Sizing and installing A/C in a Brewer 12.8

Ref your Vee berth, I don't think it needs its own unit. It will get sufficient cooling from the main cabin, especially at night when the boat cools down. Fans, however, are a must.

Re the aft cabin. This is not a bad idea. I gave it some consideration but dismissed it based on cost and complexity. If I found that I need cooling in the aft cabin I would run a duct from the saloon unit, via the bilges to a vent in the aft cabin.

Re location; a small unit may fit in the deep locker under the forward end of the aft bunk. I have a water heater here. Keep in mind the noise issue as the unit cycles on and off. My wife is the original "Princess and the pea". This is an example of a possible unit which they also believe may run on a DC inverter;

Coastal Climate Control

Thank you Gerry - good info!

My 12.8 came with 16000 btu cruise air reverse cycle unit under the middle of the starboard settee. Direct vent for main saloon. 6 inch duct thru hanging locker into V berth. Control panel on hanging locker wall in main saloon.

For aft, 7000 btu is in lower center locker under map storage locker in walk through. (Water heater just fwd, and storage just aft). Duct thru hanging lockers in aft cabin, so exits on starboard side above bed. Control panel there also.

I saw a nice idea on Gratitude, B44, Van Schweibert. His aft unit was in the engine room, with duct /vent under the aft companion way ladder. Maybe you have enough room in engine room for a unit?

We use ours only at dock due to big current draw. Being in Michigan, we used the heat cycle as much as the cooling until boat got permanently moved to florida for winter cruising.

Hope.this helps.

Yes, the aft HVAC on Gratitude is in the engine room, on a shelf, with immediate vent and controls on the bulkhead beneath the aft ladder. While a good place to tuck it, and without the need for vent tubes in lockers, etc., the location does prevent us from utilizing the space for another purpose, such as a vanity or shallow built in dresser.

Thank you Terry. How well does the 16K cool yours? I'm assuming you don't have a dark hull, which could add 20% to the BTU needs? Fred Chance recommended 18.5K for that reason.

There is not much room above my racors in the engine room, and for heat reasons I was leaning away from locating it in there. But other folks have with apparently no issues. I was originally thinking about the aft cabin stbd hanging locker, but don't yet have the specs on a 7K to see if it would fit. The loss of storage doesn't concern us since the 12.8 has more then we would ever need.

This is only for use at the dock in the FL summer - without it my capacity to do projects would be halved... I'd spend more time drinking cold beer than working... which is not such a bad thing.

Thanks again,

Steve

Hi Van,

Thank you.

I looked at that location but there doesn't seem to be enough room. There is some sort of shelf / support there but not enough space above it. Even with that moved it looks like it would be too small.

I read in an install manual that they should not be in the engine room unless they are in a completely sealed box to prevent an CO being sucked through. Also the efficiency is supposedly less due to engine room heating - although I can't think of many scenarios where we would have the engine running and AC on. Our AC use is mainly for the dock in FL summers. I'm assuming you've had no issues with those concerns?

Regards,

Steve