OUR PURPOSE

We empower BOATERS with the tools, inspiration and know-how to get the job DONE!

10 Steps to a Perfect Refrigerant Charge

Refrigeration

2. Do not have someone attempt to asses refrigerant charge level by weight. These small systems contain a ridiculously small amount of refrigerant, and it is impossible to weigh in refrigerant accurately, especially if the boat is rocking. Moreover, ...

Get used to it

Ramblings

When backing up I’m nonchalantly expecting a radar device to start beeping if I get too close to anything, a luxury that’s usually non-existent in the level of rental car I’m lumbered with. The first sounds of contact I’d hear would be the scrunch of...

I Think, Therefore I Am ... I think

Ramblings

Just imagine: a glob of air is sitting there in the sky, just enjoying life and looking at the clouds, when all of a sudden it is assaulted by a blade travelling at high speed and is split into two air masses. The lower air mass sees the wing passing...

RIP Holding Plates

Refrigeration

Holding plates are basically a tank containing a solution that is designed to thaw at a particular temperature. Included also is a coil of tubing through which a refrigerant circulates at very low temperatures when the refrigeration system is running...

A Burning Desire to Help

Ramblings

On one such occasion the tranquility was interrupted by the sound of emergency vehicles; mainly fire trucks judging by the sirens. Something was afoot close by, and human nature being what it is, I searched the internet for a means to listen in to th...

Diodes DeMystified

Solar

Although some specialized large panels may incorporate a number of By-Pass Diodes in an attempt to mitigate some effects of total shading, that is not their primary purpose. They are there as a safety device to prevent heat damage to cells if those c...

Magnetic Personalities

Ramblings

Outwardly, the only sign of anything untoward was a small blister in the top foil, but an autopsy revealed a connecting track beneath the blister reduced to cinders, and two tiny zap holes in the aluminum backing plate. Where the lightning went from ...

Breaking News!

Refrigeration

These bills would also require manufacturers of high-end appliances to allow any service company to repair their products, not just those sanctioned by the manufacturer. This sort of regulation will be welcomed wholeheartedly by geeks like me who jus...

Sun-Day Racers

Solar

By connecting a solar panel to a battery (for simplicity this blog will ignore the presence of a controller/regulator or blocking diode) we create an electrical circuit, which by definition suggests something that starts and ends at the same place. A...

Holiday Spirit

Ramblings

If past years are anything to go by, this office will soon be awash with requests to supply parts and organize repairs to systems on moving-targets of vessels that are flitting from island to island day by day. Our efforts will no doubt be exacerbate...

Start 'Em Up!

Air Conditioning

Part 1 Electrical motors powered from single phase alternating current (AC) have one big dilemma, and it’s because the current is alternating between positive and negative. If no provision is made to encourage it to do otherwise, the rotor of the mot...

Off to the Moon? Don’t forget the Sextant!

Ramblings

In the lead-up to the Apollo 11 moon landings, the Apollo 8 mission has been described as the most dangerous while carrying the most risks of the unknown. Apollo 8’s mission was to get to the moon, orbit it ten times, and return the astronauts safely...

Decisions: Smoked Phish or Byrned curtains?

Ramblings

1) it has only four strings,2) you plonk along playing only one note at a time, and 3) if you make a mistake no one notices! Perfect. The choice was made. So, now that I’d settled on being a plonker, I needed to see some live action in order to analy...

Full Speed Ahead!

Air Conditioning

While perusing the promotional material published by what appears to be the sole manufacturer of marine variable speed self-contained air conditioning units, the claim of 50% energy savings leaped out at me right away. But on reading the small print,...

Time is Now for Lithium Batteries on Your Boat

Battery

Lithium batteries have far more useable capacity than lead acid; charge much, much faster; offer better support for heavy loads; are about half the weight; and have a cycle life many times that of lead acid equivalents; to name just a few attributes....

Air It Up!

