Mini splits

[CLdrinker]

So back in my HVAC days (1998-2008) LG and Mitsubishi mini splits were the go to for quality.

Obviously I could go with one of those brands but they are more expensive.

Have you guys had any experience with these lesser known brands? How do they hold up?

This will be going in the office/classroom I’m building. 12x24.

I’m looking at buying this. Thoughts?

 

[boatpi]

My garage is about that size if not larger. My Daikin 24,000 btu heat pump is flawless
After 3 years.

 

[CLdrinker]

My garage is about that size if not larger. My Daikin 24,000 btu heat pump is flawless
After 3 years.

Do you have really tall ceilings or no insulation?

Why go with a bigger unit.

 

[havasujeeper]

I put in a 18000 btu Nortech mini split 220v with a heat pump and it works great. I'd be concerned with the 110v you are looking at, unless you are not paying for the power.

 

[CLdrinker]

I put in a 18000 btu Nortech mini split 220v with a heat pump and it works great. I'd be concerned with the 110v you are looking at, unless you are not paying for the power.

Being that small and a 20seer it can’t be that bad can it?

I do get a 25% discount. But my bill still gets close to $500 in the summer.

 

[Good Stuff]

I had this installed last year. The unit works great so far. Wifi control is impossible. I can’t get the unit to accept to pair to my device so I can’t set up an account at all. Big pain in the ass but I just set the unit on 85 and let it run on auto to overcome that issue. Seemed to work out just fine. So I think unit quality is great but some of the wifi app interface systems suck for the off brands. Not sure if the 110v units are as good either.

 

[CLdrinker]

I only have 110 ran so

 

[Ace in the Hole]

@HNL2LHC didn't you just do minisplits in your garage?

 

[viperized_jr]

Just do exposed. There are only a few companies producing so the off name stuff isn't that bad.

 

[Dalton]

Chigo is a cheap brand that I’ve had decent luck with, the compressors were Panasonic, but that may have changed.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

I would suggest Samsung. They have been pretty damn good for us the past few years and are relatively inexpensive.

 

[CarolynandBob]

I put a Mr. Cool in my shop. 2 years so far and works great.

 

[rightytighty]

My duct system was just destroyed by rats. It was 3 zone deal and was appx 13k 3 years ago.

Im thinking of switching house to mini splits to avoid this possibility of ever happening again plus get some redundancy in summer.

House is 4 bedroom /2600 SF. Kids are gone. Empty nesters.

What say the experts? Is this viable? Will it save power? (3 zone didn't save as advertised to us)

( And Yes- the rats are going to die painfully, if possible. Im currently plotting their demise…)

 

[boatpi]

My 3+ car garage in Las Vegas has 11' ceilings. It gets 110 degrees in the summer with 2 thinly insulated garage doors, and last night it was 28F. Never an issue keeping it at 68 in winter, and 75 in summer months. I believe I paid $1,400 on Ebay for it through a Florida vendor.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

My 3+ car garage in Las Vegas has 11' ceilings. It gets 110 degrees in the summer with 2 thinly insulated garage doors, and last night it was 28F. Never an issue keeping it at 68 in winter, and 75 in summer months. I believe I paid $1,400 on Ebay for it through a Florida vendor.

Same with the 24k BTU unit on my garage. I keep it at 70 all year.

$1300 from Home Depot.

 

[BigJimSportsCamper]

I have 2 Mr. Cool DIY systems in my house in TN. No problems over 5 years they have been in. Easy to install. 1 is 240 and 1 is 120. They work down to about 10 degrees.
The newer ones have a few more options that are nice- Such as "Follow me" and WiFi.
I purchased them online out of KY.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I only have 110 ran so

Then you are limited to 9k or 12 units. Should be fine for that room anyway.

 

[HNL2LHC]

So when we built our garage we had the GC have an A/C guy put in 2 splits. I went with what the A/C guy recommended. I am not sure of the quality and longevity.

