What Mini-Split did you use, and Why?

[Farm Boy]

I bought a vacuum pump with line set from Harbor Freight. For me , might use it 1or 3 times through my life time and beats paying a company tech to do it. As I found out these HVAC companies around where I live don't want to mess with install unless you buy there stuff.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

I bought a vacuum pump with line set from Harbor Freight. For me , might use it 1or 3 times through my life time and beats paying a company tech to do it. As I found out these HVAC companies around where I live don't want to mess with install unless you buy there stuff.

Makes a lot of sense. I've done HF for a few things where it was the same kind of deal. I only need it to work a few times.

I really don't blame the HVAC guys for taking that position. They install a system for someone who furnishes the equipment. The equipment fails for some reason not the fault of installer. The customer still wants to blame the installer and wants them to fix it for free. In this and other trades I've found people over the years who will do it for me but it's usually a no warranty for any reason kind of deal. From their perspective they're making less money and setting themselves up for headaches. A lot of people are going to be reasonable about what they expect from the installer, but think about all the people you've known who would want to hold the installer responsible no matter what. It's not the kind of work they want and most of them have plenty work anyway.

 

[Farm Boy]

Makes a lot of sense. I've done HF for a few things where it was the same kind of deal. I only need it to work a few times.

I really don't blame the HVAC guys for taking that position. They install a system for someone who furnishes the equipment. The equipment fails for some reason not the fault of installer. The customer still wants to blame the installer and wants them to fix it for free. In this and other trades I've found people over the years who will do it for me but it's usually a no warranty for any reason kind of deal. From their perspective they're making less money and setting themselves up for headaches. A lot of people are going to be reasonable about what they expect from the installer, but think about all the people you've known who would want to hold the installer responsible no matter what. It's not the kind of work they want and most of them have plenty work anyway.

You are right and I understand. I never expected the area HV dealer to warrant my system but I needed the pump and a special valve to check the line set. Made an appointment and they put me off for weeks. Canceled the work order, watched several you tube videos and took a trip to the local HF store. Did it my self and I'm sure there charge wouldn't been any less than my own pump. Been running for 5 yrs now so my warranty has finished. When it stops working right I will just go out and buy another and the new one will be even more efficient. I think the mini split inverter style heat pump is the best way to go with a home with out duct work as mine don't.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

You are right and I understand. I never expected the area HV dealer to warrant my system but I needed the pump and a special valve to check the line set. Made an appointment and they put me off for weeks. Canceled the work order, watched several you tube videos and took a trip to the local HF store. Did it my self and I'm sure there charge wouldn't been any less than my own pump. Been running for 5 yrs now so my warranty has finished. When it stops working right I will just go out and buy another and the new one will be even more efficient. I think the mini split inverter style heat pump is the best way to go with a home with out duct work as mine don't.

Good work! Yes, I agree, especially on a home or any structure without existing duct work.

 

[Nan_wpg]

I looked at that ecoflow unit. Seems like a lot of money for a glorified portable.
The only thing it has over a traditional small portable is that its dual hose however you can modify many single hose portables to dual hose operation without much fuss.
Ecoflow has some customer complaints on the web that say they are useless on warranty.
If youre serious about buying one (I almost was but couldnt justify not using one of the 4 tiny portables Ive collected in storage) note that ecoflow just had a huge price hike. They now want 1800 for the unit and 900 for the battery. Ha.
Rackupgo seems legit and has it for $1000 + 700.
Still a lot of money. One of my portables + li-ion and inverter is less with twice the btu. The AC is 26x13x13" theres small ones out there.

I know nothing about these units. I just need something portable. Not sure where you got the 1800 price?

 

[Batvette]

I know nothing about these units. I just need something portable. Not sure where you got the 1800 price?

From their website. As of yesterday that was their price. As I also said, their retailers often have better prices.

Current site screen shot.
A month ago it was $1199 "presale".

