Sleeping in the tropics.

[Indah]

The world of divers can be divided in people who would never book a trip if the resort would not have air conditioning and the ones who NEVER want to use it. Sleep is not less important than food for your health and well being. In general humans prefer a safe, clean, quiet, dark, insect free and cool place to sleep. As all resorts we try it as best we can to supply that. At our Weda Resort at Halmahera the environment around the resort became much more noisy during the evening and early morning the last year. Mostly because of a new road and electricity in the nearby village. Until now we never considered installing airco's in this resort. During the night the air temperature drops to 25/26 degrees and we seldom (not never) had guests complaining about the heat. Because I do not have much else to do at the moment I am thinking how to improve our resorts. My idea is to make sleep cabins in the cottages. Purely to sleep. The guests should be able to adjust the level and temperature of the light. Fresh dry and a bit cooler, air should come in from a small airconditioner and the "used" air flows out again (no circulation of used air). The dimension I have in mind are L 2.60 W 240 and H 220. Main goal is that the room is soundproof and the perfect place to sleep. I post this because I hope to get some feedback and adjust my ideas. Thanks, Rob

 

[Centrals]

25 - 26C is comfortable room temp. As long as the humility is low, fan will do.
Well ventilated place does not require AC.
All the window must be screened and a extra screened door would be very nice.


Good luck to your plan.
Do not overstretch your resources!

 

[Indah]

25 - 26C is comfortable room temp. As long as the humility is low, fan will do.
Well ventilated place does not require AC.
All the window must be screened and a extra screened door would be very nice.


Good luck to your plan.
Do not overstretch your resources!

Thanks. At Weda we use mosquito nets. But the humidity is never low in Indonesia. The main reason to change things is the noise. Ventilation and sound isolation are hard to combine. I have to find a way to do it with little costs. And I am not in a hurry.

 

[Damselfish]

You may not hear people complain about the heat often, because many people that would have a problem with it will simply not come to a place they know doesn't have A/C. That describes us, it is rare we will go someplace without A/C, and even rarer that we will return. Noise is annoying but easier to deal with than hot sticky sleeping.

So I think it is a good idea, as we live in a much different climate. We prefer that a whole place is air conditioned, but something is better than nothing. The option of an air conditioned or at least well cooled dining area (assuming you do that) might be another idea. We have been some places where the dining area (sometimes outside, sometimes inside) was very hot and humid and fans didn't help. Hot sticky dining is also really unpleasant for us and would likely prevent us from returning to those places.

We once stayed in a place with mosquito nets and no A/C, it didn't work out so well. The netting pretty much blocked any breeze, except when the fans blew the netting open and the bugs came in.

People who are used to hot/humid climates are more likely to say that things are fine as is. I guess it depends where your target customers live.

 

[Laurie S.]

Living in the Arizona desert, everywhere I dive is very humid to me. So, a/c is essential for me to stay at a resort.

 

[CaveSloth]

I need it to be about 67F (19C) to sleep at all. I also need it absolutely dark and silent. A ceiling fan helps as long as it is a quiet DC motor fan that has no odd vibrations to it. I would never book lodging without knowing it had these conditions.

 

[diver0008]

Consider heat pumps. Heat exchanger (condenser) installed outside of the building, and wall-mounted air handler in the room. No ducts. Low noise. Wireless remotes. Suggest you contact a local ventilation contractor for suitable solutions for your specifics.

 

[Darnold9999]

I seem to be the odd man out here. Almost never use AC even if it available. Far too noisy and it has to be really really hot to need anything more than a fan.

Part of why I travel is to be in a different environment so why would I try to replicate home?

Also when diving multiple times a day I usually have no trouble sleeping no matter what is going on around me.

 

[BRT]

The world of divers can be divided in people who would never book a trip if the resort would not have air conditioning and the ones who NEVER want to use it. Sleep is not less important than food for your health and well being. In general humans prefer a safe, clean, quiet, dark, insect free and cool place to sleep. As all resorts we try it as best we can to supply that. At our Weda Resort at Halmahera the environment around the resort became much more noisy during the evening and early morning the last year. Mostly because of a new road and electricity in the nearby village. Until now we never considered installing airco's in this resort. During the night the air temperature drops to 25/26 degrees and we seldom (not never) had guests complaining about the heat. Because I do not have much else to do at the moment I am thinking how to improve our resorts. My idea is to make sleep cabins in the cottages. Purely to sleep. The guests should be able to adjust the level and temperature of the light. Fresh dry and a bit cooler, air should come in from a small airconditioner and the "used" air flows out again (no circulation of used air). The dimension I have in mind are L 2.60 W 240 and H 220. Main goal is that the room is soundproof and the perfect place to sleep. I post this because I hope to get some feedback and adjust my ideas. Thanks, Rob

You will have quite an electricity bill if you install AC units large enough to cool outside air with no recirculation.

 

[Ovahimba]

It also depends on the clientele you cater to. Its well known that Americans prefer AC while Europeans can do without it. Also the more upscale your resort, the more likely you should have them. If your area is more rustic those whining machines might take away from the ambiance.