HI AJ Wilson
I fitted AC to my Nauticat 43. It is important to get the correct capacity units and think about siting of the vents to ensure the system works correctly. Installation is quite complex: you need enough space to fit the units (they cant go in the engine room as it gets too hot) and also the sizeable ducting and outlet grills. You also need a water intake for cooling and this water is vented out over the side. If you run them off shore power only that’s fine, just make sure your system is in good order to cope with the continuous increased current draw. If you want to use it whilst not on shore power you will need a decent capacity generator. I have have a 6kva unit that runs two AC units of 12,000 and 16,000 btu respectively. It does this quite happily – the main load is fairly steady, it’s the startup current which can be quite large and cause problems. In terms of cost, the whole AC installation kit cost around £6000 and the time and effort to install was considerable and probably cost around £1000 alll in with the carpenter and electrician included.
It is lovely to have and this summer has been a real bonus but not to be undertaken lightly. Also you need to run the system regularly to ensure it doesn’t foul up or become unprimed.
If you want to find out more, give Rod Boreham at Advance Yacht Systems a call – he designed my system and I recommend him highly,
Best wishes Piers