As for the size of garage here goes. Original garage roughly 24’x26’ with 8 foot ceilings. The ceiling of the old garage is not insulated yet. The large garage is 16’x62’ with 13’ ceilings and fully insulated. The A/C guy said that 2each 2.5 ton units is right on the line and would work but not sure on what the cool down or heat up time would be or if it would be enough for high heat or low cooling. So we decided to go with 2 each 3 ton units. So with it as it is to heat or cool in the height of the summer/winter is about an hour. Summer you notice the radiant heat more. So from the dead heat to mid 70s it would take 3 hours.

We had the units operational by the summer and used them to keep the garage temp down to the high 80s. So after the summer and now into the winter I’d say that we certainly have enough capacity for where we like the temps.

I Hope this helps some.

 

[TBulger]

We have Fujitsu, mini splits are okay but you need one or even two per room to do it right. I would never have them to heat a large house, one with a lot of rooms, not cheat to run in my area, Tehachapi, Ca. Have them in the garage in Havasu, work fine, but in Ca they are expensive to run, at least in my area and controlling temp I use several gages and adjust accordingly. SCE bitches at me every month for my usage, saying I’m way over for my area, oh well.

 

[Yoshiro]

Our new house has a Daikin in the ADU. It lasted 9 months and has been broken for the last 2 months while the techs try and fix it. They've replaced the boards in both the indoor and outdoor halves, recharged it twice, replaced a valve in the outdoors, and still it kicks out in a few minutes of operation. What a complete piece of junk. This think is bleeding us dry in labor costs. Warranty just covers the parts.

BTW, stay away from a Rheem hybid water heater too. Same thing, lasted 9 months and it too is bleeding us dry with labor costs.

 

[pronstar]

My duct system was just destroyed by rats. It was 3 zone deal and was appx 13k 3 years ago.

Im thinking of switching house to mini splits to avoid this possibility of ever happening again plus get some redundancy in summer.

House is 4 bedroom /2600 SF. Kids are gone. Empty nesters.

What say the experts? Is this viable? Will it save power? (3 zone didn't save as advertised to us)

( And Yes- the rats are going to die painfully, if possible. Im currently plotting their demise…)

I almost went this route.
The cost to convert my now 4,200 SF+ house to a bunch of mini splits added up incredibly fast.

So I upgraded to a 19 seer 5 ton conventional unit to replace my old one.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

So when we built our garage we had the GC have an A/C guy put in 2 splits. I went with what the A/C guy recommended. I am not sure of the quality and longevity.

As for the size of garage here goes. Original garage roughly 24’x26’ with 8 foot ceilings. The ceiling of the old garage is not insulated yet. The large garage is 16’x62’ with 13’ ceilings and fully insulated. The A/C guy said that 2each 2.5 ton units is right on the line and would work but not sure on what the cool down or heat up time would be or if it would be enough for high heat or low cooling. So we decided to go with 2 each 3 ton units. So with it as it is to heat or cool in the height of the summer/winter is about an hour. Summer you notice the radiant heat more. So from the dead heat to mid 70s it would take 3 hours.

We had the units operational by the summer and used them to keep the garage temp down to the high 80s. So after the summer and now into the winter I’d say that we certainly have enough capacity for where we like the temps.

I Hope this helps some.

as long as you have an access you can blow in that garage in ceiling in about an hour... the pink insulation from HD, and the machine rental is included. Depending on how much I have left after I do my house next month I may have some staple up radiant barrier you can have as well for it...

 

[HNL2LHC]

as long as you have an access you can blow in that garage in ceiling in about an hour... the pink insulation from HD, and the machine rental is included. Depending on how much I have left after I do my house next month I may have some staple up radiant barrier you can have as well for it...

I am waiting to do it all at one time when we blow out the kitchen and back wall.

 

[HB2Havasu]

Planning on putting in (2) 24,000 BTU Mr. Cools in my RV Garage this spring. I had the house Pre-Wired / Pre-Plumbed for mini splits so it should a slam dunk DIY project.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Planning on putting in (2) 24,000 BTU Mr. Cools in my RV Garage this spring. I had the house Pre-Wired / Pre-Plumbed for mini splits so it should a slam dunk DIY project.

