With our current boat our concern has been all about staying warm in northern waters but we are now on our way south and wondering about staying cool. We have plenty of hatches and an air scoop but we have been wondering about fitting air conditioning. We have s 4kva 240 volt A/C diesel generator and also have ducts in place for heating and dehumidifying.

I was wondering about simple air conditioning solutions that would be easy to install and not too power hungry.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Simon

Hi Simon and Sally,
I will share some thoughts on air conditioning in warmer climates, but if you have made up your minds to have a/c, then I am not able to help with the a/c gear choice. Alchemy has spent considerable time in the hot areas of the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Bahamas and in the Central American countries of Honduras, Belize and Mexico and in Florida. We had no a/c.
A few considerations:
In this part of the world, most of the time spent in the really hot areas is winter when the temperatures and humidity are more moderate. One goes N in hurricane season. Live-aboard over-summering, say in the Rio Dulce in Guatemala or in Florida, a/c may be a life-saver.
If you plan frequent long or longish stays in a marina in Florida, then a/c may be nice, even essential. Friends have bought a small relatively inexpensive window style household a/c unit and figure a way to use it in their hatch. Some find a way to store the unit on the boat when they leave while others just leave it behind, especially if bought second hand as is easy to do.
Frequent stops and stays in marinas would make an inboard a/c unit quite nice. (A note, many UK friends are pleasantly surprised by how seldom they needed to go into a marina: anchoring out possibilities are usually ready-at-hand and one can (and does) go months without a marina.)
Marinas are a cooling challenge as they are considerably warmer than anchoring out, usually have less of a breeze and the breeze is not over the bow, and, most importantly, swimming is not readily available.
We anchored out almost exclusively and went into marinas primarily when we were doing some land cruising and needed a place to leave the boat. Most days at anchor, especially hot days we would be in the water multiple times which always served to bring our internal temperature down and we like to swim. The boat is a 40-foot boat and we have 7 fans, so there is always the possibility of having moving air on you. We could always have shade in the cockpit with moveable screen. We also we able to get to areas of the boat where adding insulation made sense: the headliner for example (details if interested).
T anchor, friends with a/c sometimes use it for an hour or so before bedtime to take the edge off internal boat heat and facilitate getting to sleep
Aesthetically, a/c cuts you off from the world: you must be closed up, the last thing I want on a boat. I like to hear what is going on around me. At anchor, your genset must be going.
Our experience: I do not think we ever were uncomfortable enough to consider a/c. My personal criterion for becoming grumpy about heat is when I can’t sleep and most nights at anchor, we were just fine and if too warm, we turned on a fan and then usually, pulled up a sheet. When really hot (Italy), we did what the locals did, activity mornings and late, with a good siesta. Worked a peach (and becomes a bit addictive).
Please, come back with questions/comments.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy