Our $200 Boat Air Conditioning Setup 

I am in the process of adding AC to our 2005 26M. If you go to the Macgregor sailors site you can see a mod where the unit is offset in the companion way so that a piece of the plywood frame can be removed to give easier access to the cabin. Regarding the back of the unit, I used hardware cloth cut to size and just screwed it onto the back. Or duct tape...... Nice site!

Nice work. I really enjoyed the video. It was very useful not just for macgregor owners

Just recently went on the hard for maintenance. Like your idea a lot. Thanks

Aside from the potential safety issues of blocking the entrance, there is one more operational issue to keep in mind. In the bottom of all window AC units is a small diameter copper high pressure gas line that wants to hit the water in the pan before seeing the condensor coil to get maximum performance. It the unit is not level, the water may not be high enough to precool the hot high pressure gas line. Under this condition, about 60 - 80% of the cooling capacity is lost! Remember that dry is more important than cool, so the slower the fan runs, the colder the evaporator coil gets and thus the more drying that you will get. Also, consider that a small AC unit will come on and run, thus drying over long periods. A large unit comes on, quickly cools and shuts off and the drying is off as well. This situation means cool but clamy and is not comfortable.

BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT. You are so smart. Mac Gregor, no marina slip fees every month, sail or ski. now A/C ...a man after my own heart. Beating the system in every way. Thanks so much for sharing.

My birthday was on AUG 13th. This video was a great Bday present. Thanks. The NEXT thing is to eliminate your gas engine and replace it with a high-end trolling motor. I plan on buying 6 deep cell batteries for my boat and a honda generator like you have...along with your add gas attachment. an extra back up trolling motor only costs $90 and will push my 27ft sailboat at about 5 knots or more. simply put it on a dingy and you have that motorized too. When not using any of the batteries, run the generator to charge the batteries...IF you don't have solar or a water generator. :)

Practical and relatively inexpensive. Thank you!

I haven't any need of A/C during the night (sun goes down, we cool right off), but to seal the top of my homemade bug screened companionway panel, I use one of the Home Depot poly foam 1" pipe insulation sleeves with the split the length of it. It's easily cut to fit and when fitted down over the top of the hatch board the sliding hatch seals nicely including the spaces at the top corners

I do this on my Sailboat. If you stick a small section of paper towel in the back on the lower lip it will wick the water out so when you pick it up it won't dump water everywhere. I just bought a 8000 btu portable air conditioner for my 25 foot Cabin Cruiser and it works sweet.

Very cool... smart setup..

I have a similar setup and camp on my boat quite frequently. Even if it's a pain in the ass it's still worth it to have ac lol. If it were me I would probably make it so the door an ac swing open together because that stepping way over it would get old quick. plus if u had guest on your boat would be less chance for them to screw something up.

we have a Mac 22, just starting out so if we like sailing we are going to get a 26 m. seems a perfect compromise for our needs. we don't want to cross oceans and don't want to be stuck to one port. love your videos. id rather see videos of people with boats 28 foot or under, I love the ingenuity it takes to have a smaller boat. keep the videos coming.

that's a great setup!

We put our 2000 watt generator in the dinghy and tie it off about 5 feet from the boat. This allows the exhaust to be further from our boat, plus it's extremely quiet then. We sleep under the cockpit and we still can't hear the generator at all, and definitely no vibration. We still use carbon monoxide detectors just in case.

So according to the video title, you got a Honda 2000, a window unit, and a bunch of lumber and hardware for $200. That was a great deal for you!

we added a portable ac inside , we dont have to manage with the door ac, but we need to take care of some water especially at dehumidify mode, so we drain it into the ballast or simply outside. we use the ballast as shower water and replace with either rain or marina water also. some bleach needed to keep it clean. we have a 26x, so we sleep in the vbirth , and removed the table for creating a living room area. we eat in cockpit or on top small ice box between sofas ...

Glad I found your channel. Just looking for a McGregor for basing in Brittany. Aircon/dehumidifier is an excellent idea. Thanks!

I enjoyed the video! Thumbs up!

For $499 you can get an rv rooftop ac 13.5k btu. Mount on the bow below the cockpit.

how do you avoid exhaust fumes from getting into the cabin downwind? we tried a similar setup with a generator on the bow (not for AC) and the fumes / smell came into the cabin. This is also a carbon monoxide danger obviously. We ended up hauling the genny on davits above the transom. It was more noise but no fumes after that.

brilliant, no frills but does the job.

For the guard use fender washers and 1/2" pan head self tapping screws.

Do you find any problems with your Honda generator getting wet out with either seawater or rain? Wanting to do a similar setup but need your suggestions! Happy sailing!

I am not all that knowledgeable with ac's but those small units should be redesign able so they would fit into a hatch way and blow down. Did you ever look into that?

