Marine Air Conditioning Editorial Policy
This site calls itself independent. That word is worth nothing without the detail behind it, so here is the detail.
How Marine Air Conditioner Comparisons Are Selected
The table is not a ranking and it is not a shortlist of everything for sale. It holds one representative model from each maker in each of the three system classes, chosen so that the classes can be compared against each other rather than so that any one unit wins.
A unit is included if it is sold and serviced in Australia, if its datasheet publishes cooling capacity, current draw and noise, and if there is somewhere in the country to get it repaired. That last test excludes a fair amount of grey-import equipment that looks good on price.
Figures are taken from the maker's current published datasheet, normalised to 25 °C seawater and 240 V / 50 Hz so the columns are comparable. Where a maker publishes at a different seawater temperature we note it rather than silently converting.
We have not bench-tested these units. Nobody sensible would take our word over a datasheet on a capacity figure, and pretending otherwise would be the kind of thing this page exists to avoid. What we add is the judgement about which class suits which boat, and where each one is a mistake.
Affiliate Links and Commercial Disclosures
Some links to Australian retailers are affiliate links. If you buy after following one, we may receive a small commission from that retailer.
Nothing. The price is the same whether you use our link or type the address yourself.
Affiliate links are marked where they appear. A page carrying them says so at the top, not in small print at the bottom.
None on what we recommend. The comparison table is built before anyone checks which units have an affiliate programme, and two of the units we most often recommend have none at all.
Where we pass an enquiry to an installer we may receive a referral fee. We tell you which installer and that a fee applies before we pass anything on, and we never pass your details without asking.
We do not sell advertising, sponsored posts, guest posts, or links. We do not accept payment to add, move or remove a unit. If a maker asks, the answer is on this page.
Safety and Licensing Information Policy
Two parts of a marine air conditioning install are not DIY in Australia, whatever your skill level, and we will not write a guide that implies otherwise.
Anyone who charges, recovers or handles refrigerant needs an ARCtick licence. This covers every split and chilled-water system, and any self-contained unit that needs re-gassing.
Fixed 240 V wiring on a vessel is electrician's work, to AS/NZS 3004.2. A self-contained unit may be a weekend for a competent owner — its shore-power circuit is not.
We describe what a good installation looks like. We do not walk anyone through cutting a new hole below the waterline over the internet.
Everything on this site is general information about a class of equipment, not advice about your particular boat. A licensed installer who has seen the vessel outranks anything written here. Read the full disclaimer and use our official resources to verify licensing, standards and current manuals.
Technical Corrections and Product Updates
Specifications change, prices drift and we get things wrong. When a page is corrected on a point of substance, the correction is noted on the page with the date and what changed — not silently edited.
If you find an error, tell us. Corrections from readers who own the equipment are the most valuable feedback this site gets, and they get answered first.
What would make us pull a recommendation. A pattern of failures reported by owners, a maker's Australian service network closing, or a safety issue. Not a disagreement from the maker — though we will publish their response alongside ours.
Privacy of Boat Owner Enquiries
The enquiry form collects a name, an email, and whatever you tell us about the boat. That is used to answer you, and to introduce you to an installer if you ask for one.
There is no newsletter and no mailing list. We do not sell, rent or trade contact details, and we do not add anyone to anything. If you would like your enquiry deleted, ask and it is deleted.
Illustrations and Contributed Project Evidence
Selected illustrations are generated with AI and labelled beside the image. They explain planning concepts; they are not photographs of real installations, exact products or completed work. Equipment dimensions, connections and performance must be checked against manufacturer documentation.
We welcome documented owner and provider projects through the project contribution page. We check evidence, attribution and image permissions before publication. An illustrative scenario is labelled as such and is never presented as a completed case study.