So we bought a vacation home that was built in 1998 and has hot water baseboards and a new boiler. We want to add a/c. It's a pretty typical 3 bedroom ranch, about 1600 sq ft, with a full finished basement with 2 more bedrooms, living room and another kitchen. I'm not really concerned about the basement, because it stays very comfortable down there in summer. There's no headroom to put in a central a/c unit in the basement and add a trunk and ducts. There's a central closet on the main level that could house a central unit, but that would probably mean running ductwork in the attic. It wouldn't be that bad, it's all blown in insulation and trusses so it's accessible. I know that's not ideal, and we are in Michigan so we aren't in the southwest where the attic gets thousands of degrees. Or the ductless mini split units in the 3 bedrooms and living room, but the wife does not want to see the insulated lines running all over the outside of the house. Maybe run the lines in the attic? I haven't contacted a contractor yet because we don't actually get possession for a couple more weeks, but I like to be as informed as possible, so any suggestions would be appreciated. I don't expect specific answers without seeing it of course.
AC options
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Mini-split. keep ducts out of attic, mini is infinitely more efficient than a crap attic system.
the lines can be covered i think.
the lines can be covered i think.
Yeah, but the covers for the lineset look like someone stuck vinyl downspouts on the side of your house. It's a waterfront house and would be on the water side, and the wife said no way is she going to have white vinyl running all over the side of the house. Any other options for the linesets?
Multi head mini. Many can be run, so you can run multiple heads off one main lineset. Which means only one line gets run on the outside of the house.
We sell a load of Samsung equipment that looks great when it's installed.
http://www.samsung.com/au/air-conditioning/
We sell a load of Samsung equipment that looks great when it's installed.
http://www.samsung.com/au/air-conditioning/
Thanks for the suggestion, but whether it's one lineset or all 4, the boss isn't going to go for having the covers running across the entire length of the house. Can you imagine this running across the entire length of a waterfront home? Yeah, she's not gonna go for that! lol
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Run one up into the attic. Then you can distribute into the rooms once you get up there out of sight. You can do ducted units (like little air handlers), wall mounts, baseboards, whatever works best. And if running the lineset down an interior wall is easier, that's fine too because you can install mini condensate pumps on the units that mount inside and pump the condensation wherever you need to dispose of it.
Can you mount the mini split air handlers right at the ceiling, then run the linesets in the attic? The one main one that would go to the outside unit would be on the side of the house, so she's fine with that. Will the linesets condense and get insulation wet? I know each unit has drain lines and to have that line run outside the house and drip down would be fine I think.
I was also considering something like this. It's a wall mounted unit, and you drill two 8" holes to the outside for venting, and use an existing electrical outlet. (draws 8 amps I think, and nothing else would really run on each circuit)
It's something that I could do myself, so would save a ton on labor. What are your thoughts?
http://www.kingersons.com/wallaircondtioner.html
It's something that I could do myself, so would save a ton on labor. What are your thoughts?
http://www.kingersons.com/wallaircondtioner.html
The line would be insulated per manufacturers instructions. So it wouldn't condense and drip.
Where you mounted the indoor units would depend on what style of unit you chose. There are pumps that fit inside the indoor equipment, that pump the condensation out so units don't have to be on an outside wall.
Where you mounted the indoor units would depend on what style of unit you chose. There are pumps that fit inside the indoor equipment, that pump the condensation out so units don't have to be on an outside wall.
I honestly wouldn't want them hanging on my inside walls anymore then I'd want linesets running all over outside ones. Plus they could be noisy, plus if you ever went and installed something else you'd have 8" holes all over the place to seal up.
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I have never been really wild on the idea of mini splits either. Great little machines mind you but to have all that ugliness in plain site when you've worked so hard to make everything look good... It just doesn't sit right with me. Just my opinion though.
The options have really exploded for mini splits in recent years. You can have everything from conventional wall hung indoor units to full ducted air handlers that are completely out of sight.
My dream system, if money were no object, would be a Samsung DVM-S heat recovery system (big brother to a conventional mini) with various indoor heads spread through the house. Wall mounts in the basement, ducted low static fan coils mounted to the ceiling joists in the basement for the first floor, same in the attic for the second floor, ceiling cassettes in the shop. All capable of running simultaneous heating and cooling off a single outdoor unit.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but is seems to me there is no such thing as a central thermostat to control all those heads? Each head has to be set to it's own temperature with its own thermostat?
They can be daisy chained off of one thermostat, have independent stats, be controlled via a multi channel remote controller, whatever suits the job the best. I did a commissioning a few weeks ago where none of the indoor units had a thermostat. The specs called for them to run off return air temp and all settings were to be made through the buildings BacNet automation system.
Of course this can depend on the manufacturers requirements, I do far more Samsung then anything else with some Mitsubishi stuff mixed in every so often.
With Samsung, you can dial in with the maintenance tool or via the automation system and make global changes to the whole system at once.
Most of the units I start are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars on initial cost. But I do all commercial/industrial. And the payback in the end can still be substantial.
For 1600 sq.ft. ranch with baseboard heat I suggest single zone conventional ac with horizontal air handler in the attic. Consider Trane / American standard. Many feel their spline fin condenser is specifically suited for coastal applications and their new hyperion air handlers enclose insulation within double walls.
Efficiency is how much you pay and if vacation property not in a rental program, payback on anything beyond a basic unit is unlikely due to limited run time.
First cost for mini splits likely much more than a conventional single zone system.
As to the location of refrigerant lines, they must go somewhere. Task the wife with that instead of tolerating her disapproval of every plausible solution.
I suggest you consider WiFi thermostats. A house left with AC off can require two days during peak summer to get comfortable. With a WiFi stat you can start the system two days before you arrive. I prefer this the cost of keeping an unoccupied house comfy.
Efficiency is how much you pay and if vacation property not in a rental program, payback on anything beyond a basic unit is unlikely due to limited run time.
First cost for mini splits likely much more than a conventional single zone system.
As to the location of refrigerant lines, they must go somewhere. Task the wife with that instead of tolerating her disapproval of every plausible solution.
I suggest you consider WiFi thermostats. A house left with AC off can require two days during peak summer to get comfortable. With a WiFi stat you can start the system two days before you arrive. I prefer this the cost of keeping an unoccupied house comfy.
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