Air conditioning

[Dav and Pen]

We have been boating in France for the last 18 years and have had some seriously hot summers. In the summer on 2004 when people died in Paris we invested in a mobile aircon unit and put the  exhaust out through a window. There are a lot of moorings with electricity often free so no problem running it. If we started it when temp about 25 it would blow out nice cold air and lower the room by 2 or 3 degrees but once it rose above 30 absolutely useless as the exhaust hose was adding to the heat! I had some white pvc covers made which we hung over the outside of the windows on the sunny side and keep the windows open and this helped a lot with a fan running. When traveling we kept all curtains closed. Last summer was very hot and we often had 38 degrees inside during the day but we had a nice covered outside stern deck which gave shade and any breeze. Tried hosing down the roof but it evaporated straight away. About 10pm there would be a loud crack as the steelwork contracted.The dog sat on the side deck on the shady side and would go round the other side when we went round a big bend after a bit he would get fed up with that and go downstairs into the kitchen which had a Lino floor and was cool to lay on. The side decks got very hot even though they were light grey.

[Onionman]

Regarding hosing down the roof, I'd suspect it was unlikely to work. What you need is for heat energy from the cabin to be used to heat water that then evaporates. So you'd get better results from a blanket soaked in water rather than running water the quickly sluiced off the sloped top.

 

The better long-term solution is a film in development (below) that would reduce the temperature of the roof by 10 deg C. At $0.50 per square metre it'd be dirt cheap as well. Just have to wait till it goes into production.

 

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/cheap-plastic-film-cools-whatever-it-touches-10-c

Edited July 5, 2019 by Onionman

[GUMPY]

My views!

Hosing down the roof does work but only if your insulation is rubbish, doesn't work well on a spray foamed boat.

On Parglena (60ft barge) we had a roof mounted Electrolux aircon unit in the saloon this cooled both the saloon and the bedroom to reasonable levels. This was run from the 5kva onboard generator.

On Loddon (60ft NB) when on the moorings we have a portable aircon, don't know the make, cooling the bedroom and exhausting outside.

None are left on all night just used afternoon/evening.

If intending to run aircon on a boat you will need a decent  genset to power it unless you have a massive solar array (1k) and only run the aircon in daylight hours.

 

As a side note we bought a portable Bosch aircon unit for the house last year this we do run all night if needed as its very quiet.

 

 

[Jim Riley]

On 03/07/2019 at 23:05, fergyguy said:

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

Like this... 

On 03/07/2019 at 23:05, fergyguy said:

 

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Jim Riley

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Jim Riley said:

Like this... 

 

 

Wouldn't work with Zeus, he been snipped. ?