Ductless A/C Systems vs. Central
My wife and I are pretty much gut renovating a townhouse. The mult-zone ductless A/C systems seem far more affordable than running new duct work through the old house (even though the walls are all open). Can anyone speak to how well they work, if running them is more/less expensive, and just general opinions. Considering…
My wife and I are pretty much gut renovating a townhouse. The mult-zone ductless A/C systems seem far more affordable than running new duct work through the old house (even though the walls are all open). Can anyone speak to how well they work, if running them is more/less expensive, and just general opinions.
Considering the Friedrich 4-zone (maybe two of them) or a Sanyo version.
Thanks!
hey wyckoff – yes, they are flush to the wall. walls are white, grill is white and you can’t see the A/C (painted inside of box black). we did a gut reno with creative renovation. don’t really know re the space.
Ductless units are much more efficient than conventional ducted systems. The Fujitsu systems go up to a SEER rating of 26 which I believe is the highest you can get ducted or not. There are many great brands out there, but as mentioned above, the installer is just as important as the brand. There are several recessed units available now so you won’t see the airhandler mounted on the wall.
Is “condensate” water? Could you run it outside to a rainbarrel and use it to water your garden?
We had a Mr. Slim in our large (>300 sf) kitchen. Our experience was that the Mr. Slim was so powerful that it was uncomfortable and noisy to be near it. This may have been our fault, in that we had a large unit because we were relying on it to cool a lot of space (about 1200 sf including that kitchen). We also had a problem with the pumps that were supposed to eject condensate up to the roof, and had to retrofit to a gravity driven drain system. We built the air handler into a shelf system so it wasn’t too noticeable when not in use. When we renovated the entire apartment, we considered a normal ducted system and a high-pressure mini-duct system and went with the normal system. We used Bob Fano for the a/c work and were very happy with him.
Hey Justmoved – Like that idea – are your wall units fully recessed (ie are the grills flush with the wall), and how much space did you have to build into the top and bottom? Who did that install for you – I am very interested – the only thing that has stopped me from doing mini split in the past are the butt-ugly wall units…didn’t realize you could recess them and still get good airflow.
I’m an architect as well and as Architect66 said, the zoned system is the way to go. Both Mitsubishi and Daikin make multi-zoned heat pump systems that are very efficient as well as super quiet. I just installed the Mitsubishi City Multi system with 5 zones in my 3 story with the compressor on the roof. The City Multi is the big brother to the Mr. Slim units. It can handle more zones and has a variety of air handler units that can be concealed within ceilings or walls so you’re not stuck with those wall mounted units. Piping distances are not an issue for this system. It’s a bit expensive but truly top of the line. Jimmy Wong of Best AC in Queens is the guy to call. He’s certified by both Mitsubishi as well as Daikin, does a high quality job, is reasonably priced and really cares.
I’ve had 3 floors of Mitsubishi “Mr. Slim” units for 5 years. They work very well and inside unit is not magnificent but is really not obtrusive. I love the heat/ac capacity for all year use, and the outside unit out back is extremely quiet and not that big. The problem is installation – I’d use Angie’s List instead of Mitsubishi Dealer recommendations.
we just did a gut reno for 2 floors in a brownstone and put 2 split systems one for each floor. we used fujitsu 2 split and 3 split system. works great. the air handles are actually inside the walls and we put a wooden (painted in the wall color) grills in front of it so you don’t see it. a bit more expensive but you don’t see the small units.
we just did a gut reno for 2 floors in a brownstone and put 2 split systems one for each floor. we used fujitsu 2 split and 3 split system. works great. the air handles are actually inside the walls and we put a wooden grate in front of it so you don’t see it. a bit more expensive but you don’t see the small units.