Airconditioning in boats

[killick]

There must be millions of small 12 volt airconditiong units from scrapped cars lying around.
Can anyone advise if it is practically possible to convert these units to be used in boats?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Yes there is but in all cases the compressor are driven from the engine and to run one of any size from 12 vdc battery would requite a very big battery bank.

My air con is mains driven compressor with water cooled condenser.

just noticed your location PM me contact details as will be in Durban after new year

 

[nimbusgb]

The only thing 12v about a car aircon is the magnetic clutch that connects the compressor to the drive belt and the blower fan.

If you can rig the compressor mounts to your engine you can work it, it's basically what any other boat system is. The capacity may be a bit low though. A car is a very much smaller space than a boat!

 

[William_H]

The only thing 12v about a car aircon is the magnetic clutch that connects the compressor to the drive belt and the blower fan.

If you can rig the compressor mounts to your engine you can work it, it's basically what any other boat system is. The capacity may be a bit low though. A car is a very much smaller space than a boat!

I think a car is about the worst case for cooling having huge glass areas. A boat should be easy to cool by comparison with small windows.
As said aircon takes real power so is only practical if you have mains power or 240vAC, a generator running continuously or are prepared to run the main engine to run the aircon.
An aircon will take a lot more power than a fridge and is totally impractical from batteries. Having said that a friend has just bought an electric car. (not hybrid) It has an airconditioner which runs on the batteries and reduces the range by a large amount. We need aircon here. Anyone who has been following the cricket will understand witha 40.4 official max on Sat.
I have wondered about having a fan system that will bring bilge air up into the cabin. This must be cooled by the sea through the hull. good luck olewill

 

[oldsaltoz]

We run a caravan 240 volt through the roof type into the saloon, runs 24/7 in the marina and lasts about 3 years then we look for another one, the very expensive 'marine' units last a little longer but not worth the extra cost.

When out at the reef (Great barrier reef) we only run it at night with a generator that exhausts between the hulls, not at all noisy and also gets the three way freezer supper cold ready for the next days fishing and diving.

We tried an air con with the compressor hooked into the port engine but it only lasted for a single season and was not nearly as efficient as the the through the saloon top job.

Good luck and fair winds.