EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
For me it's drapes or rugs. I'd rather get a root canal. But I tolerate it because she puts up with all my crap. Plus we don't have any drapes or curtains in this house and only a couple rugs. So I'm good.
What Mini-Split did you use, and Why?
- Thread starter Lt.Dan
- Start date
On a single hose portable AC, as often as not the coil section is well isolated from the rest of the unit. Its the part on the bottom. Most will have an air filter. Its easier to do with the ones that have just one filter and only one side used for the intake.
Home depot sells a galvanized roof flashing flange in various diameters. This one is 5", which would be appropriate for most portables.
American Metal Products 5 in. Standard Flashing 5EFH - The Home Depot
This 5 in. Standard Flashing is made of steel and galvanized for enhanced strength and performance. Designed for use in HVAC systems. The flashing is protected by a 1 year manufacturer warranty.
www.homedepot.com
Then duct tape that over the intake area. I attached a plastic sleeve with adhesive and pop rivets to that to give the hose something to mount to. Youre also going to want some kind of screen on the outside.
How well it works really depends on how well designed the AC unit is. If they were pulling 100% of the air through the filter it will work well and youll feel strong suction through the hose. If the filter was just for appearances and theres a lot of gaps in the chassis youll have to plug those up with duct tape and foam or it wont work well.
Ive been wondering if affixing a duct fan or blower to that hose would help but realize if it pushed more air than the unit pulled in youd be defeating the purpose of the dual hose.
So the idea is buy a cheaper single hose unit and convert it to dual.On a single hose portable AC, as often as not the coil section is well isolated from the rest of the unit. Its the part on the bottom. Most will have an air filter. Its easier to do with the ones that have just one filter and only one side used for the intake.
Home depot sells a galvanized roof flashing flange in various diameters. This one is 5", which would be appropriate for most portables.
American Metal Products 5 in. Standard Flashing 5EFH - The Home Depot
This 5 in. Standard Flashing is made of steel and galvanized for enhanced strength and performance. Designed for use in HVAC systems. The flashing is protected by a 1 year manufacturer warranty.www.homedepot.com
View attachment 154093
Then duct tape that over the intake area. I attached a plastic sleeve with adhesive and pop rivets to that to give the hose something to mount to. Youre also going to want some kind of screen on the outside.
How well it works really depends on how well designed the AC unit is. If they were pulling 100% of the air through the filter it will work well and youll feel strong suction through the hose. If the filter was just for appearances and theres a lot of gaps in the chassis youll have to plug those up with duct tape and foam or it wont work well.
Ive been wondering if affixing a duct fan or blower to that hose would help but realize if it pushed more air than the unit pulled in youd be defeating the purpose of the dual hose.
as for the wave2, it’s 1600cdn. It’s in my budget for sure. The reviews say it’s better than the original plus it does heat. Also looking at the miada u shaped a/c. Problem is our windows slide side to side so it presents a challenge to instal.
OPTIMALSOLAR
New Member
Or, buy a whynter. Arc 14 dual. 4-500 bucks 14000btu. 1200watts. Easily cools 500sf, and in a pinch, will keep a 2400 sf home livable, if the Hvac craters as mine did this Tuesday. Also greatly reduces need for hvac under 90 degrees. Supplements and somewhat reduces over 90.
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In my case it was less about cost than it was about size. I was putting it in a vehicle and all the ones that are dual hose are substantially larger than the smallest single hose units. They are also larger capacity.
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
My dyslexic ass mind flipped the first letters of those words when I read it, and let me tell you, the rest of that post takes on a whole new meaning.
I noticed some of the other really low temp ones have to have an electric heating element somewhere on the outside unit. What is the purpose of that and does the Senville one have that?
What did you end up buying? How much power does it use?
Get some spray foam on the wall penatration
Not sure but assume it does. The Cooper&Hunter HyperHeat have that element based in some install/run videos I’ve seen. The Senville Aura has the exact same specs and temp run levels. Believe they are both rebadged midea units.
Few other things I’ve discovered by calling the US online stores selling these midea units:
Senville: no horizontal air adjustment
C&H: manual horizontal air adjustment
Pioneer: Electronic horizontal air adjustment.
Rocksnsalt
Solar Enthusiast
The heating element is for de-icing in winter when the unit is being used in heat mode.
Which brings me to the question: Do the EG4 heat pumps have this feature and is it active when the unit is running directly on solar, assuming enough watts are available?
It would be important to me and I’m sure others.
I have not seen it mentioned in the marketing material.
Perhaps @SignatureSolarJames can answer this.
