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JENAL is a lifestyle ideal, within the realms of budget constraints. The ideal of modern day living, particularly in hot climates, dictates air conditioning as standard but hey, this is a barge? Air conditioning used to be an expensive luxury and complicated with separate systems for heating and air con. Air con also dictated big generators to cope with the power demands of the then under-developed air con motors... not any more! Webasto joined forces and eventually purchased a Dutch air conditioning specialist who had developed over the years an excellent system that worked well with Webastos' already world class diesel powered water heater system. |
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Webasto A/C heating room system
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Research
has shown that the human body feels comfortable at temperature between
21 - 27°C. When the effect of humidity is taken into consideration this
range can become a little wider. To make the case for improved air con
let us firstly understand that humidity is the amount of moisture (water
vapour) contained in the air. When the surrounding air has absorbed all the moisture
in it, it is classed as 100% humidity.
One
of the factors to why we feel hot
or cold, is the ability of our bodies perspiration to evaporate easily.
If the air is dry, then our bodies perspiration is allowed to leave
(dry) from our pores, making us feel cool. If the humidity is high, then
perspiration cannot evaporate easily (the air is already full of
moisture) and we feel hotter. It is possible to feel just as comfortable
at 27°C with 30% relative humidity, as it is at 21°C with 90% relative
humidity. And this basically is what a good A/C unit should do, lower
the humidity levels by reducing the moisture in the air. |
Webasto heater/cooler unit
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A series of these Webasto units (pictured left) will be built into the Andrew Varah cabinetry, 3 in the lounge dining area, 2 in each of the bedrooms, one in the hallway and 2 in the wheelhouse - one of these will also act as a windscreen demister. The unit shape and size will vary according to the different room sizes and design layout, plus they need to fit in with the cabinets and space available. As the above left room system illustration shows, warm air is drawn in from the base vent, chilled through the Webasto units and blown out of the top vent with the built-in fan assistance. Similarly, the heating process does the same, the only difference being the fluid is either passed through the Webasto chiller or Webasto heater which, incidentally, also heats the domestic hot water. |
