HVAC Business It`s OK But Tough

HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING
june 2011 www.boatingbusiness.com
Business? It’s OK, but tough
Like the rest of the industry, the heating and air conditioning
companies are finding the reduction in new boat purchases has made
business a little tricky over the past couple of years, says
Peter Nash. But they’re still in there…
❚ Eberspächer’s Airtronic gets the temperature up quickly
“Margins are being
squeezed,” said Anthony
Trafford of Webasto dealers
JPC Direct. “It’s OK out there,
but it’s tough.” He was
followed by Eberspächer’s
Vince Lee, who told us: “Sales
will stay buoyant; by buoyant,
I mean afloat.”
The story is similar across the
sector.“It’s extremely tough out
there,” said Horst Lentge of HFL.
“We got a letter from the
German federation saying in
2009 new boat sales fell by 60%.”
But all this gloom and
despondency hadn’t stopped
companies moving on with
products and services.
Eberspächer says scientists
have determined people feel
best at 22ºC and 60% humidity
– and there’s even a DIN
standard (1946) for it. And
Eberspächer’s Airtronic gets the
temperature quickly and also
exchanges up to 233m3 of air
per hour.
Webasto’s Airtop air heating
range is a cost-effective heating
solution offering highperformance warm air
circulation that will quickly
bring the boat interior up to the
desired temperature, says JPC.
Fully independent from the
engine, these systems will
regulate output. reducing the
required fuel and power
consumption.
Webasto Blue Cool air
conditioning systems offer a
comprehensive selection of
water cooled marine systems
for all individual cooling
requirements. For total climate
control on board the unique
Webasto Blue Cool Comfort
system is a cost effective
solution, providing a perfect
climate via a single centralised
system - totally independent
from environmental conditions
Blue Cool Comfort consists of
an integrated water heating
system and Blue Cool air
conditioner.
But most of the product
movement has been made in
the air conditioning sector with
companies changing
refrigerant gases under the
Montreal and Kyoto protocols
in the move towards more
ozone friendly products.
Dometic used the move to
R410A gas to revamp its
A WORLD OF COMFORT
product line, said Paul
Hickinbotham.“The new gas
works at a much higher
pressure so it enables us to be
more efficient with our
systems,” he told us.“We can
typically deliver either the same
or slightly more capacity for
slightly less amps.”
It’s not a massive thing, but
it’s one way to being more
efficient and a bit greener, he
added.
“We’ve improved the heating
capabilities of our systems,”
confirmed Steve Morris.“The
old generic systems used to
heat effectively down to
7º seawater temperature, but
now we’re more likely to be
down to 4º and we know we
can go lower.”
At the same time Dometic
completely re-engineered the
platforms onto composite,
injection moulded drain pans
on the condensers and
w w w . e b e r s p a c h e r. c o m – 0 1 4 2 5 4 8 2 1 1 4
Webasto’s Airtop - highperformance warm air circulation
BoatingBusiness ❘ 15
ICOMIANEWS
Maria Anckarsvärd
is the
communications
manager
at ICOMIA
The First International
Hybrid Marine ropulsion
Conference is to be held
immediately prior to METS
on 14 November 2011.
The conference will review
the technical issues
surrounding the design and
implementation of marine
hybrids and provide objective
data on their advantages and
disadvantages.
It will draw heavily on
new information from the
EU-funded HYMAR project.
The marine industry still
has much to learn about
these technologies and the
HYMAR team has tackled the
challenge by taking a
systems approach. From
energy generation and
storage, right through to
propulsion motors, propellers
and control systems, HYMAR
has reviewed all of the critical
elements.
Historically, one of the
major issues has been
integrating the broad array of
technologies necessary to
produce a complete system.
To achieve this holistic view,
HYMAR has brought together
nine partners from across the
EU with all of the skills
necessary to develop, not just
the specialist components,
but also the underlying
systems architecture and
control system.
The presentations will be
of interest to anyone
considering investing in
hybrids including boat
builders, equipment
suppliers, systems integrators
and naval architects.
