Hi all,,
I went into the cabin of the boat just before noon this morning and my glasses steamed over. We do get the morning sun, but after 12:30 we're in the shade, which I like. But the rain has made it hot and humid.
My question is,,,,does anyone have a store bought or home made exhaust fan that can be left on while not on board to help keep the cabin cooler?
One that will not allow thieves access of course.
Larry
COOL CABIN
Moderators: BeaconMarineBob, Moderator, BeaconMarineDon
Hi Larry,
I have a solar vent that I installed into my forward deck hatch, mine is a little different, but similar to this: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10666
I've had it for at least 10 years now and it keeps going and does a pretty good job, I have it set for exhaust. Installed properly it doesn't leak. Though it must get some sun to charge the batteries
Matt
I have a solar vent that I installed into my forward deck hatch, mine is a little different, but similar to this: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10666
I've had it for at least 10 years now and it keeps going and does a pretty good job, I have it set for exhaust. Installed properly it doesn't leak. Though it must get some sun to charge the batteries
Matt
-
captainmaniac
- 2025 Gold Support
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- Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:26 pm
- Location: Burlington, Ontario
I have a vent fan like that, sitting in its original box in the basement, that I used to use on my old 26' Liberator (1987, made by Four Winns - offshore style boat). In my experience, didn't really move a lot of air (certainly not enough to cool the cabin on the Liberator, which is a lot smaller than a Trojan 25/26' would be - the Lib had 8' beam and cabin interior only had 4' headroom). BUT, it was helpful at night to bring some cooler air in without all the bugs you would get by leaving a hatch open. Think we used it maybe a dozen times over the 8 years I had the boat.
Having said that, I have seen a lot of boats on Lake Ontario that use anywhere from 1 to 4 'permanently mounted' solar fans of similar setup to this to simply keep air moving... the objective is usually more to reduce dampness, eliminate musty smells, and get rid of stale air. Cooling - it ain't gonna work for that.
Editorial comment : the Liberator had twin 350 Magnums... 540 horses, 20 more than my F32. And the Lib only weighed 6000 pounds... more than 1/3 of that was ENGINES and FUEL! 64 miles an hour at WOT, 2.5 mpg at cruise (30-35mph). BUT... after 7 years the wife 'indicated' she wanted to be able to stand up inside, so the Lib went, and we got the F32 [the F32 was cheaper than the divorce would have been]. Happy with the F32, but sad at the same time... I really used to like the conversations with sailors from my marina when they showed up in Toronto and talked about leaving at 6AM to arrive by 4PM.... and I told them - ' yah ... I left
at 2:00 after a late lunch and got her before 3:30'... (sailors hate that!!)
Having said that, I have seen a lot of boats on Lake Ontario that use anywhere from 1 to 4 'permanently mounted' solar fans of similar setup to this to simply keep air moving... the objective is usually more to reduce dampness, eliminate musty smells, and get rid of stale air. Cooling - it ain't gonna work for that.
Editorial comment : the Liberator had twin 350 Magnums... 540 horses, 20 more than my F32. And the Lib only weighed 6000 pounds... more than 1/3 of that was ENGINES and FUEL! 64 miles an hour at WOT, 2.5 mpg at cruise (30-35mph). BUT... after 7 years the wife 'indicated' she wanted to be able to stand up inside, so the Lib went, and we got the F32 [the F32 was cheaper than the divorce would have been]. Happy with the F32, but sad at the same time... I really used to like the conversations with sailors from my marina when they showed up in Toronto and talked about leaving at 6AM to arrive by 4PM.... and I told them - ' yah ... I left
at 2:00 after a late lunch and got her before 3:30'... (sailors hate that!!)