Today, I’m excited to share a sneak peek at a new product I’ll review this summer on our boat—a portable air conditioner from BougeRV.
Our boat doesn’t have built-in air conditioning, just fans, so on those sweltering summer days, the cabin can get pretty stuffy, especially at night. With a 3500 BTU output, this little unit seems like it could be a game-changer for cooling down small spaces like our bedroom. Compared to a typical RV air conditioner (13,500–15,000 BTU), it’s about a quarter of the power, but it only draws around 400 watts, way less than an RV unit’s 1400–1500 watts. That’s perfect for our setup, since we do a lot of dry camping and rely on solar panels. We might even run it during the day for free with enough sunlight!
The air conditioner is compact—about 21 inches long, 10–11 inches wide, and 10 inches high, weighing around 30–33 pounds. It’s not just an air conditioner; it’s got a three-stage fan and a dehumidifier function, which is a nice bonus. It comes with a remote, an app for easy control, and a tube to vent hot air out a window or porthole. You can even set it up outside to push cold air in, which is a nice option.
I gave it a quick test run today. In cooling mode, the air coming out hit around 43°F, while the exhaust tube reached 86°F. Doing its job! The app is handy, letting me tweak settings like temperature, fan speed, and modes (including a quieter sleep mode for nighttime). There’s also a turbo mode for extra power and a timer to shut it off automatically, which saves battery life overnight. I hooked it up to a watt meter to check the draw: cooling mode pulls about 320–391 watts, dehumidifier mode around 370 watts, and fan-only modes as low as 5–17 watts.
On our boat, I plan to set it up in the cabin, running the exhaust tube through a porthole with some foam to seal it. The bedroom is small, so this unit should have no trouble keeping it cool. I’ll be using it over the next month or so, especially when the summer heat kicks in, and I’ll report back.
Inside Look at a Portable AC + Review Update
In this video, an update on my review of a BougeRV 3500 BTU portable air conditioner. I also take the unit apart so we can have a look inside and try to diagnose a noise issue. The little AC worked OK for cooling our small rear bedroom cabin in our boat this past summer. To reduce the noise inside, I placed the AC unit outside on the deck and ran the hose in through a porthole. The power draw is around 500 watts when in cooling mode.
BougeRV USA Website Extra 4% discount code: LYRV
BougeRV Canada Extra 4% discount code: LYRV
