anyone got split A/C in their home?

[steveo3002]

every summer i threaten to get a/c , anyone have a split unit ?

was looking at mitsubshi as they seem reliable vs no name china?

any words of wisdom? hows the power use , any faults etc?

 

[gaz1]

im not a lover of power used when its summer so i will adapt to old versions to keep cool

the sun has advantages nowadays as you can use it to run water pumps and fans whilst charging batterys up

 

[Wedg1e]

I have a Carrier system, it's been in for about 21 years... was formerly in a computer server room for about 3 years prior to that.
Did the bulk of the installation myself and then got a mate of a mate to vac and gas it.
The house is a bungalow and all the rooms open off a hall; the indoor unit is almost exactly the width of the hall.
In use I just close all the doors except that to the room I want cool (usually the bedroom).
It takes 60A start-up current and about 11A when running, so almost 3kW/h.
Rarely gets used but when you need it (on those hot sweaty nights when you can't sleep), there's no substitute

 

[steveo3002]

so near £1 an hour ? doesnt it tail off after its cooled the room a bit to just maintain it?

mines a bungalow i was thinking of having it in the hall and doing like you say, living room looks like an easier fit though

 

[Trevorleach]

Had it for about 15 years, brilliant bit of kit.
Reverse cycle as well.
Outside wall means no condensate pump needed.

 

[wobblie]

We've not long installed a Clivet split system, one outside unit and two indoor, about 4kw each unit.
It does heating and cooling, so it actually an air to air heat pump and qualifies for vat free installation
Apparently it provides up to 4:1 heat power conversion i.e. 1kw in provides 4kw heat out. It was very effective in the winter, and with both units on, consumption was about 2kw.
As far as cooling is concerned, it seems to be very good in the hot weather we had, keeping our two large rooms cool (40m2 and 35m2) to a very comfortable level. Power consumption on cooling seems to be 0.5kw per unit.
We installed these as we have solar, so doesn't cost anything to run in the summer
Total cost including installation was £4k, but would be much cheaper if you did it yourself. I believe they come pre-gassed these days, so as long as you don't mess it up, there's no gassing required, just plug and play.

 

[steveo3002]

yeah early days yet , i had seem previous comments about diy fit , then they seem to want your f gas papers before they will sell it these days

would suit me to do the mounting myself as ive got all the time to decide where i want things vs someone that wants to be home by lunch time

the 4:1 heat sounds good

my bunglaow isnt very big at all 18mtr sq living room /36 with hall and bedrooms , would shut off the kitchen and bog to save , and bedrooms dont need cooling in the day , chat gpt suggests 3.5kw 12000btu

 

[Ubique]

I installed a TCL dual split in 2016, inverter controlled so the power ramps up and down as required. 18kBtu total, costs ~£1 a day to run.
Reverse cycle so can be used for a heat boost in winter, we find it's more efficient (and cheaper) if left on when hot - mainly for the birds & dogs but it reduces the 'heat soak' in the house which is the costly bit of cooling.

This seems to be the current model, different brand name and a bit cheaper (I paid ~£1700) and pre-charged with refrigerant, whilst you can just fill it 'as-is' I'd recommend vacuuming the pipes first, if for no other reason than to make sure the system is leak free.

electriQ iQool Multi-Split 2 x 9000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included iQool-2MS9K9K | Appliances Direct

Buy electriQ iQool Multi-Split 2 x 9000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included iQool-2MS9K9K from Appliances Direct - the UK's leading online appliance specialist

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk

Edit: as above, I'd suggest cooling all the rooms during the day, also if you're in a bungalow, you might want to consider ceiling cassette indoor units, they cool the rooms much more evenly.

 

[steveo3002]

any idea on the sq footage you cool ? any thoughts on spec for my rooms

 

[anto44]

A friend of mine has ac fitted and has it set up so it only runs when the solar panels are supplying enough power to run it. He's very happy with it. Other than initial install cost it's been pretty much free to run. He gets almost nothing for any power he generates that's returned to the grid so he's better off just using it.

 

[Ubique]

Footprint is about 6m x 6m, 2 bed with a conservatory 6m x 2m tagged on - we use a linear fan to push cooled air into it during the day with camo net over the roof which keeps it no higher than 25 degrees in the heat of the day (the camo net helps keep the sun off the birds in there). The downstairs unit is on an internal wall but with a straight line to an outside wall for condensate drain, the upstairs unit is on the landing facing the larger bedroom, this actually does most of the work (remembering physics lessons) heat rises. Both pipe runs are less than the 5m supplied and the lagging is covered with suitably coloured UV resistant tape.
Specification depends upon a lot of factors, not least the amount of solar gain due to windows and building materials used and the type & efficiency of insulation. There's quite a few online calculators available but as a rough guess, I'd say you want the same as your heating load, if not slightly more, that's how I was advised to calculate mine and it's rare to hear the outdoor unit at full chat, and the indoor temperature never struggles to reach the 21degree setpoint we have settled on.

 

[steveo3002]

did they sell you the unit no bother ? i see most of them will only sell after seeing fgas papers , unless i can make up a number and they dont check

 

[voipio]

This handy calculator doesn't seem too far off the mark:

BTU Calculator

Two free calculators estimate the number of BTUs needed to cool or heat a room or house based on its size, insulation, and some other conditions.

www.calculator.net

 

[dobbslc]

I just clicked on the link @Ubique left above and went all the way to purchase point on PayPal without and Fgas number being asked for.
£1700 for a 12000btu system! Very tempting...

 

[steveo3002]

do you think anyone would repair a electriq icool brand ? was a bit wary of going with a no name

 

[rtcosic]

My experience is in this thread:

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...nyonebhere-with-words-of-wisdom.137525/page-2

 

[Morrisman]

When we built our house in the Philippines I planned to live without ac, but after two hot seasons we couldn’t bear the heat at night. Even with every window open, several fans on in our and daughters bedrooms, it was just unbearable. So I weakened and had 3 split air cons fitted. Two for the bedrooms we used and one in the tv room.
Surprisingly our electric bill hardly increased at all, but the coolness was priceless. They were well known brand inverter units.

35° average day time temp over there, most of the year.

 

[steveo3002]

When we built our house in the Philippines I planned to live without ac, but after two hot seasons we couldn’t bear the heat at night. Even with every window open, several fans on in our and daughters bedrooms, it was just unbearable. So I weakened and had 3 split air cons fitted. Two for the bedrooms we used and one in the tv room.
Surprisingly our electric bill hardly increased at all, but the coolness was priceless. They were well known brand inverter units.

35° average day time temp over there, most of the year.

ever have any trouble with it ?

 

[Morrisman]

ever have any trouble with it ?

No, we had them in for maybe four years before we left the house, no trouble at all.

 

[steveo3002]

No, we had them in for maybe four years before we left the house, no trouble at all.

premium brand or cheapie

being slightly rare here you dont know what brands to trust , vs yourself /spain and all that everyman and his dog got them on the house