General > General info Somewhat hot tub related
Portabale AC units?
Tman122:
Or a good option for those of us who have an all electric house with no duct work. Not really a doit yourself project unless your good. Pipes full of Coolant. 240v Power.
Vinny:
Here's my $0.02.
Anything that produces cool air also produces heat. I would think that if you can position the unit outside the room you want cooled and pipe in the cool air you will be OK. I would also think that if it's in the same room it will be very inefficient.
AC units do produce heat and heat pumps (basically AC units running in reverse) can heat a house if the temp isn't too cold. I have central air and in the summer with my house already at 72º it produces a lot of heat when the comporessor kicks on.
I didn't look at any of the links but I believe a split unit is more like a room or 2 central AC unit (I'm thinking similar to a hotels unit except where the compressor is outside). This seemed like a good way to put AC into a house as long as you don't mind the compressor units outside around the house.
I can understand the not wanting to use a window AC unit but their sizes are coming down. A friend at work bought a 11000 BTU LG air conditioner and he said it is small and comes with a remote, I haven't seen it myself so I can't tell you any dimensions. I think it also has a SEER of at least 10.
The other alternative if you have the money is high velocity central air. Apparently they can retrofit older homes and supposedly it works great. Unlike regular central AC they install small (3" ?) pipes and it works by creating a high velocity of the air coming out of the small ducts.
I don't know much about AC although I researched a lot when I was buying a new furnace and AC unit. I also work with some people who do work on commercial AC units so I picked their brains a little. Unfortunately most of my knowledge is with central air units but it may also apply to the room AC units too (the heat they produce is something that I know for sure about).
I hope this helps!
Tman122:
Actualy the units we are looking at and talking about do not pipe in cool air. The pump/compressor sits outside and the pipes are full of a coolant R-128 or whatever that junk it. The small pipes are run up the outside of your house along with another set of wires from the outside unit and through the wall. They hook to a small fan/coil unit that gets mounted on the wall and is thermostaticly controlled. These unit can be sized to hook up to one fan/coil unit or up to I think 4 in serveral locations. Pretty slick, keeps the heat generation source outside and is very unatrusive inside. And they work extremly well. The small 1/2 copper coolant pipe gets a thick insulation on it to help there effieciency. We sell them, sorry to sound like a sales guy...LOL
Pretty much the same as a regular air conditioning unit only not piped into your duct work where the coil sits and your furnace fan circulates the cool air, But rather a stand alone unit with it's own fan. Someone had 2500 bucks for a stand alone unit well these things aren't cheap and 2500 may be on the low end for a fully installed unit. A window unit is alot cheaper and may be worth carry and store every year?
Tman.....your friendly neighborhood HVAC/PLUMBING/BUTTCRACK/ PART TIME SPATECH guy!!
Vinny:
--- Quote ---Actualy the units we are looking at and talking about do not pipe in cool air. The pump/compressor sits outside and the pipes are full of a coolant R-128 or whatever that junk it. The small pipes are run up the outside of your house along with another set of wires from the outside unit and through the wall. They hook to a small fan/coil unit that gets mounted on the wall and is thermostaticly controlled. These unit can be sized to hook up to one fan/coil unit or up to I think 4 in serveral locations. Pretty slick, keeps the heat generation source outside and is very unatrusive inside. And they work extremly well. The small 1/2 copper coolant pipe gets a thick insulation on it to help there effieciency. We sell them, sorry to sound like a sales guy...LOL
Pretty much the same as a regular air conditioning unit only not piped into your duct work where the coil sits and your furnace fan circulates the cool air, But rather a stand alone unit with it's own fan. Someone had 2500 bucks for a stand alone unit well these things aren't cheap and 2500 may be on the low end for a fully installed unit. A window unit is alot cheaper and may be worth carry and store every year?
Tman.....your friendly neighborhood HVAC/PLUMBING/BUTTCRACK/ PART TIME SPATECH guy!!
--- End quote ---
Tman, you elaborated on exactly what I thought those split AC units were ... in my mind I knew what they looked like ... I gave the reader's digest version!
Bonibelle:
Tman, can I ask since this is your field?...My Sanyo units are in the two upstairs bedroms. The install was relatively simple (my husband had HVAC friends that do pharmaceutical applications). We installed on the knee wall of my Cape Cod, so all the pipes run through the eves in the front of the house. As far as I know the only maintence I need to do is clear out the water discharge pipes and wash my unit filters. Is that right?
I found these things when there application was virtually limited to industry installs. Steve's friends put the original units in our house very reasonably (probably about $3,000 for the 2 zone unit). that was about 15 years ago. My newer unit was $3000.00 for one zone, but that was 4 years ago and it is a big unit. All of the "guts" outside fit under my back deck. The external fans are quiet and I think they look much better than a central unit!
I think I sound like the sales person, but when I find something that works that well, consistantly, I like to share.
If you go this way, Drew, you will have no reqrets.... ;)and it will save your back from hauling those window units.
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