Yacht HVAC refits: Expert tips

• Remi Van Herwijen
• General manager
• +33 (0)4 42 04 86 85

Does Heinen & Hopman have experience with refits on board superyachts?

With offices in Antibes, La Ciotat, La Spezia, Barcelona, Mallorca, Istanbul and Florida, Heinen & Hopman has several subsidiaries around Europe that specialise in refit and retrofit work. An HVAC refit is an excellent solution for upgrading and extending the life of your current yacht. Heinen & Hopman has completed a wide range of refits and rebuilds, and has developed special solutions dedicated to yacht refits.

When should I involve an HVAC specialist?

Our trained technicians are experienced in tracing HVAC problems efficiently and systematically so your HVAC system is up and running to full performance in the shortest time possible. By involving us in an early stage, you can avoid delays and additional costs, caused by extremely long delivery times. We will examine the expected design conditions and cooling capacity of existing equipment onboard in order to design the best refit solution. Common activities carried out are:

• Duct cleaning
• Replacement of air handling units
• Replace 3-way valves
• Replace frequency inverters
• Replace fan coil units
• Replace fan bearings
• Inspect fresh air intake and engine room canals
• Central monitoring and on-line support
• Check chilled water quality and glycol per centage
• Check and test fire dampers, shut-off dampers and waterproof valves

What are the costs of a superyacht HVAC refit?

Sometimes it might be better to replace the yacht’s chiller instead of repairing it, as it is an essential piece of equipment on-board any vessel. However, the greatest challenge with replacement is the difficulty of gaining access. This expensive and time-consuming operation normally involves cutting into the hole, removing the existing chiller and mounting a new one in its place. Our replacement chillers are specially designed and manufactured as a building package. They are suitable for transporting through the doors in the vessel and therefore no hole has to be cut in the hull. The replacement chillers are fully custom built for your vessel and available with a cooling capacity of 20, 30 and 40 TR, 2-Stage and 40, 50 and 60 TR, 3-Stage. With a technical checkup on the current state of the main components, we can set up a status report with advice where required.

Are there energy-efficient solutions available?

When your vessel gets a refit, consider replacing the compressors with the innovative Turbocor compressors. Turbocor compressors feature numerous benefits. They are exceptionally sustainable, take up half the space of conventional compressors and are totally oil-free. Turbocor compressors reduce energy consumption by up to 50%. Besides energy efficient compressors, Heinen & Hopman also offers heat recovery systems.