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Marine Houseboat HVAC (Air Conditioning and Heat Pump)

TMC 

Tennessee Mechanical Corporation     

615-255-6677   

            Hello, my name is Barry Pope an avid houseboater and owner/operator of a family owned HVAC /Audio/Video company in the middle Tennessee area called TMC (Tennessee Mechanical Corporation). Uncle Ricky has asked me to cover a few basic maintenance items and things to look for on your boats central heating and air conditioning system.

            On most all houseboats you will find a conventional heat pump system. This usually consists of an air handling unit in the crawl (hull) area of your boat.  Along with this piece you will find a condensate pump which removes the water created by the dehumidification process in which an air conditioner operates.

            While we are here lets understand this process. You should have a pump that operates off of the 12 volt system (old bilge pump design) or a 120 volt household style pump. The household style is from my experience more reliable and serviceable than the 12 volt system. You will see a white pvc or clear vinyl tube coming from the air handler going to the inlet side of the pump and then usually a 3/8" clear vinyl tube being on the discharge side that exits out of the hull at some point. This pump has a 24 volt float switch that during a failure of the drain system will shut down communication with the thermostat side of the system hence cutting your air off. Most of the time this is a simple problem consisting of an algae build up in the pump reservoir. A simple add of an algae killing tablet such as what you would find at the local home building supply store for outdoor fountains can be dropped in through the extra drain hole in the top of this pump and it will get rid of the problem. The same process can be done with a cup of bleach if the tablets are not available, plus every house boater has bleach. Please don't put bleach in the pan of the air handler as this will introduce it to the air stream and some people are very sensitive to this.

            Another common item forgotten about in homes as well as your home on the water is the filter in the return air filter grilles of the boat. These need to be changed out at least every two months, but preferably once a month. I recommend the use of 1" white pleated filters to replace the blue throw away style that only remove about 15% of the dust that goes through them when they are new and they become less efficient every day they are used.

            An easy way to improve the operation and accuracy of the temperature control inside your boat is to install a good programmable thermostat. I highly recommend the use of a Honeywell Vision Pro 8000 stat. This unit is an effortless touch screen design with a green backlight that makes for easy reading (important as we get older). It is a 7-day programmable, up to 3 stage heat/ 2 stage cool conventional heat pump stat that will cover every application and should only cost a few hundred dollars to have your local HVAC man install.  It has easy to follow menu driven programming so you can save yourself some money during the week and still come down to a cool boat on Friday. This stat also has change and check reminders that flash at you and tell you to change those filters!

            Another way to keep your unit running at its peak is to hose out your condensing unit that will be located on the stern or roof of the boat. Please go to the breaker for the unit and turn the power off before doing this, or kill the shore power to the entire boat if you don't know where it is located. This will remove pollen and dust as well as leaves and other contaminants from the aluminum coils allowing the system to "breathe" much better in turn running cooler and more efficiently.

            One of the most common problems and the easiest to prevent is the unit "freezing up". This is caused from a low refrigerant charge, low air flow (from a dirty filter or undersized return air ducts), or a dirty indoor coil. If it isn't as simple as turning the call for cooling off and letting the fan run in the on position to thaw out, as you finally change those dirty filters you had forgotten about because you ignored the reminders that your new Vision Pro thermostat kept flashing at you then you will need to call a HVAC tech to come down and do a systems check.

            If you are more of a "hands off "type of person for the maintenance side of your central system, TMC offers an E.S.A. (Energy Savings Agreement). This is a contract for us to come out twice per year and clean, lubricate, and go over the operation of your system. These contracts are only done for the middle Tennessee area lakes for now and you can contact me directly for pricing in your area. Cell phone 615-642-1879.

            These were just a few easy tips to keep your unit healthy and happy so it can give you years of comfortable air in your home on the water. Thanks for reading and may these little tidbits of information make you and yours a more knowledgeable and better house boater. Look for more tips and ideas from TMC on other things pertaining to (but not limited to) HVAC and Audio/Video systems on your house boat. Feel free to contact me at our office at 615-255-6677, email me at barry@tmcservice.com and please visit our website at www.tmcservice.com

Happy Boating!!