[supers05]

4400W for 18K BTU sounds kind of insane, seems like somebody with low information told you the OCPD. Not sure you can hit a legal SEER minimum with that draw.

MCA on a Mitsubishi 30K is 17A with recommended OCPD of 20A, steady state power is 244W blower, 2060W outside unit.

Inverters can have lots eer during peak loading, and still come out with a high seer rating.

 

[supers05]

Does anyone know the actual working wattage of a Mr. Cool 18,000 BTU single zone A/C?
I received an answer from the manufacturer that it's 220 V. x 20 A = 4,400 watts. I know P = I x E, but 4,400 seems a little high for a single zone, and obviously it doesn't always draw 20 amps. ?

Thanks

The power use will highly depend on outdoor temperature, indoor enthalpy, and commanded operation percentage.

https://mrcool.com/wp-content/dox_repo/mc-diy-es-4-ss-en-01.pdf

I believe those numbers are at 100% load. You get input energy for heating but not cooling. Mr. Cool doesn't post the same kind of extended performance data as everyone else.

 

[supers05]

Thanks. that's a big help if I'm reading it correctly, during heating season the 18,000 unit is drawing less than 2000 watts?
Would I expect the cooling performance power input to be more or less? View attachment 749652

Less, unless you expect +100°f dry bulb weather often.

 

[supers05]

...
It shows wattage as 1370, 1575. Not sure why there are two values,... .

First for cooling, second for heating.

certainly better than 4,400 W.
Assuming Mr. Cool numbers would be similar.

The 4400 w number came from the manufacturer after I contacted them asking about power rating. Their reply was: 20amps x 220 volts = 4400 watts. Apparently the responder didn't know what I was asking about. That's why I came to this forum to ask folks with practical knowledge.

They didn't know what they were talking about. However, because it's a HVAC device, you must use that number for code reasons. Wire, breaker, panel, etc. selections.

Expect the Mr. Cool to consume UP TO 2000 watts. It shouldn't have a startup surge that's significant enough to even think about. It'll typically consume a fraction of that. Somewhere between 25% and 100% depending if it's keeping up with the heat loss /cooling load, and how warm/cold it is outside.

 

[supers05]

I totally understand about the code requirements. As a matter of fact, although the employee who responded to my question used 20 A for required breaker size, while the manual actually calls for 30 A.

Minimum rating of 18A, max of 30A. I would install 20A.

30A gives them more flexibility to install using existing infrastructure.