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RCinFLA
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2020
- Messages
- 3,574
Reverse cycle units go back to cooling mode periodically to defrost outside coils. Some units have an electric heating element along the bottom of outside unit to melt any ice buildup in bottom tray that would block draining of water from coils being defrosted. Electric heaters are not much help in defrosting the coils.
Outside relative humidity is a big factor, as is outside temperature for frost build up. The compressor will speed up as frost builds on outside coils reducing air flow across coils. This consumes more electrical power. When compressor speed rises too much, along with other refrigerant temperature readings on tubing, it will trigger a defrost cycle.
Because of the outside relative humidity factor, it is hard to state a minimum outside temperature they will work to. It is also not an abrupt point, it just has more and more trouble to make your inside comfortably warm as unit spend greater percentage of time in defrost mode.
The more time it has to spend defrosting in cooling mode, the worse the indoor heating efficiency.
In mid and south Florida, where it rarely drops below freezing, a lot of people listen to local TV weather telling them to turn on sprinklers to help protect their plants from freeze damage. This can be a big mistake if you have a heat pump as the sprinklers raise the relative humidity around the outside unit.
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Rocksnsalt
Solar Enthusiast
Agree efficiency drops with ambient temperature.
But if your electric energy is plentiful and *free….
*acknowledging cost of solar and battery system.
That said, in long harsh winters such as northern climates there will certainly be limitations.
But if your electric energy is plentiful and *free….
*acknowledging cost of solar and battery system.
That said, in long harsh winters such as northern climates there will certainly be limitations.
Well an update on this topic of mini split heating specifically. If you really dig into the Senville Aura 24kbtu (their version of -22° hyper heat) @17°F they only put out 15k BTU of heat. Compare this to Cooper and Hunter 24k btu Hyper Heat -22°F unit which puts out 23.5k btu @ 17° and 23k btu at 5°. This comes directly from their AHRI certificates. Seems like all these units are not made the same.
I paused my order on Senville till I figure this out.
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Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
Good catch! This kind of info is EXACTLY why I started this thread
Just ordered yet another mini split. Pioneer, pretty good for the price still.
Also found this quick evacuation tool, which I question it's effectiveness. I'll probably still use a vacuum pump.
Have you guys used one of these before? It is called kwik-e-vac. I never trust reviews on Amazon so I'll give a shot.
Also found this quick evacuation tool, which I question it's effectiveness. I'll probably still use a vacuum pump.
Have you guys used one of these before? It is called kwik-e-vac. I never trust reviews on Amazon so I'll give a shot.
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
Aren't those cans just pressurized nitrogen to clear out and clean the lines? I think a vacuum is still required
42OhmsPA
What's in a title?
I considered it but ended up buying a vacuum pump.
It would be interesting to hook it up along with the gauges to see how much pressure it puts in the system... You'd need a T though.
I would leave the bottom connection loose with the thread started and wrench handy so you can quickly tighten down after kwik e vac-ing.
That's what I thought! But check this out:
-Flush the air and other non-condensable gases out of the copper line set and indoor unit
-Alternative for the inefficient and expensive quick-connect line sets
-Cost-effective, simple, and quick evacuation
-Perfect for most people and installations
Includes ready-to-connect 5/16" SAE threaded connector
I think you're right. I don't see how it could evacuate everything from the lines. Probably still nice to try themn vacuum it second
Ohh ok I understand. That makes sense.
It’s a rabbit hole I didn’t want to go down but my primary concern is heat and offsetting as much electric baseboard as possible. The C&H ,outside of Mitsubishi, seems to be the only one that can truly go down to sub-zero and still produce full capacity. Would like to know others opinion or real use scenarios for very cold weather.
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Quattrohead
Solar Wizard
It is basically a can of R152a refrigerant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,1-Difluoroethane
Probably good if you want to go behind the bike sheds and give it a wiff LOL
LithiumSolar
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Messages
- 184
I see Senville mentioned which caught my attention. I have one of their older units, the SENA/24HF that's just over 4 years old now. I can't locate the original documentation for it but I'm pretty sure it's the model that heats down to 5F. I have it connected to a pizzabox head unit that's ducted to 3 bedrooms. It still provided plenty of heat the nights we've dropped close to 0F, but I can tell it struggles at those temps. I've been VERY impressed by it and have been considering their newer models for a future upgrade - 3 ductless head units to replace the ducting that's likely killing efficiency. I'd love to hear feedback/review of someone that has the newer -22F units.
Yeah youd have to be real careful about the order in which you did all that and injecting just the atmosphere in one hose unpurged could screw this up. Prolly easy to get it down after a couple of tries, lol.
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