[kbds61d]

Hi all,
The room that was once an open air brick garage/carport in my mid century ranch was converted to a living room years ago.

When they did this, they added windows everywhere and a big double slider patio door where the big opening was as well as a fireplace. They also put in a boiler in the basement and radiant baseboard heaters in the room under two sides of the windows. (see attached drawing)

I bought the house about 10 years ago and this is where we spend all of our time. I quickly realized that AC would be needed so I installed a cassette AC only split system in the ceiling. It was the best solution as I had room in the attic above and it has worked pretty much great with the exception of needing to be charged twice now.

Long story short, I really want to get rid of the boiler in the basement and the footprint it takes up. I did a thread a year or two ago chasing down a solution that would have reduced footprint by making EVERYTHING in the whole house's system hydronic but I think now that getting a heating and cooling unit to replace my AC would be a winning proposition. I know they are rated differently and that I might need to get a unit that operates at low temps for the climate here (Cincinnati, OH)

Any reason to think this wouldn't work?

is 18,000 BTU overkill? There is a lot of window space in here. I can't remember the specs on the cooling unit I have now but will check when I'm home.

Any recommended units?

thanks!

 

[kbds61d]

For what it’s worth, I currently have a Sanyo XS1872 — a 17,500 BTU cooling only unit. It cools well when it’s under 100* out. Maybe better insulation would help that or I could upsize I guess.

 

[kbds61d]

Something like this looks like it could work. Will operate at low outdoor temps, half the cost of a Daiken unit

https://www.highseer.com/products/2...mfilcad-ahri-certified?variant=24482066235456

 

[roughneck]

I’d do a load calc and see what size unit you actually need first.
Size it for heating since there’s no backup heating source.
Never worked on a Pioneer. But I shy away from some of those lesser known brands. Minis can be complicated and proprietary. Finding someone to work on them is difficult.
Don’t get anything with precharged linesets and quick connect fittings.

 

[Porsche986S]

My suggestion is find a local HVAC company that knows inverter technology . I am currently going through this process but for entire house vs one room like you are doing . But the methodology to get the right sized system is the same . It's not just a simple square footage question , you have to take into account all that glass , your insulation , average winter/summer temps , local electric rates and so on .

I will say I have a 24x26 man cave garage with 12 ' ceilings . Walls are 2x6 with R19 insulation and the ceiling currently has R19 I need to add more . But here in the GA. mountains my 24K Mitsubishi mini split does a GREAT job of heating/cooling the space .

Final opinion: There are plenty of brands of mini split/inverter technology out there running the full gamut of price and quality . When I did my search I only considered Mitsubishi/Fujitsu/Daikin . You won't find many people that will argue they are not good units . They cost more but you get what you pay for .