Looking into adding a 4th 16000 btu self contained AC unit, solely for engine room when working in there, but every place I found, in there, even with having an aluminum platform built so she would sit above something else, something else would be blocked for servicing. Under the galley floor, that has a man sized floor hatch, is a more then large enough area it could share with the central vacuum unit, BUT it would require cutting an approx. 6" air flow hole and two small ones for the water & electric line in the forward engine room wall. but is there a negative reason not to do that ?
The holes for water and electric are no problem, you can seal the gaps. The big hole for the duct is a problem. If you go that route you should put a damper or flap to close the duct when the AC isn’t used. how big is the ER? Not sure 16k BTU is going to do much even after the engines have cooled down. Air cons generate some heat in an ER. Will probably be useless when a gen is running. We have a large air handler in the ER of the 110 I run, it’s pretty useless
Not measured it. The 16,000 was mentioned by an AC tech who was onboard hunting for a leak in one of the other units. It's basically the same size as the salon directly above it that's cooled with a 16,000. unit that seems to easily do the job on the hottest of days. Regarding running AC with generator. Was thinking the only time to ever run the AC down there would be when at the dock doing maintenance so neither mains nor gen would be running. Mentioned a unit for the bridge to which he said a 16,000. would be too small and would need an additional pump to get sea water up there.
When you realize the engine room is vented to the max, You think you are just blowing cool air out a window, is that you are doing. Closing dampers or vent covers to help, is not smart either. We had a dockside 24Kbtu with an air hose that would blow cool air, in on one or two techs in the ER. It did not cool the ER but blew cool fresh air on the techs. YF has had these discussions before.
Even having a high velocity fan is helpful Link to mine: https://www.amazon.com/Blower-Fan-H...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583726553893676&psc=1
I picked up similar and set in the cockpit blowing in at times but when it's 90 out it just blows the hot air in so only a bit "helpful." I'm thinking even if the AC would only drop 5 degrees as another guessed it would also drop the humidity and therefore be worth it.
