What Mini-Split did you use, and Why?

Arion said:

I just bought an EG4 9K unit today. Went with the DYI option with the pre-charged lines. I was hemming and hawing about getting a cheaper unit off of Amazon and just pulling the vacuum myself but what really drew me was how efficient this unit is with the SEER2 of 29.5 and the HSPF2 of 10.7 so for the price it's cheaper than a comparable Mr. Cool unit but a lot more efficient and of course the 30% federal tax rebate takes the edge off of the more expensive unit.

Maintenance and regular cleaning is going to be interesting with the indoor unit as I also have a wood stove for winter so the indoor air isn't the most particulate free. I use an infrared heater right now when I'm not using the wood stove which pulls 1.5Kw on high and 700 watts on low but that heater is only 5000 BTU so I expect this unit to use a lot less.

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EG4 is a good unit. I ordered one but had to cancel because at the time I was buying it didn’t qualify for the tax credit. So I figured next best thing was Mr. Cool being they are made by the same company as the EG4. Also it’s been so long ago, but I don’t think EG4 would warranty a diy install were as Mr. Cool does. That might have changed though. Bed bath and beyond usually has 20% off on Mr. Cool. But I feel like you will be very pleased with the EG4.

BKY2003 said:

EG4 is a good unit. I ordered one but had to cancel because at the time I was buying it didn’t qualify for the tax credit. So I figured next best thing was Mr. Cool being they are made by the same company as the EG4. Also it’s been so long ago, but I don’t think EG4 would warranty a diy install were as Mr. Cool does. That might have changed though. Bed bath and beyond usually has 20% off on Mr. Cool. But I feel like you will be very pleased with the EG4.

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I didn't know MrCool was made by Deye. Are you sure?

Lt.Dan said:

I didn't know MrCool was made by Deye. Are you sure?

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Maybe I am incorrect, thanks for being polite while pointing that out. Most people seize the moment.

Delete

BKY2003 said:

Maybe I am incorrect, thanks for being polite while pointing that out. Most people seize the moment.

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I honestly have no idea, but I haven't heard it before so I just figured I would ask. Where did you hear it?

Looks like I was wrong, Sorry for the misinformation.

I found some information, but it's not definitive. I went to the Energy Star website to figure out what company applied for certification of the Mr. Cool. https://device.report/energystar/2450832 came up as HVAC Distributing, LLC. So, I found the Bill of Lading from China. https://panjiva.com/Hvac-Distributing-Llc/34124972 and it shows HONG KONG GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES SALES LTD to
Notify Party Address 5455 COMMERCE DRIVE,, PADUCAH,KY 42001 USA. Which comes up as Mr. Cool Warehouse. Maybe nothing .

BKY2003 said:

Looks like I was wrong, Sorry for the misinformation.

I found some information, but it's not definitive. I went to the Energy Star website to figure out what company applied for certification of the Mr. Cool. https://device.report/energystar/2450832 came up as HVAC Distributing, LLC. So, I found the Bill of Lading from China. https://panjiva.com/Hvac-Distributing-Llc/34124972 and it shows HONG KONG GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES SALES LTD to
Notify Party Address 5455 COMMERCE DRIVE,, PADUCAH,KY 42001 USA. Which comes up as Mr. Cool Warehouse. Maybe be nothing.

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Very interesting! So it looks like Gree makes the Mr Cool units.

This kind of just further confirms the notion that there are really only 3 major manufacturers for Heat Pump/Mini Split units, which is the main reason why I just bought the CHEAPEST unit I could find at the start of this ever-growing thread.

Thanks for doing some research!

I got a call from senville. There is a 10* difference between the indoor and outdoor units, so if it's 67* outside, the unit needs to be set at 77* +. There's nothing wrong with it.

Gotshocked! said:

I got a call from senville. There is a 10* difference between the indoor and outdoor units, so if it's 67* outside, the unit needs to be set at 77* +. There's nothing wrong with it.

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Run this by me again because I don't understand.

If I want to cool my house to below 67°F, I need to set the inside unit to 77°F according to what you just posted.

If I am heating my house to 80°F, then it needs to be 70°F outside.

Gotshocked! said:

I got a call from senville. There is a 10* difference between the indoor and outdoor units, so if it's 67* outside, the unit needs to be set at 77* +. There's nothing wrong with it.

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Ok so what if you want the room at 70, set it to 77 and turn it off when you hit 70?

Zwy said:

Run this by me again because I don't understand.

If I want to cool my house to below 67°F, I need to set the inside unit to 77°F according to what you just posted.