Air Conditioning

We can break down the process into three stages: Application – Installation – Operation Application: Do you want it to be a meat locker down below at noon on a 100° day? Or do you just want a bit of cool, dehumidified air for sleeping at night? Hopef...

Solbian Solar Panels on Hylas 54 Genevieve

Solar

So, we had a curved frame of stainless rail welded to the top of the Simpson Davits which matches the existing Hylas rails. Over that is a GRP [fiberglass] panel color matched to deck GRP to act as structure to attach the semi flexible solar panels (...

My Mate Chris

Ramblings

Now, I am as much an admirer of Jimmy Buffett as any other boatie, but there was a time when you couldn’t set foot on a beach or tie up at a dock without hearing the strains of Margaritaville and other favorites. Quite frankly it all got a bit too mu...

Air Conditioning + Your boat + Batteries = Great Summer!

Air Conditioning

Any air conditioning unit can run from lead-acid or lithium batteries through an inverter. The issue is whether this is practical and economical considering batteries will need to be recharged at some point. For overnight use in sleeping cabins, wher...

What a Week

Ramblings

Commissioning Week is a week of events, almost entirely within the Academy grounds, that culminate with the Midshipmen 1st Class graduating and receiving their commissions as Ensigns in the US Navy, or 2nd Lieutenants in the US Marine Corps. For the ...

On the Road Again

Ramblings

Interest was high, but the level of customer participation, the actual act of making a purchase, is too early to gauge. There were many “oohs” and “ahs” for the Solara walk-on panel that we had laid flat at the foot of the steps on our display, and a...

Introducing RELiON Lithium batteries

Battery

We are proud to offer RELiON Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, dedicated to high performance energy solutions for serious yacht and RV owners. They are available in standard industry sizes. Custom sizes available upon request. These batteries ar...

10 Signs it’s Time to Replace Your Boat’s Refrigeration

Refrigeration

3. It’s using too much energy The older DC powered systems using the Danfoss BD3.0 and earlier compressors (or even the humungous, clunky holding plate systems that pre-date the 12v revolution) were great in their day, but their day has passed. Syste...

Shining Some Light on Lithium Battery Systems

Battery

Prismatic cells with lithium iron phosphate chemistry (LiFePO4) come in many shapes and forms, but a popular size is of around 100 amp/hours with a voltage of 3.2 volts or thereabouts, so four are required wired in series to make a nominal 12 volt 10...

Gauge Talk

Air Conditioning

The following refers specifically to MarinAire products, but the principles apply to all marine air conditioning units. There are two actual gauges; one connected to the high pressure side of the compressor, and one to the low pressure side, and they...

Something's Bugging Me

Ramblings

In my first season running a sailboat in The Caribbean I was faced with the dilemma of an approaching hurricane out in The Atlantic. It was September after all, so not unexpected, and it was forecast to eventually veer northwards and again not bother...

Mummy, the batteries have melted!

Battery

Apart from greatly reducing their life-span, storing and/or cycling batteries in elevated temperatures can greatly enhance the possibility of a thermal runaway situation in AGM batteries, as can using incorrect charging parameters. But thermal runawa...

Solar Myth Busters - Revisited

Solar

MYTH 1 - Glass solar panels with aluminum frames are the most efficient. BUST - No, no, no! The type of cell determines how efficient a solar panel is, not how it is constructed. Coastal Climate Control offers three types of panels: aluminum-framed g...

Flexible Solar Panels - Are They Any Good?

Solar

But what all those people are saying in effect is, unfortunately, that the flexible panels they bought were of a lesser quality than desired for marine use. At some point we all have succumb to advertising claims that make a product sound too good to...

Hurry Up and Wait

Ramblings

And that is what I got, a long wait, only realizing the joke when the sniggering reached a level that triggered my suspicions. Another long wait back then was at Easter each year preparing to launch for the yacht club’s first dinghy races of the year...

