The End of the World finally happened! AC/DC Mini Split?

[SolarScott]

Isn’t that the case with any Solar Setup.
Depending on the size your always going to have days you produce more power than you can use or don’t have enough.

With the Government 30% tax rebate for mini splits it’s a cheap setup that can pay for itself in 3 to 4 years. Then who cares. It’s just money in your pocket.

IF I am at home and can run the clothes washer, clothes dryer, well pump and sprinkler booster pump to water my yard, etc. etc.....I can produce 65 Kw a day.....If I am not home to do all this......entire system is being wasted.....produces only a trickle of power......but if I am at home doing all this, and I need the mini splits to both run full bore.....I am glad they have their own dedicated panels so I don't have to pick and choose what I want to run.

 

[timselectric]

Isn’t that the case with any Solar Setup.
Depending on the size your always going to have days you produce more power than you can use or don’t have enough.

The difference is batteries.
If you have batteries, extra production can be saved for later.

 

[ArthurEld]

Isn’t that the case with any Solar Setup.
Depending on the size your always going to have days you produce more power than you can use or don’t have enough.

With the Government 30% tax rebate for mini splits it’s a cheap setup that can pay for itself in 3 to 4 years. Then who cares. It’s just money in your pocket.

I have a net metering agreement so very little of my solar is wasted. I am happy it works for some people.
I've been thinking about installing a few mini splits to see if they work better with my Solark than central air.
I would start with one. But I will buy one without the MPPT if it's cheaper.

 

[n2aws]

I have a net metering agreement so very little of my solar is wasted. I am happy it works for some people.
I've been thinking about installing a few mini splits to see if they work better with my Solark than central air.
I would start with one. But I will buy one without the MPPT if it's cheaper.

That's my thinking too. I bought an inexpensive one without the AC/DC capability.
When (and if) I buy another and the prices have come down, I may get a 24k that is AC/DC, and leave the DC disconnected (use the panels for my normal solar instead... and should the need ever arise (I'm in hurricane-land), I may disconnect some of the panels and plug them into the minisplit, just to save wear and tear cycles on my batteries.

 

[Dooug]

I inherited a super old window AC unit when I bought my house, at least 25 years old. I could mostly get my inverter to run it but if other things were running it could start up and reset everything. It was cool to use it with my solar setup for "free air."

Found a clearance Midea AC window unit to replace it, which may be close to the most efficient window unit they make. It uses 20-30% less energy and never trips my inverter (since it is a *DC inverter* style almost like a minisplit).

My point being, I can make my entire house livable in non-emergency situations with a single, quiet 8000btu window unit. It also comes in 12000btu. Or I could afford to get four of them They are often cheap on facebook.

The EG4 certainly looks cool.

The new inverter tech window AC units are sensational. I just had a unexpected 3 week stay in an offgrid place in Mexico. I took a 12000 btu LG inverter AC unit with me (to replace the aging unit in the house).

The first night I ran the old AC unit of similar size for 6 hours before my Yamaha 2000 generator ran out of fuel. The second night I had the new AC installed and I got 12-13 hours of run time out of the generator over the next two weeks. I expected better, but not twice as good. Made it livable having AC at night as the temperature never got below 32 Celsius...even at night.

I had hoped to find a 8 or 10k unit but had to take what I could on the drive down.

 

[Sundog33]

I have a net metering agreement so very little of my solar is wasted. I am happy it works for some people.
I've been thinking about installing a few mini splits to see if they work better with my Solark than central air.
I would start with one. But I will buy one without the MPPT if it's cheaper.

My thoughts on being grid tied into my Solar goes back to my original post here... when the Transformer blew up and took out my Breaker box and lights... I was lucky nothing was running at the time except my TV and I had a surge strip on that, that saved it. My Neighbor was not so lucky, he lost his washer and dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator.
If it backed up into a costly Solar setup and blew that out just when you really need it, that would suck. I know that's a slim chance but a chance none the less. The reason I got into Solar was preparedness, saving money is just an added bonus. There is a website where you can monitor power outages in the US. Every day there are 100's of thousands of people out of power. When the big one comes... have AC. : )

Another thing I think of is if your going to add the AC load to your Solar setup you need a huge Charge Controller Inverter. What is the standby consumption on that? 100watts? Even at 50watts that's 1200watts a day, 8400watts a week, 28560watts a month wasted. The wasted power is just the cost of doing business, everyone experiences it in some form.