If I am heating my house to 80°F, then it needs to be 70°F outside.

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What I wrote above was describing the conditions for heating, as all my previous bitching has been about heating, not cooling.

This is what Mike at senville told me. There's a 10* difference between the inside and outside units, so if you want to heat, set the temp on the remote at least 10* higher than what it is outside. I have had it turn on at 76* and 77* but 78* has worked nearly every time and this is with outside morning temps somewhere in the mid 60's. I turn on the heat starting at 76* and if that doesn't kick it on in a minute then to 77* and after another minute, 78*. Sometimes, I go straight to 78*.

I believe this might be why in the manual they recommend just leaving the unit on all the time. Set it to a temp on auto and forget about it is what they'd prefer. I can't do that. I hate that all these units need the air moving through them to tell the current temps. That's the one thing I hate about these mini splits.

Cooling doesn't seem to have the same issue, but I haven't run into a time yet where it's cool outside, yet I want the inside even cooler.

S Davis said:

Ok so what if you want the room at 70, set it to 77 and turn it off when you hit 70?

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If it's warm outside, mid 60's, your going to want to turn it up at least 10* above the outside ambient temperature. I've found that 78* seems to be the magic number here for me.

I don't know that the other aura I have has this corky attitude. I don't think it does.

Gotshocked! said:

What I wrote above was describing the conditions for heating, as all my previous bitching has been about heating, not cooling.

This is what Mike at senville told me. There's a 10* difference between the inside and outside units, so if you want to heat, set the temp on the remote at least 10* higher than what it is outside. I have had it turn on at 76* and 77* but 78* has worked nearly every time and this is with outside morning temps somewhere in the mid 60's. I turn on the heat starting at 76* and if that doesn't kick it on in a minute then to 77* and after another minute, 78*. Sometimes, I go straight to 78*.

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I don't see it making a difference from what I have experienced. For example, temp in the mid 50's at night. I turn on heat and set it at 78°F. The unit will still exhibit the behavior where it sits in what appears to be defrost mode, both led's on. This is the Pioneer floor unit. The Senville Aura doesn't have the problem it seems the lower end units do have.

Gotshocked! said:

I believe this might be why in the manual they recommend just leaving the unit on all the time. Set it to a temp on auto and forget about it is what they'd prefer. I can't do that. I hate that all these units need the air moving through them to tell the current temps. That's the one thing I hate about these mini splits.

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Leaving it on wastes electricity and wears out all the components, especially motors and compressors.

Try to start it at a lower temp, like 75. Bump it up a degree every minute or 2. You might have to raise the temp to 79 or 80*?
The first thing you might consider before this is to shut off the breaker for 30 minutes. A tech at senville told me to do this and it might've helped.

Gotshocked! said:

Try to start it at a lower temp, like 75. Bump it up a degree every minute or 2. You might have to raise the temp to 79 or 80*?
The first thing you might consider before this is to shut off the breaker for 30 minutes. A tech at senville told me to do this and it might've helped.

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It appears the turning power off most likely will clear codes. The Senville tech is feeding a line of BS.

Someday I will pull the outside coil temp sensor and graph the resistance across the temp change. And check the electrical connections. I'm leaning towards one of those two things. I almost did it last winter but then it started to work just fine. Now that things warmed up and humidity is higher (keeps raining here) the problem resurfaced last week. Primary is a connection issue.

Gotshocked! said:

If it's warm outside, mid 60's, your going to want to turn it up at least 10* above the outside ambient temperature. I've found that 78* seems to be the magic number here for me.

I don't know that the other aura I have has this corky attitude. I don't think it does.

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If it’s 60 out hell if I’m wanting to turn the heat on!!

That’s even if the mornings in the 40s, the afternoon will be in the mid 60s the heat still isn’t needed.

A high of Mid 50s is where the heat comes on, inside temps mid to low 60s is where the wife draws the line, second floor is always warmer so it’s first floor that gets the heat turned on first. If I do want to heat up quickly I’ll peg the temp setting and fans close to max speed, she nice and warm.

That said if I turn on our Mitsu mini split for heat set it and forget it, 72 usually has it blowing warm enough air to keep us comfortable, independent of the outside temp.

Zwy said:

If you buy different brands like I did, so many similarities. Even remotes are the same.

My Pioneer wi fi adapter will somehow confuse the Senville Alexa wi fi if I rapidly change temp on the Pioneer and the Senville can confuse the Pioneer. One day I'll figure out how to get around that.

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I figured it out. Panasonic in living room with universal remote wi fi adapter. When you program these, you point the mini split handheld remote at the wi fi adapter and it reads the frequency.

