“Low” energy air conditioning?

[jbo_c]

Thinking ahead to how(if) I’ll be able to cool off my cabin in the summer months. I’ll have only about 435 cubic feet of inside space. I do plan to insulate and the cabin will be painted white. But I’m in the southeast(Atlanta), so heat and humidity will rule day(and night) for 4+ months per year.

1. Are there any small AC units that would run off the smallest of generators?
2. Outside the box options? Humidity here means swamp coolers are out, so would need to be more creative than that.
3. Other ways to moderate the air temp inside even if maybe not cooling it as much as an actual AC unit would? I have an imaginative, if unlikely to be successful, thought I’ll detail in a separate post after a few responses.

I realize I’m asking how to catch a unicorn, but any suggestions are worth exploring.

Thanks.

Jbo

[jbo_c]

At 435 cubic feet even only marginally insulated, one of the little 5K BTU units from WalMart would probably be enough to be “too much”. And I think I’ll be pretty well insulated. Is there a yet smaller unit than those 5K ones?

Have to admit, I wouldn’t be real excited about one of those, ugly and would take a lot of space(relatively speaking).

I did see an old YouTube video with a guy who had bought some old military storage boxes for equipment that had to be kept cool and had little AC units in them. He had done a really good job of cobbling together a small unit that appeared to be pretty effective at keeping his little cuddy cool. Fairly certain it wasn’t a scam. . Probably well beyond my ability in any case and, in itself, not unlike locating a unicorn.

Jbo

[Jaysen]

I owe you longer reply on other thread but this is quick.

Best option for air cooling is the combination of air scoops, fans, cross ventilation. Ex: open forward hatch, deploy scoop, open external hatches, portals and companionway hatch. Turn on DC fans to support flow of air stream through hull. This works best with the stove near the companionway.

The single largest thing I have found for long term comfort is sleeping elevated (hammock) instead of on a bunk. Move it outside for the real win. Amazon does a crap ton of cheap, net+tarp covered hammocks that fit nicely under booms. Second goes on whisker pole using jib/spin halyard for outside support. If you need to move inside, a couple eyebolts and you have interior bunks (do three sets to allow center sleeping vs forcing weight off center.

Oh… get screens for your hatches. Really fine mesh screens. The gnats down here make northern black flies seem huge.

We can argue about anchorages, wind exposure, and dock power some other time.

[Aripeka Angler]

They make 12 volt air conditioners, not sure it would be cost effective or practical for what you are trying to achieve.

[rick berrey]

Small generator's I've used for work have run close to 8 hr,s on a tank of gas , I think they would run a small ac . The 12 volt would be the way to go . Before we had ac,s we had water cooled fans , keep it close and full of ice .

[OrangeQuest]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&vie ... ajaxhist=0

[jbo_c]

I’ll have to look into the 12v AC units.

Fan and ice would be OK for a couple of hours, but not a couple of days.

Jbo

[fallguy1000]

Thinking ahead to how(if) I’ll be able to cool off my cabin in the summer months. I’ll have only about 435 cubic feet of inside space. I do plan to insulate and the cabin will be painted white. But I’m in the southeast(Atlanta), so heat and humidity will rule day(and night) for 4+ months per year.

1. Are there any small AC units that would run off the smallest of generators?
2. Outside the box options? Humidity here means swamp coolers are out, so would need to be more creative than that.
3. Other ways to moderate the air temp inside even if maybe not cooling it as much as an actual AC unit would? I have an imaginative, if unlikely to be successful, thought I’ll detail in a separate post after a few responses.

I realize I’m asking how to catch a unicorn, but any suggestions are worth exploring.

Thanks.

Jbo

I am facing similar. Unhappy with the concept of paying $5500 for a 24v air system.

A few thoughts I've been contemplating...

1-just putting an air in and air out small enclosure fan ip67 rated from coolerguys.com for air changes as the cabin gets stale

2-buying a small portable, but ducted a/c unit 110v

3-designing my own cooler that uses seawater or lakewater and goes through an exchanger with a circ pump and coolerguys fans blow across it; this system might require multiple exchangers, one for saltwater to freshwater or antifreeze and another for air to blow across the non-corrosive water..

4-find a mini heat pump

[fallguy1000]

These are nice, but I doubt it'll run on the stated 6 amps at 110v..., but need ac power.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Pioneer-Inv ... /311647587

[jbo_c]

3-designing my own cooler that uses seawater or lakewater and goes through an exchanger with a circ pump and coolerguys fans blow across it; this system might require multiple exchangers, one for saltwater to freshwater or antifreeze and another for air to blow across the non-corrosive water..

I’ve been toying with this idea. Maybe dropping a pickup overboard and pumping lake water through a radiator with a fan blowing across it. Lake gets up to mid 70s in the summer, so not sure there would be enough BTU exchange there to do enough cooling. Might be fun to try.

Jbo