Yes, lots to learn.... Welcome to boating. Air Conditioners only operate off 120V power, not off 12 volt battery power. Need to have the generator running to use the AC.

Good forum here, you will learn lots by reading through the various posts and keeping an inquiring mind active....

Best of luck with the new boat!

Cheers!

Welcome! No question is dumb or "too noob". Everyone here has been there when it comes to boating (except LouC, I think he was born on a trawler in LI Sound).

Anyways, congrats on the 268! Great Vista, should have lots of good boating for ya. The only rules around here are:

*Tell us about you and your boat. Where ya boat at, how your boat is set up etc.
*Don't be a one post wonder. We get a lot of new members who ask their question, get the answer and never come back. Feedback on a fix or remedy to a problem is appreciated, it may help someone else.
*Post pics.

Marine AC units use water from the lake/ocean that you're in for heat conversion. Cooling the unit with water is vastly more efficient than cooling it with air like on a car or in your house with the big unit outside. That whole big thing outside your house or a big radiator in the front of your car is replaced by a tiny fluid/water heat exchanger the size of a cup. There's a little pump that circulates the water and spits it out the side of the boat. It makes the A/C unit very small, efficient, and quiet. The whole thing is not much bigger than a shoe box. They run of 120v AC power so when you're plugged into the dock it runs off normal power. When out to sea you need to kick on the generator to supply the 120v power to run the unit. It's so you can be anchored out somewhere camping for the weekend and not run the engine to use the AC.

I personally installed a battery bank on my boat with a 12v to 120v power inverter. Lasts overnight so I can sleep in peace and quiet.

If you already have a generator why not use it? The AC power draw is going to require a rather large inverter and battery bank that is going require a signifcant amount of time to recharge.

Hi Jay,

Just one thing to to aware of, (I'm not sure if your 296 is setup the same as my 378), but my A/C condensation drain goes into the mid bilge.

It's surprising just how much moisture the a/c will suck out of the air (I'm in Australia where it's fairly humid)

If you already have a generator why not use it? The AC power draw is going to require a rather large inverter and battery bank that is going require a signifcant amount of time to recharge.