 

[Sundog33]

That's my thinking too. I bought an inexpensive one without the AC/DC capability.
When (and if) I buy another and the prices have come down, I may get a 24k that is AC/DC, and leave the DC disconnected (use the panels for my normal solar instead... and should the need ever arise (I'm in hurricane-land), I may disconnect some of the panels and plug them into the minisplit, just to save wear and tear cycles on my batteries.

That sounds like a good plan.

 

[tomy2]

Lots of good info on that Post. Thanks. I have to get myself motivated to start. Nothing to it but to do it, I always tell myself. I actually bought a Goodman 2ton regular AC and Gas Heater online. They dropped it in my driveway and with the help of my neighbor with a sedaline torch I installed it. My brother-in-law thought I was nuts, but still going strong since 2006. Fear of the unknown is what stops people from doing stuff.
I paid $1700 bucks back then, when people were charging $6000 grand to install.

As far as a Larger System. Its right for some. But from a financial perspective not for all. I just cracked 60 years old. I don't have 20 some years of life to get to a break even point. In April my gas and electric bill is only $125 with probably $50 in actual electric use. The main draw on a home is the air conditioning bumping up my bill around $300 in summer. If I can put a big dent in my AC charges and save say $150 a month in summer thats real progress in paying off a $3000 mini split system. Were talking like 5 year payoff.

Now lets add say just another $3000 grand for a Larger System. Knowing that this extra power your creating you can even use because your only using $50 bucks worth of power some months.... see were I'm going.

Secondly, as I stated before my Boyscout Mentality, I always like to be prepared for an emergency. I was listening to this Congressman saying I'm all for electric vehicles, I own one, but when you talk about changing the entire Government fleet of cars to electric by 2025 where is all this power going to come from? With charging one car equal to running 30 refrigerators you are going to crash the Grid with 5000 cars plug in at once.

I do believe major power outages are coming. Back to my original Post "the only things you really need" temporarily anyway is TV, Phone charge, Lights and... "Air Conditioning". So even though I talk about it here. This Mini Split isn't financially motivated, but Emergency motivated. Now, If the Grid goes down completely for months or more, you wont have to worry about power because the World would have turned into Shit.

when talking payoff periods, where you live and how much you pay per Kw, make a big difference . In central Ca. a kw. is $.35 to $.45. In Las Vegas it is less than $.20 kw. but you need AC twenty four seven, five months of the year. We only use it about six hours a day , for 3 months. My average bill was $250./month before solar , so my $12k diy solar & battery system has a payoff period of about 4 years. Coupled with two 12btu Mini splits that cost about $2.70k and save me between $700. and $1500 per winter, depending on how greedy the gas company is feeling .
If you are going to talk about costs, it would be helpful to post your utility rates and location for others to compare . Anyone with utility rates like mine, and diy ability, would be wise to invest in a mini-split. The payoff can be as little as two years, if you buy wisely.

 

[Sundog33]

when talking payoff periods, where you live and how much you pay per Kw, make a big difference . In central Ca. a kw. is $.35 to $.45. In Las Vegas it is less than $.20 kw. but you need AC twenty four seven, five months of the year. We only use it about six hours a day , for 3 months. My average bill was $250./month before solar , so my $12k diy solar & battery system has a payoff period of about 4 years. Coupled with two 12btu Mini splits that cost about $2.70k and save me between $700. and $1500 per winter, depending on how greedy the gas company is feeling .
If you are going to talk about costs, it would be helpful to post your utility rates and location for others to compare . Anyone with utility rates like mine, and diy ability, would be wise to invest in a mini-split. The payoff can be as little as two years, if you buy wisely.

