Too hot...

[hermes]

It took my wife a while to grasp the concept but I think she's finally cracked

I'm not surprised.

 

[Steve]

You guys with aircon, where did you fit the "outdoor" units? Say I wanted aircon in my bedroom, I would have to fit the outdoor unit high on the back wall of the house, however, my bedroom is at the front. I cant mount it on the front of the house - it would foul the front elevation. This means a run of pipework through the loft about 3 metres and down 5 feet to the outdoor unit - more than the length of hose supplied with the units. But the condensate pipe has to go downwards . . . and the instructions with the B&Q Airforce ones state the outdoor unit must be 2 metres below the indoor unit or something.

The Airforce air con units are not as efficient as an equivalent professionally installed unit. Something like 2kw of cooling/heating for every 1kw input, compared to 3kw on a pro model.

And what about servicing, for when it all goes horribly wrong / the gas leaks out? Will the pro's work on these DIY kits?

 

[pickles]

You guys with aircon, where did you fit the "outdoor" units? Say I wanted aircon in my bedroom, I would have to fit the outdoor unit high on the back wall of the house, however, my bedroom is at the front. I cant mount it on the front of the house - it would foul the front elevation. This means a run of pipework through the loft about 3 metres and down 5 feet to the outdoor unit - more than the length of hose supplied with the units. But the condensate pipe has to go downwards . . . and the instructions with the B&Q Airforce ones state the outdoor unit must be 2 metres below the indoor unit or something.

The Airforce air con units are not as efficient as an equivalent professionally installed unit. Something like 2kw of cooling/heating for every 1kw input, compared to 3kw on a pro model.

And what about servicing, for when it all goes horribly wrong / the gas leaks out? Will the pro's work on these DIY kits?

The DIY units are noisy and inefficient. They use snap connectors which are very leak prone becasue the air con gasses have very small molecules and get through the seals. I know a professional fitter who has part of the contract for a major shed that sells to the public. They have shifted about 16,000 units and had enormous problems with them gassing out. I think they are only cooling units which means they are only useful in the summer. The good systems can reverse the gas cycle so that they act as reverse heat pumps and take heat from outside and blow warm air inside even on a cold winter day. This sounds a bit bizzare until you have stood in the warm air flow and watched it snow outside at the same time

Basically it's not worth a diy job. A pro job for upstairs in a 3 bed semi would probably cost £1,500 to 2,000 and for that you would get a unit in each bedroom, all the pipework run, including water drainage. The condenser usually goes at first floor level on an outside wall

I have a miantainance contract with mine so they check it periodically for me. They don't gas out over time like car air con because they use thick copper piping like the microbore pipe you used to be able to get for central heating

 

[Steve]

cheers pickles, but i knew most of that already. of course the snap connectors are going to leak over time, they aren't a permenant fix, like brazing the pipes. And the flexible pipe will leak too.

The DIY units are all heat pumps, so can be used in winter, this was the main appeal of buying one for our conservatory - heating on the cheap, though i knew it wouldn't last very long tbh, its still going strong.

I fancied a ducted system for the bedrooms in our house, a 3 bed semi, then just have one outdoor compressor. All the bedrooms get very hot in summer, and the ducted system is ideal because theres no noisy condensate pump in the rooms (we have one at work, the condensate pump makes me jump. its a little green thing in a corner of some trunking with the pipes in). Would a ducted system be any cheaper than 3 seperate wall mounted units? We could have it in the bathroom as well then.

I am very impressed with those new toshiba variable compressors, that operate on 20-400Hz, i have heard one operating, it makes a cool noise and obviously no noisy startup/shudder off. probably only for 3ph though.

 

[paulbrown]

My endless pool helps

All the benefits of a full size pool at only 8 x 15 feet

p.s. I expect this post to be deleted for advetising

I know these pools are popular in the US and also used in the UK for training etc. Are they as good as they say or were you just joking?

They seem to get advertised on this site too, perhaps thats why you weren't modded?

 

[hermes]

They seem to get advertised on this site too, :

Do they? Where did you see that then? I've been after one for ages.

 

[paulbrown]

They seem to get advertised on this site too, :

Do they? Where did you see that then? I've been after one for ages.

You trying to wind me up hermes? they are often advertised on here, indeed they are on here again tonight.

 

[johnb80]

The main reason for automotive aircon losing the gas is via the shaft seal on the compressor, not the pipework. Home / Office aircon compressors are totally sealed i.e. the motor and compressor are inside a metal case that is pressurised with the refrigerant.

