Well, I came to the boat last night to find that the A/C in the stateroom would not work . Spent the morning troubleshooting it an it appears that the compressor has locked up. It’s a 12,000 btu unit from Marine Air and it’s original to the boat, so it’s given 30+ years of service. The salon unit was replaced a few years ago with a new Dometic (Cruisair) 16,000 btu and has never struggled to cool it portion of the boat. I have spent the most of the day shopping for a new unit.

I’ve looked at Marinaire and according to the website and their calculator I only need a 9,000 btu unit for the stateroom. I also ready on their website where they cautioned against over sizing a unit. Leading me to believe it’s better to go smaller that to go larger. I can get a 9,000 btu unit from them for $1489 including shipping. They do have an 11,000 btu unit, but it will cost around $1750 with shipping.

I also found a 12,000 btu Wabesto unit from Marine Parts Source for $1549 including shipping. While I do like some features of the Marinaire unit a little better, I don’t think those features are worth $200 more, but I’ve been known to be wrong!

My question I guess is, would today’s 9000 btu unit be the equivalent to a 30+ year old 12,000 btu unit? I know that todays technology has to be more efficient, but does that translate to capacity?

What say you guys? Go with the 9000 btu unit or stay at or closer to 12,000?