A Good Whacking

Refrigeration

The Frigoboat Keel Cooler refrigeration system is a case in point. The actual Keel Cooler component is a condenser/heat exchanger that is the external component of a thru-hull fitting and is mounted on the exterior of the boat, under water, and is de...

Ay Caramba!

Ramblings

The turning point came as I was working on the side of the engine and could not banish the image in the corner of my eye of the owner sitting on the settee, leaning forward and scrutinizing every move I was making. This couldn’t continue, and soon it...

Current Affairs - Making the Right Connections

Battery

For my testing I connected five brand new Group 31 batteries in parallel with equal length straps. The first set of tests was with Firefly AGM’s, followed by identical tests with RELiON lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, as I was curious to ...

High From Amsterdam

Ramblings

I wish flights could be quicker though, but there is no supersonic service any more now that Concorde has been mothballed, and Coastal Climate Control couldn’t afford that luxury anyway. So, we’re stuck with flying commercial airlines at subsonic spe...

Fake News in The Pipeline

Ramblings

There were all sorts of strange war-related artifacts left around after the second world war in the area of south east England where I grew up. This was in southeastern Kent, which was given the nickname of Hellfire Corner due to its proximity to the...

Opps My Mistake!

Ramblings

Back in 1999, after a journey lasting 10 months, the $125m Mars Climate Orbiter which, as its name implied was supposed to orbit the red planet and gather climate and other information, was seen to venture a little too close to the planet surface for...

Frozen Dreams

Air Conditioning

For those of you snowbirds currently basking in warmth and lathered up with sunblock, this will serve to reinforce the notion that you shouldn’t start heading north anytime soon. In the years leading up to 2019 BC (Before Covid), boats would be sold ...

A Walk on the Wild Side

Ramblings

England in November can be a tad cold and claggy, but walking in the beautiful countryside at this time of year proved be a pleasant experience, having donned suitable attire and being prepared for a drenching without warning. However, it was soon ev...

Trouble in Paradise

Refrigeration

A capillary tube (cap tube) refrigeration system contains a very precise amount of refrigerant. There is no reservoir or holding tank for excess refrigerant, and over-charging will inevitably result in poor performance. The system will be either perf...

Love Hertz

Air Conditioning

Typically, onboard generators are synchronous devices. In other words, they must run at a fixed speed to be able to maintain the correct frequency of alternating current (AC). That’s 60 Hertz (Hz), or cycles per second, in North America, and 50 Hz in...

Beware of the Speedy Meanie!

Refrigeration

Observing these two got me to thinking how this speed disparity relates to the variable speed compressors we have now in both refrigeration and air conditioning systems. If there’s not much work to do, then why not slow the compressor down and run it...

Charge of the Lightweight Brigade

Battery

LiFePO4 batteries exhibit very different charge characteristics to lead-acid types. They can accept a very high charge current, and will do so for the entirety of the charge, and then effectively switch themselves off when full. You can see the diffe...

Won't Get Cooled Again

Air Conditioning

This article will focus on small air-conditioning systems that are suitable for sleeping cabins or for small boat applications. With a small air conditioning unit, the DC current draw is low enough that they can usually be powered by an engine altern...

What a Wallop!

Solar

So that’s that. Until further notice, Coastal Climate Control will no longer be offering Solara Standard Series panels, from 12 watt through 80 watt. It’s a shame really. We only saw a small return on these small panels as they were quite expensive t...

Parallel Thinking Blown Sky High

Battery

In “traditional” flooded batteries, two lead plates, one positive and one negative in each cell, are suspended dangling in a bath of electrolyte with nothing but liquid between them. In this type of battery, there is indeed the possibility that the p...

Power Basement

Battery

With these six transfer switches set at Mains, power is diverted from the main Breaker Panel, through these transfer switches, then back to the Breaker Panel and on to the circuits. With the transfer switches set for Inverter, the mains power is deli...