Keep in mind the Mr Cools have pre charged lines, so buy a cheaper one without the more expensive precharged lines if the house is already wired and plumbed. Also you can’t shorten Mr Cool precharged lines if you are doing a custom install.

 

[Todd Mohr]

I put a 36k Mr Cool unit in my 1000 sq/ft rv garage, works good 2 years in. Cooled garage is a game changer in AZ.

 

[Fastdadtsmith]

I only have 110 ran so

You can change the neutral to a hot, or have somebody do it, wait a minute, you're a SCE guy right? I'm assuming you have #10's at least, tape the neutral and run it. Unless of course it feeds something else too....

 

[CLdrinker]

You can change the neutral to a hot, or have somebody do it, wait a minute, you're a SCE guy right? I'm assuming you have #10's at least, tape the neutral and run it. Unless of course it feeds something else too....

It’s #6. I was going to feed a sub panel with that.
I don’t know shit about residential electrical lol
Or plumbing or sheet rock or flooring.

This project is going to be interesting.

Maybe I can hire fuckstick to do the sheet rock if I buy him an oil pan

 

[RichardMango]

I've had good luck with my Gree minisplit

 

[ElAzul]

I have a 18k 240v Mr Cool going in my RV should keep things pretty nice. I had a Daikin installed in a rental about 8 years ago that's been flawless

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Our new house has a Daikin in the ADU. It lasted 9 months and has been broken for the last 2 months while the techs try and fix it. They've replaced the boards in both the indoor and outdoor halves, recharged it twice, replaced a valve in the outdoors, and still it kicks out in a few minutes of operation. What a complete piece of junk. This think is bleeding us dry in labor costs. Warranty just covers the parts.

BTW, stay away from a Rheem hybid water heater too. Same thing, lasted 9 months and it too is bleeding us dry with labor costs.

Sounds like some bad techs that don't know Daikin. If they were trained in the Daikin program then they'd have the tech tool to diagnose it fully. I'd bet there is a lose communication wire somewhere in the circuit. If there is a wire nut on the wire that can cause issues if it's not perfect.

 

[DLC]

There is a HVAC guy here in San Diego that runs Tv commercials and he shows off the Daikon mini splits on ALL of his commercials

 

[SoCalDave]

Is this viable? Will it save power?

In short yes it will save you power as you are only controlling the tempreture in the room you are in and/or other rooms as needed. These new mini splits are inverter compressors/fans so the savings are even greater than a conventional centralized system.

 

[boatpi]

In Southeast Asia, my observation this last month was close to 50% of the homes use Daikin.

 

[FROGMAN524]

This is what I’m looking at through some HVAC buddies who can buy at supplier price for my RV Garage.

 

[SoCalDave]

This is what I’m looking at through some HVAC buddies who can buy at supplier price for my RV Garage.
View attachment 1192255

Mitsubishi makes some quality stuff.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Mitsubishi is good. 2x the price of other brands, even at wholesale. Plus, I doubt there is any need to go with 3 heads in a RV garage unless you have some funky wall layouts. I'd save some money and just run 2 18k heads. No 3rd lines etc and wiring to run.

This is what I’m looking at through some HVAC buddies who can buy at supplier price for my RV Garage.
View attachment 1192255

 

[Dalton]

Sounds like some bad techs that don't know Daikin. If they were trained in the Daikin program then they'd have the tech tool to diagnose it fully. I'd bet there is a lose communication wire somewhere in the circuit. If there is a wire nut on the wire that can cause issues if it's not perfect.

I heard also with mini splits you want to change the outdoor fan anytime you do the outdoor board or the board will keep burning up

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

My no name brand has a Mitsubishi compressor in it.

Buy a couple 18k for $3k and call it done.

 

[HB2Havasu]

Keep in mind the Mr Cools have pre charged lines, so buy a cheaper one without the more expensive precharged lines if the house is already wired and plumbed. Also you can’t shorten Mr Cool precharged lines if you are doing a custom install.