To thos who claim aircon is wasting energy, it saves energy in wintertime when used for heating so that negates that slur!

All of my aircon units I have purchased from ebay both new and used, my aircon man has a fixed charge of £50 to gas up and commision and I have never had a problem.

Condensate pumps are only needed if you want to raise the level of the condensate, all of mine simply discharge through and external wall like an overflow pipe.

Regards - JB

 

[gcol]

You guys with aircon, where did you fit the "outdoor" units?

Mine basically has the same vent as a tumble drier. Just bang a hole through the wall and put a discreet vent cover on the outside wall - that's it.

 

[Steve]

You guys with aircon, where did you fit the "outdoor" units?

Mine basically has the same vent as a tumble drier. Just bang a hole through the wall and put a discreet vent cover on the outside wall - that's it.

i have a portable one like that. its way too noisy for my liking. I only have it on occasionally. Its only C rated in energy efficiency too.

 

[johnny_t]

To thos who claim aircon is wasting energy, it saves energy in wintertime when used for heating so that negates that slur!

Could you flesh this claim out a bit please, as it'll help me get it past my wife.....

 

[pickles]

cheers pickles, but i knew most of that already. of course the snap connectors are going to leak over time, they aren't a permenant fix, like brazing the pipes. And the flexible pipe will leak too.

The DIY units are all heat pumps, so can be used in winter, this was the main appeal of buying one for our conservatory - heating on the cheap, though i knew it wouldn't last very long tbh, its still going strong.

I fancied a ducted system for the bedrooms in our house, a 3 bed semi, then just have one outdoor compressor. All the bedrooms get very hot in summer, and the ducted system is ideal because theres no noisy condensate pump in the rooms (we have one at work, the condensate pump makes me jump. its a little green thing in a corner of some trunking with the pipes in). Would a ducted system be any cheaper than 3 seperate wall mounted units? We could have it in the bathroom as well then.

I am very impressed with those new toshiba variable compressors, that operate on 20-400Hz, i have heard one operating, it makes a cool noise and obviously no noisy startup/shudder off. probably only for 3ph though.

I have a ducted system which looks nice because you only have grills in the ceiling and no cassettes on the wall. The big problem with it is that it is controlled by one thermostat in the main bedroom which causes huge rows in my house of the "turn it off no leave it on i'm boiling" variety. If you are going to duct it think this through. Personally this is a big problem and I wish I had gone for individual room cassettes

I installed it for exactly the same reason you are thinking, ie because I didnt want the condensate pump noise and from that point of view it's great. The units at work make a racket which would keep you awake at night if you had them at home, but I think the cassette systems are actually more efficient. I am not particularily impressed with the Hitachi compressor which is a noisier than other units I have heard but that's not to big a deal except for my neighbour. You can hear it vibrating through the wall, particularily when it's first on and it runs at full capacity to shift the heat load, it's ok when it gets the temperature down and starts to cycle

I think there's a slight difference in cost because the ducted system at home cost more than my office even though the floor and room sizes are similar. They all seem to use one external compressor and personally I wouldn't waste any of it's capacity on the bathroom. I don't think there's much point as you only go in for short periods to use the loo or your in the bath/shower where the surrounding air temperature is a bit irrelevant. It might help to heat it in the winter but it actually takes the system a while to crank up to full heat, maybe 5-10 minutes so you can't use it like a blow heater if the rooms a bit cold. by the time it gets going you would be out. I only use it as a back up source of heat at home but in the office it works well as the only heating source.

The good thing is, whatever you do, when you go to bed on a hot night like tonight your bedrooms will be chilly and you can sleep like a proper northern european with a blanket over you. None of that nasty naked mediterranean stuff

 

[jbonding]

They seem to get advertised on this site too, :

Do they? Where did you see that then? I've been after one for ages.

me too

 

[noodlz]

My endless pool helps

All the benefits of a full size pool at only 8 x 15 feet

p.s. I expect this post to be deleted for advetising

I know these pools are popular in the US and also used in the UK for training etc. Are they as good as they say or were you just joking?

They seem to get advertised on this site too, perhaps thats why you weren't modded?

Sadly, I am unable to answer your question as I am too distraught at having seen my quote bastardised by your bold type.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So those of you who have aircon units, what make(s) do you recommend?

The Airforce air con units are not as efficient as an equivalent professionally installed unit. Something like 2kw of cooling/heating for every 1kw input, compared to 3kw on a pro model.

I think the COP on quality DC inverter models is 4 or more these days....


Presumably this time of year is not the one to pick to get the best deals from installers....