Making the Most of Bank Charges

Battery

Charging Diodes. Many vessels have separate battery banks for the house supply, engine start, thruster, etc. Shore power chargers typically have multiple outputs, each isolated from the other so that separate banks can be charged simultaneously, but ...

A Re-Volting Thought

Battery

In theory, as the 12v battery is depleted it will be recharged from the traction battery, and when the traction battery gets low the built-in generator will kick in and charge it up. So, in theory if I leave the Volt switched on I could have 110v AC ...

Well Blow Me Down!

Refrigeration

This bit may be a tad difficult to comprehend, but whereas the heat that the evaporator removes from a fridge or freezer is very cold, that very same heat magically transforms to become very warm at the condenser. That’s why I love this stuff ...

Pissing in the Harbor

Air Conditioning

The objective of the cooling water discharges on these sailboats seems to be quite the opposite to the powerboats. Now the trend appears to be to install mini cowlings over the discharge thru-hulls in order for them to be noticeable in various ways, ...

10 Steps to a Perfect Refrigerant Charge

Get used to it

I Think, Therefore I Am ... I think

RIP Holding Plates

A Burning Desire to Help

Diodes DeMystified

Magnetic Personalities

Breaking News!

Sun-Day Racers

Holiday Spirit

Start 'Em Up!

Off to the Moon? Don’t forget the Sextant!

Decisions: Smoked Phish or Byrned curtains?

Full Speed Ahead!

Time is Now for Lithium Batteries on Your Boat

Air It Up!

Solbian Solar Panels on Hylas 54 Genevieve

My Mate Chris

Air Conditioning + Your boat + Batteries = Great Summer!

What a Week

On the Road Again

Introducing RELiON Lithium batteries

10 Signs it’s Time to Replace Your Boat’s Refrigeration

Shining Some Light on Lithium Battery Systems

Gauge Talk

Something's Bugging Me

Mummy, the batteries have melted!

Solar Myth Busters - Revisited

Flexible Solar Panels - Are They Any Good?

Hurry Up and Wait

A Good Whacking

Ay Caramba!

Current Affairs - Making the Right Connections

High From Amsterdam

Fake News in The Pipeline

Opps My Mistake!

Frozen Dreams

A Walk on the Wild Side

Trouble in Paradise

Love Hertz

Beware of the Speedy Meanie!

Charge of the Lightweight Brigade

Won't Get Cooled Again

What a Wallop!

Parallel Thinking Blown Sky High

Power Basement

Making the Most of Bank Charges

A Re-Volting Thought

Well Blow Me Down!

Pissing in the Harbor

View All Posts →

Stats &

Fun Facts

Estimated Aquatic Animals in the Ocean

Boats 131' or Longer are Considered "Super Yachts"

Sailboats Manufactured in North America Per Year

Cruising vs. Retirement Home

A 2004 study has confirmed that joining a cruise ship after retirement is cheaper than retiring to a retirement home.

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Good Luck and Bad Luck Omens on a Boat...

17th Century Vessel - The Only One of it's Kind

Boats Have a Life Expectancy

Our Brands

Find Us On Social

Overview of Marine Refrigeration from Coastal Climate Control Marine and RV refrigeration offered by Coastal Climate Control and made by Frigoboat and Vitrifrigo in both DC and AC/DC power supplies.
Vitrifrigo offers a wide range of Black Cabinets and Stainless Steel Cabinets and Drawer Units, all with integrated air-cooled Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers MarinAire and Climma Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of Marine Air Conditioning.
MarinAire 110v and 230v water-cooled compact air conditioning, from 6,000btu to 24,000btu. Manufactured with great attention to detail, these units are quiet and easy to install and use. Each unit Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers Solara and Solbian solar panels Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of solar panels - Solara from Germany and Solbian from Italy. These are both designed for the rugged environment of mobile applications - your boat, car, RV or trailer.
They are both made with high Read More