Speakers include Malo
Yachts, Mastervolt, Steyr
Motors, EnerSys, Bruntons
Propellers, INSEAN, Triskel
Marine and ICOMIA. Jacques
Woeldgen from the European
Commission will present the
EU policy context.
Nigel Calder, technical
director of HYMAR said:
“HYMAR's analysis of hybrid
systems cuts through
misinformation in the
marketplace. This conference
is a great opportunity to
discuss its future direction.”
For more information,
please visit hymar.org/
conference
16 ❘ BoatingBusiness
HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING
evaporators for the split gas
range.“They installed constant
superheat valves, or a
thermostatic expansion valve,
rather than capillary pipes, on
the evaporator to ensure
maximum efficiency in the
heating cycle,” said Mr Morris.
“And it moved from
reciprocating to rotary
compressors, which meant we
were reducing the current draw,
the sound level and also the
weight of the product also
reduced significantly.”
The end result is the Emerald
Series that was launched at
METS last year and is now rolling
through to the customers.
Climma is handled in the UK
by Penguin Refrigeration,
whose Zeb Elliott agreed with
everyone else that business is:
“Alright – not good, but alright.”
We look at the books each
month and we’re doing our
numbers, he added.
Most Climma sales are in
refrigeration, and most of that is
into the vehicle market.“We do
quite a lot of high end stuff that
goes into Northshore and
Discovery, where Climma is
standard,” said Mr Elliott.
Climma’s latest marine air
www.boatingbusiness.com june 2011
❚ Dometic’s Emerald Series
conditioner is, they say, possibly
the smallest marine air
conditioning unit ever built at
241mm high, 381mm wide and
204mm deep. The Compact 3.5
is water cooled and suitable for
cooling a small sleeping cabin,
such as a V berth on a 30 to 38
footer.
Controlled using the new and
updated digital Vega MK3 to
ensure optimum comfort at
minimum noise level, the
remote mount control panel
provides full climate control with
an eight fan speed operation in
auto mode. The LED digital
display shows temperature and
fan speed and is set using
innovative dial controls.
When questioned, Mr Elliott
assured us Climma aircon
products used R407C ozonefriendly refrigerant.
When we asked HFL’s Mr
Lentge if his aircon products
used R410C refrigerants, he told
us his company used 134A –
like they use on cars – and
407C.
“There will soon be a
directive to phase out all
refrigerants,” he insisted.“Some
of the big companies are now
working with CO2 and that will
see the end of refrigerants and
their problems.
“The new gases are called
green gases, but this is rubbish,”
he said.“There are lots of
mixtures out there. Even in the
407C you have R22 and the
ozone depleting capabilities are
still there.”
One is just as bad as the
other, he insisted. There is no
such thing as a green gas.
But what Mr Lentge does
have is a neat little electric
windscreen demister. The last
thing you need with misted up
windows is your wife with a
duster trying to clear it all off
while you’re trying to peer out
and steer, he said.
So he produced a demister
with four small flexible tubes
that can fit below the
dashboard. Air from the
wheelhouse is drawn in and
heated through electric heating
elements and distributed via
the four tubes.
The demister is powered by
220V 50Hz single phase, but he
can also manufacture models
with DC power for special
applications.
“Even if you had no
generator on board,” he told us,
“that bit of power, even for five
minutes you could take
through an inverter.”
M
Espar for Eberspacher.
Espar for matrix heaters.
Heater servicing. Spare parts supply. Large
stock of parts for
older heaters.
Technical help.
Assistance with
system design.
A range of units for screen
demist and cabin heating.
Suitable for connecting to
an engine cooling
system or diesel
water heater.
Espar for cooling.
Espar for hot water.
Portable 12 volt evaporative
coolers. Ideal for wheelhouse
cooling. Portability allows
units to be moved
to different locations
as needed.
12 and 24 volt boilers and heaters for
beverages and hand washing. Diesel
fired Hydronic heaters
for cabin
heating and
hot water.
Espar
Espar Ltd., Breakwater Works, Breakwater Road,
Plymouth. PL9 7HJ
Tel 01752 491900 - Fax 01752 491910
www.espar.co.uk - sales@espar.co.uk