Senville with Alexa is in the kitchen, open archway between the two. The other day I'm eating lunch and the idea hit me. The universal wi fi adapter was facing the opposite wall at an angle. The universal wi fi adapter needs line of sight to the mini split being controlled. The wi fi adapter signal, just like any handheld remote, would reflect off that wall or window and the Senville would pick it up.

Only had to turn the universal wi fi adapter away from that wall, basically about 90°. Works perfect now without the reflection.

tomy2 said:

speaking of Senville units, l have an Aura 9k 27 seer in my bedroom and keep it set at 73 for cooling when it's in the ninetys outside. also have two Sena 9k units in two small studios, those need to be set at 65 to cool at the same outside temp. Does Anyone else set their Sena at 65 or lower to cool? I used to think there was something wrong with the Sena, now that I have two, that act the same , maybe thats normal.

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Outside condensing units in direct sun? Rooms along southern part of the structure? Windows? Insulation? Room sq footage?

All of those are about heat load. A 9K btu rated unit is small, usually used for a small bedroom. I have a 9K Leto in my truck camper.

There is some offset with the thermostat with the models lower in features, or at least it appears to be. It could be location of the ambient air temp sensors.

Found this thread now, thinking what mini-split about 12k btu to get for the garage, SouthEast Michigan. I have extra electricity, and the garage is not conditioned yet. Insulation, yeah I should get to that...

Leaning to MrCool Oasis/Olympus hyper heat. Where to put the outdoor unit is pretty limited, to not have in blazing sun against brick wall on the south, west is the garage door, east is the house, north side garage is also the front of the house with a sidewalk so don't want it there. So I'll probably put it tucked on the end of the north side front porch next to the garage. The cardboard box up in the air is where I'm thinking. I might hang it up high there, and let it suck warmer attic air down during heating season, by opening up a hatch above the porch, need screening to keep out birds. Birds like barn swallows might like to nest on top of the outdoor unit also, easy to address if needed.
This is the view walking up to the house, from the driveway. Even if I cleaned up all the other ornaments by the garage and front porch, the outdoor unit is still reasonably hidden.


A related previous project: I replaced the old AC and gas boiler, with a MrCool/Gree Universal 2/3t 36k outdoor unit. It cools to the old central air handler with a new r410 coil and an ECM blower motor I had previously installed. It can also heat to the air handler, but, I made a refrigerant to water coil for primary heating to the existing water hydronic system. The first winter, I put in a resistance Marathon 85 gal water heater tank instead of the boiler. Then put in the ASHP heating and cooling to the air handler, but finished all the refrigerant piping. Then before this last winter, I finished the water side plumbing. Well, it's an ongoing project, I still have more to do with the system, parts are waiting in the basement: Adding another 85 g tank for more thermal storage, add 40gal indirect WH tank to preheat domestic water, start converting the baseboard fin tube zones into radiant loops to allow much lower water temps and better system COP. https://photos.app.goo.gl/okMkTA1uk5U7UWVJ9

Question: for anyone with a garage mini-split, what's a good way to leave the mini-split on, but turn it off if the garage door or side door is open for say more than 5 minutes?

daklein said:

Question: for anyone with a garage mini-split, what's a good way to leave the mini-split on, but turn it off if the garage door or side door is open for say more than 5 minutes?

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You need to install door sensors. With a home assistant phone application, you can set the timing conditions.

I did get a MrCool Oasis/Olympus hyperheat 12k. Mostly for the discounted scratch/dent/oldstock price, and that a matching indoor/outdoor set was available, and cold climate capable for Michigan winters. (Who makes this model, Gree? I couldn't find what looked like the same cold climate model. My other one, MrCool Universal is definitely a Gree/Midea and numerous other rebrands judging by the identical service & install manuals).

Funny discussion on the radio today: Bemoaning the condition or capability of the grid, with increasing electrical consumption due to more air conditioning. Improving A/C efficiency used to save energy, now it just turns into everyone having A/C. They had a farmer saying hey I need fuel for my tractors, people need to eat, but do they really need to chill stores down to 70degs, bread doesn't need to be kept cold. I'm thinking, what, no store is going to make it uncomfortable to shop, people go to big stores just to cool off. And here I'm adding an A/C & heater to my garage that I don't really need, but hey, I have enough free electricity that the utility doesn't really compensate well enough for. That's why we're here.

The outdoor unit is 'B grade' scratch & dent, the indoor unit is old stock, only $650 shipped for the pair. With buying some tools that I had borrowed last time, and I think all the misc parts I'll need, I'm at $1100. After FTC, it'll be about $800.