CoastalClimate

Coastal Climate Control offers - Firefly and RELiON Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of batteries: Firefly and RELiON
RELiON are LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) Batteries made in standard sizes to easily fit in the space you have available for traditional lead-based batteries. Add this convenience to a cycle-life Read More

CoastalClimate

Frigoboat Keel Cooler demonstration This demonstration rig has been used at many boat shows over the years as well as for training and sales purposes. The water in the fish tank can be set to any temperature, and is cooled by operating a pump Read More

CoastalClimate

RELiON Charging Video This video shows what charging voltages and routines are neccessary when changing to RELiON LiFePO4 batteries. Also includes advice on shore-power chargers, alternators, combiners and battery-to-battery chargers, and battery monitors.

CoastalClimate

RELiON LiFePo4 introduction from Coastal Climate Control. Introduction to RELiON lithium iron phosphate batteries supplied by Coastal Climate Control.

CoastalClimate

MarinAire 16K Start Load Tests Results of tests to see how a MarinAire 16,000 Btu marine air conditioning unit starts on mains power and from a Honda 2000i portable generator. Tests are done with and without EasyStart compressor soft-start device.

CoastalClimate

View this profile on Instagram

Coastal Climate Control (@coastal_climate_control) • Instagram photos and videos

Each of our product categories: Solar, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Pumps, Batteries, and Electronics also has a 'Planning' and 'Installation' guide area to help you make the best decision possible for your next chapter.

Coastal Climate Control

With Frigoboat’s aluminum evaporators, choose between Bin, Horizontal, or Flat styles to achieve optimal refrigeration or freezing. Each style allows a tailored fit for your ice box, ensuring reliable onboard cooling.
Use code FRIGOFALL10 for 10% off in November.
Shop Evaporators: https://bit.ly/3AsFtiM Read More

Coastal Climate Control

Frigoboat: The Gold Standard in Marine Refrigeration
For nearly 50 years, Frigoboat has been trusted by boaters and RV owners worldwide for its superior craftsmanship and reliability. Our family-owned company ensures each refrigeration system is tailored precisely to your needs, fitting Read More

Coastal Climate Control

"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane." - Jimmy Buffett

Coastal Climate Control

Global Presence, Local Expertise:
Based in Maryland, and just a stone's throw away from Annapolis, Baltimore, and Washington DC, we've been serving the marine market for over three decades with top-quality products and services. Our 4,500 sq ft facility is a Read More

Coastal Climate Control

For the entire month of November get 10% off all component Frigoboat systems with coupon code FRIGOFALL10.
Products include: Condensers, Compressors, Evaporators, Kits, Thermostats, and More.
Shop marine refrigeration here: https://bit.ly/3YUqR2H

Coastal Climate Control

Maintaining battery health is crucial for optimal performance, and one effective method is battery equalization. This process helps balance the charge across all cells, improving efficiency and longevity. Learn more about the importance of equalizing your batteries and how to Read More

Coastal Climate Control

A long-trusted name in marine refrigeration, Frigoboat allows you to convert or upgrade almost any size ice box into a 12v/24v refrigerator, freezer, or combo: Evaporator + Compressor/Condenser + Thermostat = System.
Four different systems are available:
» Air-cooled
» Pumped water-cooled
» Keel Read More

Coastal Climate Control

Coastal Climate Control offers two brands of solar panels - Solara from Germany and Solbian from Italy. These are both designed for the rugged environment of mobile applications - your boat, car, RV or trailer.
They are both made with high-grade Read More

Coastal Climate Control

"These folks will bend over backward to make things work for your systems. They have the critical parts and they know how they work. Great customer service too!" - Redwood T., Verified Customer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Coastal Climate Control

Solbian SR 45C-W watt solar panel, with Merlin monocrystalline cells are specially designed for the marine environment (waterproof and resistant to salt water and with extra UV protection), but easily adaptable for RV or motor coach installations.
Adaptable to any battery: Read More

Coastal Climate Control