Ductless heat and air systems?

[Old School 360]

Specifically the Mitsubishi units? Any pros/ cons?

Breakdown- bought this place last year. Pretty much perfect for me. 3 years old now. Kinda small downstairs, about 1400 sf including 3 bedrooms. The whole kitchen, dining room, living room is just  one open area.

The bonus room is 800 sf- but the entire house is  run on one central hvac unit. The bonus room gets damn warm in the summer and my little portable heater barely heated the room last winter. Hell, electricity isn’t getting any cheaper these days, and I can’t believe they didn’t install a second unit for the upstairs. Anyway- options include- just heat/ cool the entire house house in hopes of finding the correct temperature for the room you are currently using. Or- add a second HVAC unit and rerun the ductwork and vents throughout the house.
 

Or- install this ductless unit for the bonus room.  Basically this nit sits outside at ground level, everything runs up the wall and into a closet upstairs, then to the inside unit in the bonus room. Basically a small unit to heat and cool the bonus room, pretty much independent from the rest, but f the house. They are quoting me $4500, and I think I’m going to get a $300 rebate on that. 
I’ve got pretty much everything upstairs (with the exception of my bedroom) 70” big screen, my guitars and amps, and about to set up my Slingerland  Drum kit. 
 

I think $4200 to $4500 is reasonable to make the primary living area actually comfortable and independent from the rest of the  house.

Thoughts? Experience?
Yeah, I know. rats ass. Look at me. But WTF.

 

 

[IGotWorms 3,297]

This seems like the kind of topic where Suxbnme would have a confusing drunken video on what not to do

[Old School 360]

5 minutes ago, IGotWorms said:

This seems like the kind of topic where Suxbnme would have a confusing drunken video on what not to do

And that would probably be more helpful than a confusing drunken lawyer. 

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

These are what every building has here in China.

They're not bad... but have some flaws, at least as implemented here. Keep in mind that the concept of insulation does not exist here. All homes are concrete boxes.

In small rooms, they work fine. In bigger rooms, not so much. The end of the room near the unit will be cold and the other end hot.

Usually, they are at the edge of a room, near an external wall. This can present problems.

If the unit is pointed directly at the bed or couch, you may find problems with it being very dry and too cold.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,576]

Don’t ask Digby. He only has a fan in his rental. 

[edjr 5,546]

They are called mini splits and they are worth their weight in gold. Highly recommend.

I had one attached to the side of the house and installed in my 3rd floor condo, before I started to rent it. (2 units) living room and kitchen.

Unit was all baseboard heat and gets hot as balls in the summer. Saves easily 1/2 the electricity a month. I rent it now, but that's okay.

[tubby_mcgee 686]

11 minutes ago, edjr said:

Saves easily 1/2 the electricity a month.

Saves 1/2 vs WHAT? 

 

[edjr 5,546]

1 minute ago, tubby_mcgee said:

Saves 1/2 vs WHAT? 

 

     if my electric bill used to be 200 a month, it went down to 100

some winter months my bill was up over 400.

[bostonlager 2,457]

 

[Old School 360]

25 minutes ago, bostonlager said:

 

Perfect!

[Old School 360]

12 hours ago, titans&bucs&bearsohmy! said:

These are what every building has here in China.

They're not bad... but have some flaws, at least as implemented here. Keep in mind that the concept of insulation does not exist here. All homes are concrete boxes.

In small rooms, they work fine. In bigger rooms, not so much. The end of the room near the unit will be cold and the other end hot.

Usually, they are at the edge of a room, near an external wall. This can present problems.

If the unit is pointed directly at the bed or couch, you may find problems with it being very dry and too cold.

I remember seeing these units everywhere on my visits to Chiner- my last visit was a decade ago and I honestly never investigated the efficiency or costs. 
 

Mine will be for a 800 sf bonus room- an attempt to make the room comfortable without running up the bill by cranking up the big system all throughout the rest of the house. 

[edjr 5,546]

9 minutes ago, Old School said:

I remember seeing these units everywhere on my visits to Chiner- my last visit was a decade ago and I honestly never investigated the efficiency or costs. 
 

Mine will be for a 800 sf bonus room- an attempt to make the room comfortable without running up the bill by cranking up the big system all throughout the rest of the house. 

perfect

[Dizkneelande 839]

I bought the China one off Amazon for 800 bucks, had my electrician wire the harness for $200, watched a YouTube video and installed it myself in about 5 hours. Figured they use a lot of ac over there and the Amazon reviews were pretty good. 

[shorepatrol 1,735]

Installing a 2 ton in my garage next weekend. 580 bucks out the door. 

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

2 hours ago, Dizkneelande said:

I bought the China one off Amazon for 800 bucks, had my electrician wire the harness for $200, watched a YouTube video and installed it myself in about 5 hours. Figured they use a lot of ac over there and the Amazon reviews were pretty good. 

They don't use a lot of ac really.

Every fockong day, I walk into my classroom. It has two ductless systems.

One of them doesn't work.

The other one works, but they installed a plastic shield in front of it, because they believe that the cold air blowing on them will make them sick. They also have it set to 80 degrees (it's hot as fock outside, basically Florida climate.)

Then they have all four windows and both doors wide open. For the breeze, you know.

So every class I crank it as low as it will go, turn the ceiling fans on, and shut all the doors and windows. The students protest that the Chinese teacher said not to touch it, I tell them to tell her she can do what she likes in her class, as can I. She's taken to keeping the remote in her office, but that's cool, I have a spare.

All the teachers just moved to a new building, much nicer than our old one. We have ductless systems, but they are in the ceiling and have vents in the center of the rooms.

The boss sent out an email yesterday expressing concern that our electric bills were sky high (three to four times the Chinese teachers across the hall, and a freaking pittance compared to back home) and suggested we turn our water heaters off after we shower.

Air conditioning is still a novel concept here, and they love being hot as fock. When I taught 8th grade, the classrooms reeked of BO every day. 

[Dizkneelande 839]

8 hours ago, titans&bucs&bearsohmy! said:

They don't use a lot of ac really.

Every fockong day, I walk into my classroom. It has two ductless systems.

One of them doesn't work.

The other one works, but they installed a plastic shield in front of it, because they believe that the cold air blowing on them will make them sick. They also have it set to 80 degrees (it's hot as fock outside, basically Florida climate.)

Then they have all four windows and both doors wide open. For the breeze, you know.

So every class I crank it as low as it will go, turn the ceiling fans on, and shut all the doors and windows. The students protest that the Chinese teacher said not to touch it, I tell them to tell her she can do what she likes in her class, as can I. She's taken to keeping the remote in her office, but that's cool, I have a spare.

All the teachers just moved to a new building, much nicer than our old one. We have ductless systems, but they are in the ceiling and have vents in the center of the rooms.

The boss sent out an email yesterday expressing concern that our electric bills were sky high (three to four times the Chinese teachers across the hall, and a freaking pittance compared to back home) and suggested we turn our water heaters off after we shower.

Air conditioning is still a novel concept here, and they love being hot as fock. When I taught 8th grade, the classrooms reeked of BO every day. 

[taco breath 419]

On 6/7/2021 at 7:52 PM, shorepatrol said:

Installing a 2 ton in my garage next weekend. 580 bucks out the door. 

Sounds like a great spot to pump iron.

[shorepatrol 1,735]

7 hours ago, taco breath said:

Sounds like a great spot to pump iron.

Are you hitting on me?