I took the sheet metal off the outdoor unit to fix some dents. I was able to fix a kinked elbow on the coil where it hit the housing. The coil tubing is a lot thinner and softer than I expected. But it mostly popped back out with gentle squeeze and turn from smooth jaw pliers padded by a rag.

I started making a wall mount, but when the heatpump arrived, I decided that's not the best idea just to attempt getting warm attic air on sunny winter days. I made a stand instead and got it situated. The sides of the stand are steel from a DC Solar trailer... It was very helpful to trace the footprint of the heatpump, to build the stand.

daklein said:

I did get a MrCool Oasis/Olympus hyperheat 12k. Mostly for the discounted scratch/dent/oldstock price, and that a matching indoor/outdoor set was available, and cold climate capable for Michigan winters. (Who makes this model, Gree? I couldn't find what looked like the same cold climate model. My other one, MrCool Universal is definitely a Gree/Midea and numerous other rebrands judging by the identical service & install manuals).

Funny discussion on the radio today: Bemoaning the condition or capability of the grid, with increasing electrical consumption due to more air conditioning. Improving A/C efficiency used to save energy, now it just turns into everyone having A/C. They had a farmer saying hey I need fuel for my tractors, people need to eat, but do they really need to chill stores down to 70degs, bread doesn't need to be kept cold. I'm thinking, what, no store is going to make it uncomfortable to shop, people go to big stores just to cool off. And here I'm adding an A/C & heater to my garage that I don't really need, but hey, I have enough free electricity that the utility doesn't really compensate well enough for. That's why we're here.

The outdoor unit is 'B grade' scratch & dent, the indoor unit is old stock, only $650 shipped for the pair. With buying some tools that I had borrowed last time, and I think all the misc parts I'll need, I'm at $1100. After FTC, it'll be about $800.

I took the sheet metal off the outdoor unit to fix some dents. I was able to fix a kinked elbow on the coil where it hit the housing. The coil tubing is a lot thinner and softer than I expected. But it mostly popped back out with gentle squeeze and turn from smooth jaw pliers padded by a rag.

I started making a wall mount, but when the heatpump arrived, I decided that's not the best idea just to attempt getting warm attic air on sunny winter days. I made a stand instead and got it situated. The sides of the stand are steel from a DC Solar trailer... It was very helpful to trace the footprint of the heatpump, to build the stand.

Garage heat pump

10 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

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Did you order from Ingram's?
That dent in the elbow looks pretty bad, are you worried it affected integrity?

Nice solid stand.

42OhmsPA said:

Did you order from Ingram's?
That dent in the elbow looks pretty bad, are you worried it affected integrity?

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Yes Ingrams. This is not a diy lineset model. I'll do pressure test & vacuuming and I'm going to braze in with shielding gas a filter/drier, sight glass, and access port on the liquid line for fun. I have the EPA 608 cert also, there was an online training somewhere that was free for 7 days

I was concerned about the elbow dent, it cut down the cross section by about 1/3 or 1/2. I almost missed it, had almost put the sheetmetal all back on before I noticed it, being focused on combing out any bent fins. The coil splits in 2 parallel loops at the other end, so if one loop had this dent it would have reduced the flow through half the coil. I think it is squeezed back close enough to be negligible. I'm hoping that the creased edges of the dent didn't get work hardened enough to matter. It didn't crack yet, so we'll see, should be fine. The alternative is what, try to send it back and get another one, and they scrap this one. I don't have equipment to recover refrigerant (yet), but I guess if it starts to leak I could do that and try to braze it.

daklein said:

Yes Ingrams. This is not a diy lineset model. I'll do pressure test & vacuuming and I'm going to braze in with shielding gas a filter/drier, sight glass, and access port on the liquid line for fun. I have the EPA 608 cert also, there was an online training somewhere that was free for 7 days

I was concerned about the elbow dent, it cut down the cross section by about 1/3 or 1/2. I almost missed it, had almost put the sheetmetal all back on before I noticed it, being focused on combing out any bent fins. The coil splits in 2 parallel loops at the other end, so if one loop had this dent it would have reduced the flow through half the coil. I think it is squeezed back close enough to be negligible. I'm hoping that the creased edges of the dent didn't get work hardened enough to matter. It didn't crack yet, so we'll see, should be fine. The alternative is what, try to send it back and get another one, and they scrap this one. I don't have equipment to recover refrigerant (yet), but I guess if it starts to leak I could do that and try to braze it.

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Thank you.

Besides that, did you have a good experience ordering from them?
I've been debating going that route for my next unit since the savings are significant.