It’s the hottest time of the year on the water. Here’s how traditional and chilled water marine air-conditioning systems keep larger yachts comfortable.
By Captain Chris Caldwell
Boating with the wind in your hair is exciting. But on a larger yacht, we also want to stay cool below deck. Fortunately, climate control is a breeze on a true cruising yacht. So, let’s understand our options for air conditioning to keep everybody chilling.
Freon Keeps You Chilled
Most boats up to 55 feet have air conditioning with traditional split-unit reverse-cycle heat-pump systems. The condenser is usually tucked away in a below-deck space. A refrigerant such as Freon flows to an air handler and fan to blow the cool air into each room, very much like your cooling system at home or in your office.
To combat chilly fall mornings, a reverse-cycle feature can offer a heating option. This type of cooling and heating system has been successfully providing climate control aboard yachts for more than 50 years.
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Chilled Water: A Cooling Option for Larger Yachts
A newer marine technology now offers another option to cool greater-size vessels. A more effective method of cooling a yacht is via a chilled water system. Unlike the split unit, the chilled water system is a larger self-contained chiller. This cools with treated fresh water instead of a refrigerant in a closed-loop system. The chilled water is then pumped through an air handler into the different rooms aboard your boat.
Instead of a fan blowing across a refrigerant-style coil, this technology now blows across a chilled water coil with the same result: It cools the room, but without refrigerant tubing running the length of the boat.
How a Chilled Water System Works
A chilled water system uses two water loops to move heat out of the yacht: a raw-water loop that cools the chiller and a treated freshwater loop that carries chilled water to the air handlers.
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A much larger chiller system uses a raw-water, open-loop cooling system. There is also a treated freshwater closed loop that is cooled to 46 degrees F and flows throughout the vessel to each air handler in a manifolded parallel piping scheme. Have your eyes glazed over yet? Stay with me to learn about your options. It’s pretty simple once you understand what you can do to keep things running smoothly.
A room thermostat controller first senses the need to be cooled. Then it will open a valve and allow the chilled water to flow through the coils of the air handler. The fan will blow over the chilled coils until achieving the desired room temperature.
Heating and Cooling at the Same Time
Imagine this scenario: The weather is such that the lower deck staterooms require heating. You are in the pilothouse with the morning sun beaming into the cabin. Here, you may want to turn on the air conditioner to combat the sun’s heat. With a dedicated chilled water system, you can only have one water temperature throughout the system.
Fortunately, some systems are designed with a heating coil in the air handler. This will allow simultaneous heating and cooling to effectively climate-control more than one section of the boat. Now you truly have the option of heating, cooling, or both. The cool staterooms can use the heating coil system. And the warmer pilothouse can use the chilled water to cool the air conditioner. Everybody’s comfortable.
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Troubleshooting Your Boat’s Air Conditioning
- Check the raw-water sea cock. Make sure it’s open.
- Inspect the raw-water strainer. Clear any debris.
- Confirm the raw-water pump is operating.
- Check for water discharge overboard.
- Verify the recirculating-water pump is working.
- Inspect the 20-mesh strainer in the freshwater loop.
- Check the air handler and solenoid valve.
- Inspect the expansion tank and air-bleeding vent.
- Check the system-status panel for fault indications.
Just like a split-unit air conditioner, both types of cooling systems require checking the raw-water sea-cock valve and strainer. The valve must be open, and the strainer must be clear of debris. Confirm the raw-water pump is on and pumping raw water through the unit. You can verify this when you see the water is discharging overboard near the waterline. This discharged water has cooled the chiller, which in turn cools the recirculating water throughout the vessel. If not cooling, first check that the raw-water pump and recirculating water pump are working. You need water flow in each of these loops.
Next, check the recirculating water loop, which has a 20-mesh strainer trapping debris. Although this water is recirculated, the strainer may capture some internal debris within the system, thereby reducing water flow. A check of the air handler lets you listen to the click sound of a solenoid valve opening or closing, which proves water is getting to the air handler. Take a look at the expansion tank mounted higher than the water loop for any air trapped in the system. There should be an air-bleeding vent to prevent this.
When to Call a Marine AC Technician
Consider calling in a tech for this next step. If the chilled water solution is beyond two years, it is recommended to flush and replace it with new diluted fresh water. The industry experts recommend a solution with 33 percent polypropylene (nontoxic antifreeze). Believe it or not, straight fresh water may form ice crystals in the cooling coils and damage them. The purpose of an antifreeze mixture is to protect the cooling coils from freezing.
Check the system status panel for any default issues, including high or low refrigerant pressure, evaporator temperature near freezing, water-flow switch concerns, and any power glitches. Hopefully, the issue is simple and easily solved so you can complete your cruise in comfort.
It’s true that climate control aboard your boat may now be more complex than traditional split-unit marine air-conditioning systems. With a bigger boat often comes bigger systems. But when a chilled water system is working, everybody’s comfortable.
Captains Chris & Alyse Caldwell are USCG 100-ton Masters and Cruising Coaches who offer personal boat training online or onboard your boat anywhere. Questions? Email chris@captainchrisyachtservices.com.
