired stoves, now a Taylors yacht propane range and a small Dickinson diesel fired heater. The ball valve for the range supply is outside the galley porthole so you can see if it's on or off and easily shut it off after use. The heater uses 1.5 gal in 24 hours and now that's about $6, or $180 a month. Last time I lived aboard for a winter, about 4 years ago, I used the oil-filled radiator 1200-1500 watt heaters, two of them, and it was cheap and easy at the dock with 110 v power.
We always just heated water in a big kettle on the stove and never felt the need for apartment amenities in an ocean going boat. If you want an apartment with shower, hot water, A/C move ashore.
No A/C on our boat, just good ventilation and room to sleep on the floor or deck as necessary. In Mexico it was often very hot, but we did all right and liked jumping in the water to cool off. Remember, running an A/C unit for a couple of months straight can effectively wear it out plus costs a lot of fuel.
A freezer would be nice, but it would have to be big to be worth doing, and I've never built one in. We use a portable ice box on deck with dry ice and block ice and it lasts over a week, and usually long after the food has been eaten out of it still has ice.
By keeping the power using accessories to a minimum, we gain lots of room, freedom from repairs, the need for spare parts, the need to go to town to find parts, the cost of all of it, and gain the time to enjoy our sailing and cruising instead of being a constant technician to keep all running so we can have "convenience" which is not.

 

I really miss a boat setup like you are describing. It's the ideal way to live on the water. With charter guests, I'm forced to build an apartment at sea.

 

Ah charter. I didn't read deeply enough to know this was part of the job. When I was crew on big schooners like CALIFORNIAN and LYNX we used to make jokes about barbed wire and cattle prods to control the milling deck passengers.
Charter guests can be very very difficult. This is not cruising, it is the hotel business and I wish you the best of luck with the fickle, petty, childish, petulant, pouty, infantile, rude, ignorant, spoiled, entitled and "very special" persons you will encounter who demand all the luxuries and deplore the real experience.

 

I hate every minute of it. ha ha ha

But, it's what we chose to do for a living. Pays the bills and whatnot.

 

It's not working wearing a tie in a cubicle, so you can put up with a lot. Good on ya mate and keep the wake flowing.

 

I read that some on the hook were running the gen set for about a couple hours, twice a day to recharge batteries. While the roof tops might be 12 or 24V, why can't an automotive compressor run on a 12V motor only as needed off a thermostat and keep the cabin cool? Use an inverter for the low hp 12V motor when at shore.

I remember the old under the dash AC units, Fridge-a-king I think. My parents had one in a 55 Pontiac wagon, it got so cold on a trip in Texas that it craked the windshield!

 

Generators run about 3 hours in the morning....and perhaps one hour in the afternoon depending on demand.

dc air conditioning wont work. the energy in and energy out cycle is to ineffecient.

A main engine driven, auto air conditioning system, with modifications ,is a nice addition to a small motorboat for cooling the wheelhouse helmsman, when motoring.

 

Ahhh, gotcha, thanks Michael, the auto conversion is not big enough. Back to the roof tops and window units.....

Heat and air with hot water sounds pretty nice. Down side I see, is if the unit goes out, you might do without all three....

 

On the water & moving, a auto AC from ANY FULL sized car is more than enough. Remember the small size of the interior cabin is not much different than a sedan or limo.

Heating underway is TOTALLY FREE. A DIY at any good marina with REAL mechanics. 2 two position ball valves with metering plugs in the lines. They divert the engine block heated water to simple finned baseboard heaters. The water goes thru standard finned baseboard heaters. Or they can be ceiling mounted in a corner with a small QUIET fan to spread the heat.

Heating a boat is the same as a tiny house.

The whole heat & AC coil section of a large car would be ideal in a boat.
The AC condenser coil in the front of a car is replaced by 6' to 10' of tubing coiled in a water strainer mounted in the sea water intake line. Fresh water boat? put in the strainer.

Edit

You may find that you are comfortablein port IDLEING the main motor for heat or AC. ........WARNing!!!!!!!!!!YOU MUST HAVE 2 CO alarms & 2 smoke alarms.

1 CO & smoke alarm in the engine compartment.
1 CO & smoke alarm in the foward cabin area. I would put them at the height of a sleeping person. No closer than 3' to the walkin door. Reason. The fumes can slide under decking & come foward up thru wiring & vent holes not seen normally.

Idleing fumes from your boat & other boats & their generators have killed people. That is why you need the 2 sets of detectors.



Lots of ways to heat & cool on a boat. ALL the parts mount in the engine compartment. EXCEPT the coils needed in the living area & the blower fan.

Bonus. The car setup runs on 12 vdc. Very adaptable.

 

Baseboard heat using Engine produced hot water is a good system. By installing a water jacketed exhaust pipe you can capture plenty of waste heat in a closed loop circulation system that does not violate the integrity of the main engine cooling system

 

Bingo Michael.
The valve / valves are for stopping flow in the summer. We usually splice into the rubber hose line betwee the engine block & the inlet fitting on the exhaust manifold.

The line can DIY a thermostat, to really limit the extreme temperature swings between idle & WOT.