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fergyguy

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Looking at a few widebeam boats today with vies to buying and noticed all were very warm indeed and as I have an old Labrador that would stay on boat I was wondering about adding a mobile air con unit ... there will be plenty of solar on roof to run it but just wondered if anyone else have advise on air con please.

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1 hour ago, fergyguy said:

Looking at a few widebeam boats today with vies to buying and noticed all were very warm indeed...

Presumably they had all their windows shut, so no through ventilation?

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2 minutes ago, fergyguy said:

I have been looking at mobile air con units and they state low power useage it’s saying input 1.12kw so are you saying that’s high??? 

1.1kW isn’t going to do much. A single person generates around 100W of heat and a large dog like a lab probably another 50W. Assuming that the portable unit is 50% efficient (many are less than that) that’s only leaving about 400W for cooling, which is a tiny amount. 

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2 hours ago, fergyguy said:

........wondered if anyone else have advise on air con please.

 

This video explains why portable or mobile units are very inefficient compared with proper plumbed in units.

Just out of interest, what sort of solar setup are you planning?

 

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I’m not intending locking my dog in a boat I’m simply asking if Mobil air con is an option in helping keep her cool. The boats I visited today some did have windows closed as were on a sales pontoon but one was being lived on and owner had all windows open and stern doors too but it was very warm indeed and yes I know it’s a hot day so just got me wondering how others keep their older dogs cool on days like today

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8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Shutting a dog in a steel boat on a summer's day is the height of irresponsibility.

 

What if the aircon packs up? (Even if you can get it to work in the first place). 

We have two dogs on our boat in summer, with all the blinds down and two fans running we have never had a problem. Leaving dogs on a well ventilated boat is not like leaving them in a hot car.

Edited by Rickent
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We've always had dogs and always took them on the boats in summer. A boat can get hotter than a house, yes, but not like the mad temps in a glass all round, dark interior car. Lots of water, comfy spot under a table with curtains/blinds shut, small fans, all hopper windows open etc. Air con just seems an absolute non-starter in terms of power requirement and economics. Just as an off the wall thought, is it possible to go down through the floor on a boat and build a summer dog basket down close to the cool baseplate? The bilge is always a good place to keep bottles when you've no fridge and it's hot. On the other hand, as you mention widebeams, as pointed out in another thread, the whole space is probably completely crammed with ballast.

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Thanks for your input I was only asking to see how others kept their dogs cool and fans was obviously on my consideration list so will possibly be going down that route. I had not planned on leaving her on the boat for long periods but when I need to food shop etc I just want to ensure best environment for her. My dogs come to work with me so not left on their own much.

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I would have thought that conventional air con on a boat is not very practical due to the heavy power that it consumes - generally well over 1kW. Also very expensive. We have been using an evaporative cooler that uses about 1% of that power. It has to be filled with water regularly for the cooling effect to work. If the water runs out then it just works as a fan. We have found that it does reduce the temperature by a few degrees and our dog seems to like it. She often lies down on front of it to get the best cooling effect. Cost was a fraction of the cost for full air con and the power demand is so low that we can leave it running overnight even when cruising. 

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https://www.coolmycamper.com/ 

 

Has anyone used one of these on a narrowboat?

 

I have plenty of solar, and this only draws 1.8a which is a small amount on the hot sunny days when I'd want to run this.  The reviews are generally very positive.

 

Edit:  Just realised that at 12v it would be about 37a.  Still possible.

Edited by doratheexplorer
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24 minutes ago, RobT said:

I would have thought that conventional air con on a boat is not very practical due to the heavy power that it consumes - generally well over 1kW. Also very expensive. We have been using an evaporative cooler that uses about 1% of that power. It has to be filled with water regularly for the cooling effect to work. If the water runs out then it just works as a fan. We have found that it does reduce the temperature by a few degrees and our dog seems to like it. She often lies down on front of it to get the best cooling effect. Cost was a fraction of the cost for full air con and the power demand is so low that we can leave it running overnight even when cruising. 

Thanks what make model is it so I can look it up please... anything that she can lay in front of to keep cooler is what I’m needing 

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Another vote for the simple (and inexpensive) evaporative coolers.  They won't, 'Llike chill out the world man!' but will make a difference.   Wet blankets/towels on the roof work too.

Edited by Taslim
Fat Fumbs.
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We bought one of these at the Crick show  https://totalcool.co.uk/product/totalcool-portable-evaporative-air-cooler/

 

We paid a show price of £279.

 

We have used it a few times and it's definitely cools better than a conventional fan does. There was also one called Transcool at the 2018 Crick show which seemed pretty good as well.

Prior to buying one I read the reviews of these devices on various caravanning and motorhome forums which were very mixed with some loving them and some saying they were a waste of time.

 

But I think some folk's unrealistic expectations were behind some of the poor reviews. They are definitely not an air conditioning unit but they make a decent job of keeping us cooler in the our narrowboat especially if positioned in the immediate vicinity to where we are sitting, and better than a normal fan does.

 

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We have similar one for my wife’s bulldog as he suffers from heat so I reckon your right one of them and as others have suggested a cooler is far better option to any air con and cheaper to buy and run. ? 

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Looking at the evaporitive coolers I see you can add ice packs into the water tank on hot days to help produce a cooler  flow of air and costing under £60 its a no brainier thank you guys for your advise 

Edited by fergyguy
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the only downside with any evaporative cooler system is that they will do next to nothing when humidity is high because the air is already carrying almost all the moisture it can

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3 hours ago, fergyguy said:

Thanks what make model is it so I can look it up please... anything that she can lay in front of to keep cooler is what I’m needing 

Ours is a Totalcool unit. UK made. They have a website -  Totalcool.co.uk.   Cost was around £270.

 

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14 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Shutting a dog in a steel boat on a summer's day is the height of irresponsibility.

 

What if the aircon packs up? (Even if you can get it to work in the first place). 

And for it to have a chance of working you would have to have all windows closed

Has anyone tried a sprinkler system pumping canal water over the roof of the boat. it would only need a small pump and a soak hose laid the length of the roof. You would get the benifit of both cool water and evaporation on the steel

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16 hours ago, fergyguy said:

Looking at a few widebeam boats today with vies to buying and noticed all were very warm indeed and as I have an old Labrador that would stay on boat I was wondering about adding a mobile air con unit ... there will be plenty of solar on roof to run it but just wondered if anyone else have advise on air con please.

We were on a large flybridge cruiser at the weekend which had air con. It used raw water cooling and was run from the inbuilt genny. It was a god send in the heat on Saturday. The dogs loved the cool.

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