They also had this sketchy as hell presale coupon for sale. Pay $100 for it a month before they were shipping, get $200 off.
Someone must be short on operating capital?
Anyway the ecoflow original version seemed to have fairly positive reviews last summer, unlike the zerobreeze 2 which has a consensus of being a useless toy for anything more than cooling a small broom closet.

 

[RCinFLA]

Portable A/C have their place but are very inefficient.

If you get one, look for a model that has air flow condenser input and output ducts to go to window. Many just have an output air duct where it pushs just the hot condenser air outside. These units create negative pressure in the house so they also eject inside cooled air outside and suck in outside air through doors and window frames allowing outside air inside, making them even more inefficient.

You also have to dump the condensate water drain pan periodically.

 

[Nan_wpg]

From their website. As of yesterday that was their price. As I also said, their retailers often have better prices. View attachment 153112

Current site screen shot.
A month ago it was $1199 "presale".

They also had this sketchy as hell presale coupon for sale. Pay $100 for it a month before they were shipping, get $200 off.
Someone must be short on operating capital?
Anyway the ecoflow original version seemed to have fairly positive reviews last summer, unlike the zerobreeze 2 which has a consensus of being a useless toy for anything more than cooling a small broom closet.

They just changed it. Oh well at that price they are out to lunch.
looking at the Miranda or whatever mini u split for a window

 

[Bluedog225]

My costco Midea seems to suck less. Pretty good EER.

Dual hose (of course).

I’ve been running it full tilt in a high humidity environment for a few weeks. No drainage to speak of. A couple of table spoons in the bucket. Seems weird but that‘s the facts.

 

[Lt.Dan]

I’ve been running it full tilt in a high humidity environment for a few weeks. No drainage to speak of. A couple of table spoons in the bucket. Seems weird but that‘s the facts.

If theres no water in the bucket, then it must be pretty poor at lowering humidity, which I think is pretty important.

 

[1201]

question for anyone with experience. do the minisplits keep running when an inverter switches from battery-grid or vice versa? Ie that 20 ms transfer, do they notice?

 

[Nan_wpg]

My costco Midea seems to suck less. Pretty good EER.

Dual hose (of course).View attachment 153133

I’ve been running it full tilt in a high humidity environment for a few weeks. No drainage to speak of. A couple of table spoons in the bucket. Seems weird but that‘s the facts.

How much power does it use?
what do you consider high humidity? Seems like there should be way more than tablespoons of,water??

 

[EastTexCowboy]

question for anyone with experience. do the minisplits keep running when an inverter switches from battery-grid or vice versa? Ie that 20 ms transfer, do they notice?

Mine have so far but only three or four times I've gone to grid and back, so not a lot of history but that seems to be the case.

 

[Bluedog225]

Looks like morning average is 83 percent humidity and overall average around 71. Lower than I thought.

It has a “dry” mode as well that I have not run yet. Though I am under the impression that running the normal cycle dehumidifies.

It must be blowing the condensate out the exhaust hose as vapor.

 

[RCinFLA]

Looks like morning average is 83 percent humidity and overall average around 71. Lower than I thought.

It has a “dry” mode as well that I have not run yet. Though I am under the impression that running the normal cycle dehumidifies.

It must be blowing the condensate out the exhaust hose as vapor.

'Dry' mode just reduces indoor fan speed to reduce air flow rate across cooling evaporator. It allows more time for passing air to be in contact with cold evaporator coils, allowing more condensation from humid air.

By putting less btu's into cooling room air, the evaporator temp drops a bit also giving more humidity condensation.

It takes a lot of btu's for water to make a phase state change from water vapor to water.

 

[1201]

Mine have so far but only three or four times I've gone to grid and back, so not a lot of history but that seems to be the case.

hi. thanks. Theyve kept running? or they noticed and shut down?

 

[RCinFLA]

hi. thanks. Theyve kept running? or they noticed and shut down?

Depends on inverter and controller of mini-split.

