Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/3607
bow to stern 16 Houseboatmagazine.com Houseboaters often deal with the same issues land-based homeowners do, including insulation. It can be tough keep- ing the cold out in the cooler months and heat out in the summer, but luckily the Houseboat forums have plenty of knowledgeable people with experience in this area. Forum member joetil approached the group and here's what went down. [joetil]: Now that it's summer, our Burns builds up a lot of heat inside when it's closed up and not being used. We've put in curtains and blinds and reflective film on the windows, but it still gets above 90 degrees Fahrenheit inside when it's closed up. One of the problems is the full-sized refrigerator that generates a lot of heat. When we go on board to use the boat, it takes quite a while to cool off, even with our 3.5-ton water-cooled Florida Heat Pump. Has anyone used Maxxair type all-weather ceiling vents? I don't use the roof air units any more, so I could replace these with some type of vents that can be closed when the air conditioning is running. We get afternoon rains almost every day in the summer so whatever I use will have to keep out the rain while letting the hot air out. Does anyone have any feedback on what's worked for them? Any suggestions as to what might work? [klandersnitrox] responded right away: Our previous houseboat had a winterization package on it and our new one does now; basically it was more insulation throughout the boat. I would love to hear others' thoughts on what could be done to support keeping the heat out in the summer and the cold out in the winter [CaptMark] suggested that environment matters: We've never had an issue with heat, even though here in Ohio we regularly have temps in the 90's and lots of humidity. In fact, I removed the air conditioner from our boat. But you see, we are not on a slip, we are on a mooring buoy. On a buoy, the boat constantly swings into the breeze. If you leave one window in the front cracked open and one in the rear, there is constant flow-through ventilation. The boaters on the slips in the marina often complain about the heat, but I have checked with a lot of the house- boaters on buoys and most tell me they have only run their air conditioning once—when they bought the boat to see if it worked. One guy upgraded from a 42-foot Gibson on a buoy to an 80-foot houseboat. He hated being on a slip and paid to have a beefed up buoy setup installed for his new boat. [OLD HOUSEBOATER] came along and offered a thought: Ac- tually, the roof airs will cool off the boat faster due to the fact that cold air moves down. I had both a roof and a heat pump, and used both for a quick cool down [SomeDumbGuy] has been watching the crowd: People around me (in open slips) have been installing those new solar-powered vents and they all seem to like them. Some can be reverse wired or come with reverse fans so you can put in two of them and have one pushing air in and one pulling it out. Seems like a good plan to me. I think EJ had some info on a previous post. [imorton] shared a trick he has used: I tend to agree with the small window opening in the front and one in the rear of the boat to keep the temperature down. If you have a small amount of air flow, it does tend to drop the temp to an acceptable level, and not be like a stifling oven when you walk in. A trick that my wife and I do when we arrive at the boat on a super hot day is to have one of us go and open the front patio doors and the other person to open the rear doors. Then we spend a minute or two to inspect the exterior, docks, fenders, dock lines, etc. This way, the inside temperature can drop down quickly with a good exterior air flow going through the boat. [stmbtwle] shared his experience: I have louvered and screened ventilators on each end under the roof overhang and a large RV-type power vent in the roof to suck out the hot air. I'm using enough solar that it doesn't pull the batter- ies down, and it works pretty well. [joetil] gave some more information: Thanks for all the advice on cooling a hot boat off. I think I'll try some louvered vents on each end of the boat: something that will let the air flow through, but keep the rain out. Our dock faces into the prevailing winds, so a lot of air flows through when you open the front and back windows but everything in the boat is still hot and radiates heat for quite awhile. [Ike] had a suggestion: I can't believe that no one men- tioned Dorade Ventilators. They let air in and keep water out. Screens are a must to keep the bugs out. But maybe that's too "nautical" looking for a houseboat. To read this thread in its entirety, please visit the forum page at www.houseboatmagazine.com and search for the "Hot Houseboat" thread. Forums From the Excerpts from recent Houseboat Forum exchanges at www.houseboatmagazine.com