Agreed. But dealing with Kw pricing is convoluted, they charge me one price for the first 600 Kw and another price for usage after that,
plus other factors play into the bottom line like home insulation, age and SEER rating of existing Central system vrs the much higher and more efficent use of the mini split, ect...
But, what I can say is my August bill is $295 just for electric Use and Delivery charges - typical for summer months.
The rest of the time its only like $50 bucks, maybe a little spike for Christmas lights...
So if we averaged saving say $200 x 4 summer months, Payed $3000 for the system, Got $900 back on the taxes. -
That's $2100 COP divided by $800 savings a year = payoff in 2.625 years.
That's not to mention any heat savings I would incur in winter. Gas here is cheap compared to electric and I usually run a gas fireplace for 75% of my heating needs so I would need some real time usage to figure that out.

So ya, your correct

The payoff can be as little as two years, if you buy wisely.

I have no issue with using a Mini-Split thru an already existing large Solar infrastructure.
And I see the draw... its very addicting and you just want more.
I am just trying to make a case to "Haters" who say there is no place for a dedicated Solar Panel driven Mini-Splits.
- For those reading this in research, this is a cheap, quick payout and easy way to get into Solar,
- For those with small to medium sized systems this maybe a way to up your game without having to redo the system you already have.
- For those who have gone whole hog on Solar, more is better isn't it. : ) Get the AC/DC one and sleep better at night knowing if your system blows up you can just plug your panels directly into the Mini-Split.
Can't we all just get along! : )

 

[ko6kL]

Someone should really come out with a DC transfer switch.

IM using a big old relay for that in my setup, Maybe not the best one, but working so far.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F2G1J9D/

 

[ko6kL]

I have no issue with using a Mini-Split thru an already existing large Solar infrastructure.
And I see the draw... its very addicting and you just want more.
I am just trying to make a case to "Haters" who say there is no place for a dedicated Solar Panel driven Mini-Splits.
- For those reading this in research, this is a cheap, quick payout and easy way to get into Solar,
- For those with small to medium sized systems this maybe a way to up your game without having to redo the system you already have.
- For those who have gone whole hog on Solar, more is better isn't it. : ) Get the AC/DC one and sleep better at night knowing if your system blows up you can just plug your panels directly into the Mini-Split.
Can't we all just get along! : )

the mini split PV models are also appealing as a way to get some cool air with out busting my Netmetering 1.0 contract.
If you can find some room on a wall to hang the inside unit and a installer.

 

[timselectric]

IM using a big old relay for that in my setup, Maybe not the best one, but working so far.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F2G1J9D/

That's fine for a 12v system.
But, most of us are running 48v (60v).

 

[ko6kL]

That's fine for a 12v system.
But, most of us are running 48v (60v).

im switching some 48volt panels with one also, no problems so far. but i see some better ones for 36volt golf carts,

 

[timselectric]

im switching some 48volt panels with one also, no problems so far. but i see some better ones for 36volt golf carts,

I won't chance it with DC loads. I won't use anything that isn't rated for the use.
It's not easy to break DC loads safety. That's why the proper equipment is expensive and harder to find.

 

[Sundog33]

if you can find some room on a wall to hang the inside unit and a installer.

Very true. I have built a Deck, Sunroom, installed Windows, Sided my entire House on a ladder, even installed my own AC Central and Furnace in my younger days. I'm not sure if I'm just getting older and more anal about doing things perfect, but I had a hard time starting this job. Weeks of thinking about it.

Finding the perfect placement and worrying about drilling a 2" hole thru my house with siding on it and trying to make it airtight had me flip-flopping continually. I finally decided on installing it overtop of my China Closet in the dinning room. Placing it that high I ended up with interference from the Soffits as I have a By-Level home and my Dinning room sits on a claw space.

So I ended up cutting out the drywall and running the pipes inside the wall and exiting at the bottom. This solved multiply problems:

- I didn't have to worry about the sloping exit for the condensation hose. I fitted that flex hose into a hard 1" PVC pipe and exited that separate from the Freon lines
- the Freon lines had a lot more room to make a gentle curve out the house. And I could add more pipe insulation over both of them.
- I could run the Power up from the crawlspace and out around the same area.
- Since it exited low I could remove some siding add a 1/2" thick PVC Board and have a Flat working area to exit all my stuff.
- Double and tripled insulated all the inside wall pipes so hopefully no issued there. And had a hidden place to spray some foam to make sure no outside air gets in.

This stuff was my biggest headache. Connecting and vacuuming the lines should be no big deal if you watch a couple videos, as I have forgotten myself. Fingers crossed next week.