That's a very clever piece of Kit you have there Steve. Good job

For the guard on the A/C unit you can use the existing 4 screws in the back with some plumber strap. And loop it through the guard to the screw below. Or keep using duct tape also works. Scott Gorges Oceanside, Ca

good video

With the generator in the bow, aren't the fumes blowing back to the cockpit? I like your exhaust extension. Do you use carbon monoxide alarms? Thanks for the explanation of the auxilary tank attachment. I have been meaning to order that from your store link since I heard about it. (I was outside of the US at the time otherwise I would have gotten it immediately. :))

I did the same thing, but i didn't want my generator getting rotted from the salt air or even stolen by a random pirate, so put it in the cabin with me. I didn't need an extension cord. All you need is aspirin for the headaches and your all set

we are considering either a yamaha , honda or brigg 2000. brilliant idea for extra gas , i'll check with eBay guy for another brand of cap. that would work for extra 50hp motor gas ... but we get great mileage 5 gal for 7 hrs at 8 knots ... varies with windage, better or less.

I'm not familiar with the Macgregor 26 but isn't there another hatch somewhere that you could build an air conditioner duct into so that you wouldn't have to barricade yourself at the main passageway? Maybe in a cockpit bench or forward locker?

so how many cans of gasoline do you go through a week and thus have to store your own private gas station on the boat? Seems easier to just by a diesel generator and feed out of the boats main engine fuel tank. Also having a generator and gas can just sitting there on the bow of the boat isn't going to work to well in a storm. And when the cabin humidity goes up during the storm it would be nice to be able to run the generator for the AC

I'm doimg this on my TOD 32 ft challenger. My hatch already jacked and needs repair. I have a Ukrainian ultra quiet 2000w generaror inverter-

A small btu ac, can also be run off of solar power as well.

Great video thanks. Do you have the Ebay link for the gas extender?

Neat A/C setup. Thanks for posting. Do you get any exhaust fumes in the cabin from the generator?

Would a solar generator work with this A/C

Billy Box mod is better...The AC unit does not have to be moved, it creates another seat in cockpit, and you don't have to keep putting it in and out.... I have the Billy Box on our 26X. Where do you stow the AC when your not using it?

Thanks for the video, I got to put one in my Macgregor 26M also, my girlfriend want one before she sail with me.

You can make that fuel extender easy.

Finally a sailboater that gets it

Good video! I wish I could talk you into Lowe's over that other store. :)

Nice boat, I also have a Macgregor 26m, I want to power sail from Florida to the Bahamas next summer. I like to if possible to go over in a group or with another boat.

Here for the comments....

Cool, the replacement cap's vent is eliminated so it sucks fuel from the vented can....

4:56 I'll do the 3 Philip screws instead of snapping the lock.

There is 5 to 10 cm between the sliding hatch and the plate over the ac. So if you lock it from the inside it will take 3 seconds to unlock it from the outside. So this "lock" is not even close to adding any protection. The ac system itself is nice but even not in use will still take up space on the boat. Why not put it somewhere where it can stay, is out of the way and can be used when in this spot?

Use Velcro for back grate

Thanks for the video. We use a similar 5000 BTU generator in the hatchway but put our Yamaha 2000 ie gen. On a platform I constructed in front of the motor. This protects the gen., clears the deck and puts the exhaust out the back. We have some sleeping in the bow so no noise for them. www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/index.php?view=2019 can also be used while motoring and can attach to main fuel tanks easily.

I love it...but a locking latch is useless. You can just pust the aircon into the boat.

i would have got the portable ac that has duct work so you could have put the air in the cabin and ran the duct to one of the hatches, those window ac units need to be leveled for best efficiency.

just an idea but instead of the foam how about some of that split foam pipe wrap used to winterize home pipes. Hell...even an old water noodle split with a razor blade would work.

maybe you should look into a solar panel aircon setup i bet you save alot of fuel costs in the end. sun put out alot of power with todays solar panels and we starting to use power saving inverter air cons that run off less power then the old ones do cost to run maybe a good 12v fridge compressor can cool a plate and a 12v fan to run maybe it be good to try water temp a small water pump to a radiator core and a 12v fan on the core may just do the job fine but thanks for your video good to see how people do it same times you lean alot on some video's i did know about the kit to run the generator longer so there you got thanks mate and have a good one.

Poor guy lol but he's cool! 😆 😎

I would have made it the same way,but would have made it look a little less trashy,,,, but I suppose it works

While I do appreciate the ingenuity of this set up and the low cost, there are many ways this could go very wrong. You also have a terrible seal around the hatch and the a/c cutout. At least seal the perimeter of the a/c unit to the hatch board. It is your boat, no argument there. Good luck.

Pretty rough set up.

Im mow lawns all day standing 1 foot away from the exhaust for hours, 5 days a week. Its comical reading the comments how hes going to get carbon monoxide poisoning.

duct tape is perfect..even nasa uses it

Nice Hack!

that is and accident waiting to happen , getting in and out of the cabin...

👍👍👍👍👍😍😍😍😍😍😍🙏

While I appreciate the idea .. the supreme disregard for safety in evidence here is alarming. Shock hazard, carbon monoxide danger is extreme !.. sorry. This can be adapted ... but not in this way !

Eww and ….wow, cheap.