http://www.fabcopower.com/generat/bgen.htm
Try looking at this one...there are others.
Yes, I did consider this option.what appealed to me most was the fact that diesel power was already aboard Seaweed. Another fuel supply would not be needed. The noise of my engine idling and more were deciding factor against this solution.
What I wanted was a way to run my 5000btu air conditioner when it was stinking hot.
Mini-lesson in power draws for inexpensive wall banger room a/c units (as tested with a kill-a-watt meter)
BTUs --- Cooling watts --- Fan only
5,000 --- 500 ------------------- 50 (actual 455-465, and 45)
8,000 --- 800 ------------------- 80 (actual high 70's and 80)
11,000 --- 1,000 ---------------- 110 (approximately 10% and 1%)
So if you consider a standard $150 cheap room air conditioner, wattage requirements are at just less than 10% of BTUs.
I bought a
Moby-Cool.com cover and am pleased with my low dollar solution. Scott is the owner of moby-cool and he's great.
Article:
http://janice142.cm/Articles/Moby-CoolInstalled.html
For those times when the breeze is gone, I can start my Yamaha in the cockpit. I have an adapter that goes from generator 15A to boat 30A. I simply plug in the boat and all is well with my world.
Yes I have a CO monitor, two as a matter of fact. One is inside the cockpit door and the second is higher and in the pilothouse. CO monitors need to be high incidentally.
One more side note the on the room a/c units. All three first started only the fan. About a minute later the cooling part kicked in. I have a Haier 5k BTU with the dial on/off (NOT digital controller) and she runs fine using my original square wave AIMS1000 inverter. Of course my battery voltage falls fast!
Inverter bought at
http://theinverterstore.com
A year ago I upgraded to a 1200 watt pure sine wave from the same company.
Another diversion: I used the AIMS1000 for the year I was at anchor without touching a dock. Thatwasa most excellent year. The inverter worked flawlessly until I tried to run my microwave with digital controls. Square wave does not play nicely with a digital controller.
All the best. As for me, were money and space plus noise not issues I would have the smallest diesel generator I could find. Noise is important though.
I did see Tesla batteries hooked up to a 3k solar array that did power a Tiny Home out west. The owner builder of the tiny home spent $19,000 on his set-up. It was elegant though impractical at this time aboard small boats. Someday though...!
In the meantime a portable generator sure does open up options when it is miserably hot. Solar provides 100% of my power needs EXCLUDING air conditioning. I could not be happier and am so grateful for the final two panels that pushed me over the top.
Here is my Moby-Cool:
Right now I am sipping iced coffee. Life is wonderful afloat!