Air conditioning in A25

[Oldsalt]

Wondering if anyone has installed marine air in an Albin 25. Am interested
In boat located in NY.
All of my boating will be done in hot humid Florida

[DesertAlbin736]

Probably the least expensive and easiest to install AC would be one of these portable Cruiseair carry on units that fit over the forward deck hatch. It plugs into a regular 110V power cord, and obviously runs off shore power. That is IF it'll fit on the deck. If there are deck cleats, anchors, or bow sprits in the way it might not fit.

AAAcruiseair carryon.jpg

If the space limitations rule out the Cruisair, then a similar Pomanette unit might also work.

AA pomenette AC.jpeg

If you wanted to go with 12 volt permanent installation, this might be something to look at.

AAmes12.jpg

http://www.cruisencomfortusa.com/marineseries

But the MES-12 pictured above would be a money-is-no-object sort of thing at +/- $4,000. They are also water cooled, so through hulls & plumbing are involved, they draw 30 to 50 amps DC, meaning you might have to upgrade to a high output alternator & only run it when under way or plugged into shore power with a high output battery charger, since that kind of amperage would drag your house bank down in a hurry.

There are other permanent water cooled units that run off 110V A/C in the low 4 figure price range, but they would be shore-power-at-the-dock only. And of course the issue of finding space to mount the unit & running duct work.

Otherwise you'd have to MacGyver a regular non-marine grade small window unit over the front hatch or on top of the aft cabin to blow into the wheel house, in which case salt air and corrosion could be a potential problem.

[DesertAlbin736]

One thing about those portable units though is they are heavy & a chore to hoist up on deck, best done with help only while docked in a marina. If you're going to keep whatever boat you get in a marina full time, best to get a covered slip if possible & some good fans. Out here in our dry climate an evap "swamp cooler" might work, but not in Florida's high humidity.

[Northern Spy]

I agree with desert albin. The portable units are tough to live with but they do the job economically. We have a marineair 6kbtu unit permanently installed in our cabin under the galley of our 1975 A25 Deluxe. The raw water intake is plumbed to the seacock under the v berth and the outlet is run through the hull side by the sink. The unit is marginal during weather above 85 and full sun. We also have a duct running to the aft cabin.

[Beta Don]

Cooling a 25' two cabin boat with a single 6,000 btu unit is asking a lot of it, IMO. We had a 6,500 unit in the forward cabin of our 27 and a 5,000 in the aft cabin. If you're looking to go with a single watercooled marine air unit mounted amidships, ducted to both cabins, I think I would go with a 12K - You're going to lose a good bit just in the ductwork

A better question is . . . . how are you going to power it? Unless you're going to live in marinas all the time where you have shore power, you're going to need a reliable power source. We had a watercooled 2.5Kw diesel genset on our A27. It worked well, but considering the $4K price tag (and I installed it myself) if I was to do it over again, I think I'd go in another direction

Don

[DesertAlbin736]

I was to do it over again, I think I'd go in another direction...

Like hang up mid summer boating in Florida (good time to avoid hurricanes anyway), make winter your boating "season", and/or if possible trailer up North to cruise New England lakes or coastal, that is if you have the time & resources.

Out here, for us "Cinco De Mayo" when the temperatures start topping 100 is the defacto end of our lake boating season in Arizona. After that and until mid to late October we either 1) hitch up the trailer and head for Pacific coast, either San Diego or a run out to Catalina Island in Southern California, or 2) the Northwest like we plan to do in June, or 3) lay the boat up "in ordinary" for the summer & switch to RV camping in the cool pines of Arizona's or Utah's high country.

[WillieC]

DA beat me to it. I'd go another direction, too. 'Course, what would you expect from a mossback?

[Beta Don]

For those of us east of the Mississippi, the 'simple solution' is to boat where AC is seldom needed

Cruising the Loop, the idea is to be where the weather is best as much as possible - Florida Keys in January/February and Canada in July/August. The rest of the time, you're transiting between the two. Open the port lights, maybe run a 12 volt fan and all is good - Needing AC means you're in the wrong place at the wrong time!

Don

[DesertAlbin736]

Needing AC means you're in the wrong place at the wrong time!

I'll drink to that! Got rum?

[Beta Don]

Captain Morgan on the rocks, of course!!

Don

[DesertAlbin736]

What, no "Dark 'n Stormy" with Goslings?

[Sunsetrider]

Getting a useful perspective in this thread.