Low cost HF AIO inverters are more likely to have a greater drop out time glitch when grid drops, especially if they are AC input sourced battery charging when grid drops.

The electronics controller in air conditioners can trigger about a 5 minute shutdown to allow system refrigerant pressure to equalize so the compressor does not try to restart again with high output side refrigerant head pressure. Even a mini-split, variable speed, three phase inverter with soft start does not want to attempt a compressor startup against a large head pressure.

 

[1201]

Depends on inverter and controller of mini-split.

Low cost HF AIO inverters are more likely to have a greater drop out time glitch when grid drops, especially if they are AC input sourced battery charging when grid drops.

The electronics controller in air conditioners can trigger about a 5 minute shutdown to allow system refrigerant pressure to equalize so the compressor does not try to restart again with high output side refrigerant head pressure. Even a mini-split, variable speed, three phase inverter with soft start does not want to attempt a compressor startup against a large head pressure.

right, but if they dont see the switch then they dont shut down. thats what Im trying to find out- do they see the switchover and shutdown? thanks

 

[EastTexCowboy]

hi. thanks. Theyve kept running? or they noticed and shut down?

They kept running. The only thing I've had an issue with was one computer and it was a weak UPS. Everything else has kept running as far as I can tell. The fridges, freezers and AC I have checked.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Depends on inverter and controller of mini-split.

Low cost HF AIO inverters are more likely to have a greater drop out time glitch when grid drops, especially if they are AC input sourced battery charging when grid drops.

The electronics controller in air conditioners can trigger about a 5 minute shutdown to allow system refrigerant pressure to equalize so the compressor does not try to restart again with high output side refrigerant head pressure. Even a mini-split, variable speed, three phase inverter with soft start does not want to attempt a compressor startup against a large head pressure.

Mine are LV6548 so low cost HF, but the AC are Mitsubishi so that may be a factor. I had some issues with getting the SA settings to take and tweaking config or I wouldn't have gone to grid at all but it's good to know it works.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

You can see in this graph where the grid was triggered and then went back to battery. The load didn't change. In particular, when it went to grid at the 6:30 mark the load was above 4k. Those little spikes are the coffee maker but most of the rest of it is the AC units. This is, of course, speculation but it's based on a lot of days of monitoring so I can usually tell when the AC units are running and whether it's one or two units. I actually have a third one ton unit on the garage but it draws so little it's hard to identify in a graph. But beyond this, I actually checked a couple of times when it went to grid and the units never shut off.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I used the dry mode on my Pioneer 12k earlier this week. I was amazed at the amount of water coming out. It would fluctuate from a constant drip drip drip to a steady stream. I never observed this much condensate in auto mode, actually I only put it in dry mode because I noticed rh was creeping up and worried I crushed the drain line during install.

 

[1201]

They kept running. The only thing I've had an issue with was one computer and it was a weak UPS. Everything else has kept running as far as I can tell. The fridges, freezers and AC I have checked.

thanks for that info!

 

[1201]

'Dry' mode just reduces indoor fan speed to reduce air flow rate across cooling evaporator. It allows more time for passing air to be in contact with cold evaporator coils, allowing more condensation from humid air.

By putting less btu's into cooling room air, the evaporator temp drops a bit also giving more humidity condensation.

It takes a lot of btu's for water to make a phase state change from water vapor to water.

My dry mode works differently. Cool mode will try to reach a set temp and maintain it with low fan speed and if ultimately turn off the compressor if not needed.


Dry mode just keeps the compressor going even if you hit set temperature.

 

[RCinFLA]

My dry mode works differently. Cool mode will try to reach a set temp and maintain it with low fan speed and if ultimately turn off the compressor if not needed.


Dry mode just keeps the compressor going even if you hit set temperature.

Yes, it keeps compressor on to keep evaporator cold but it must reduce air flow to allow greater condensation. Reduced air flow also prevents cooling room down too much while it condenses more humidity out on cold evaporator core.

Too much air flow and it just dumps much of the air humidity back into the room.