Isn't the cost to have a Professional come in and charge the lines more than the added cost for the Mr. Cools? That kinda blows my mind.

 

[FROGMAN524]

Mitsubishi is good. 2x the price of other brands, even at wholesale. Plus, I doubt there is any need to go with 3 heads in a RV garage unless you have some funky wall layouts. I'd save some money and just run 2 18k heads. No 3rd lines etc and wiring to run.

Like this?

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Isn't the cost to have a Professional come in and charge the lines more than the added cost for the Mr. Cools? That kinda blows my mind.

I had mine done for $200. I mounted both units and had the electrical ran. The AC guy ran the communication wire, cut the copper lines, ran a vacuum on them. The parts to DIY the lines yourself are about that much.

If you have the lines and wiring all built into the wall.. you can’t even use that with Mr Cool setup. They have special charged lines you cannot shorten. But yea Mr cool is plug and play.

Thst is the rub with Mr Cool… you have to loop the excess copper lines or place the unit precisely.

 

[SoCalDave]

Isn't the cost to have a Professional come in and charge the lines more than the added cost for the Mr. Cools? That kinda blows my mind.

Buy the pre-charged line sets and it's a true DIY

 

[SoCalDave]

Just order this and be done with it. Comes with everything you need for DIY installation with a 10 year warranty.

48k BTU 20.5 SEER Multi-Zone MrCool DIY 2 Zone Ductless Heat Pump Split System 4th Generation - 24k+24k

It's easy to heat or cool two areas of your home or office with the 4th Generation MrCool DIY Multi-Zone 48k BTU 2 Zone Ductless Mini Split. This is heat pump can provide heating and cooling with a 48,000 BTU heating capacity. It features a 20.5 SEER thanks in part to the variable speed DC...

iwae.com

 

[Flying_Lavey]

I heard also with mini splits you want to change the outdoor fan anytime you do the outdoor board or the board will keep burning up

Depends on the board that fails. The main PCB no. The inverter board.... typically yes, but then again, the board failure is typically caused by the motor, not the other way around.

 

[Good Stuff]

Isn't the cost to have a Professional come in and charge the lines more than the added cost for the Mr. Cools? That kinda blows my mind.

I think the main issue with Mr. Cool is that the lines hold the charge so you can’t trim them and need to make sure the run length is good before you buy them so you don’t have too much excess line coiled. I also think the system still had to be vacuumed and pressure tested so I didn’t want to deal with it. I had @Fastdadtsmith install my Home Depot unit in Havasu and I am super happy with the quality of work. Tapped into my existing RV service on the garage for 220v so I just don’t run the AC if I run my welder on that circuit.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Like this?
View attachment 1192456

That would be better, but you can get just a 36,000 btu outdoor unit for both and likely save a couple hundred more.

 

[Cobalt232]

Our new house has a Daikin in the ADU. It lasted 9 months and has been broken for the last 2 months while the techs try and fix it. They've replaced the boards in both the indoor and outdoor halves, recharged it twice, replaced a valve in the outdoors, and still it kicks out in a few minutes of operation. What a complete piece of junk. This think is bleeding us dry in labor costs. Warranty just covers the parts.

BTW, stay away from a Rheem hybid water heater too. Same thing, lasted 9 months and it too is bleeding us dry with labor costs.

We put a Daiken at our house in San Clemente. Stopped working after about 4 months and took them a month to order a new outdoor unit, only to finally figure out that a harness inside the house unit was bad. About 6 months later it broke again. This time a harness inside the blower unit was getting condensation and had corroded a connector. All good now.

 

[coolchange]

Mitsubishi makes some quality stuff.

Mitsubishi has gotten with Trane and are NOT the same as they used to be

 

[SoCalDave]

Mitsubishi has gotten with Trane and are NOT the same as they used to be

Yeah I've heard of some pretty bad quality coming out of Trane lately. My boss had his units replaced about a year ago and have had nothing but trouble with his.