Absolute No-Nothing; Please Be Gentle (Air Conditioning)

10 years ago

Hi -

I'm simply a home-owner and have zero knowledge about air conditioning units. But I cannot stand this heat; I've had it and am at the breaking point. Here's my situation:

I have a tiny (1,000 sq. foot), 2 story home. It is completely open concept (no doors between rooms.....actually, not even rooms, just semi-divided spaces. Even my bedroom has no door on it. There's no way I want to deal with multiple window air conditioners; the number of them, the difficulty in installing and uninstalling, the noise, the storage, etc. So I'm finally considering .... um, I don't even know what they're called .... but similar to what's in the link, below.

I'm thinking of the kind of unit that gets installed into a wall. Not a full air conditioning system in a house; my house is over a century old and doesn't have the proper setup. I'm going to do research (this is a start) and will definitely have a professional come, consult, bid, and install (and will probably not buy from a big-box store), but should know some basics before getting too involved.

Would you be willing to educate me, even a little, on these things? What should I look for, what should I watch out for, what type is best in your opinion, what to do, what not to do, etc.?

I'd be eternally grateful.

Suzieque

Edited to say: ACK!!! I wish I could edit the title. "No Nothing" should be "Know Nothing", of course. :-( I assure you that I'm not THAT stupid! Haha.

Here is a link that might be useful: HD Unit as an example

This post was edited by suzieque on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 20:13

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Comments (12)

User
10 years ago
Suzieque,

Like yourself, I am a homeowner and not an expert on your system needs. That said, there are a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people here.

While you are awaiting that help, let me suggest that you search on this forum for " mini-split" - that is the type system that you are asking about.

Also, be aware that at least some of the units are actually heat pumps so that they can either A/C or heat, depending on the season. (The unit you linked is a heat pump.)

SaltiDawg
suzieque
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you so much! I appreciate your response and information. And It is good to know what the units are actually called. I will do as you suggested and search here on this forum for more information.
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tigerdunes
10 years ago
What is your location?

How do you heat your home?

Do you have a ductwork system in place?

Post back.

IMO
suzieque
Original Author
10 years ago
I'm in the Northeast.

My home is heated by forced hot air by gas. I'm not thinking of using this unit for heat, only for cooling, but could be convinced otherwise. My house is only minimally comfortable in the winter time.

No, no ductwork in place, which is why I'm not considering central air. Does this system I'm considering require ductwork like central air? I was under the impression that it does not.

This post was edited by suzieque on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 12:39
ionized_gw
10 years ago
Your choice of terms is going to have a lot of people here scratching their heads, patiently I might add. "Forced hot air" in combination with "no ductwork" is somewhat contradictory. How is your hot air distributed?

More questions will include, where in the Northeast (that is a lot of climatological ground) and where is your furnace (closet, basement, attic)? You might be asked to provide the model numbers of your furnace system. Some pictures or a diagram of your home might be useful, but let's not put the horse before the cart.

Minisplits (mini splits/mini-splits) can be a good solution under some circumstances. (I have seven of them.) Sometimes other solutions are better or less expensive.
fsq4cw
10 years ago
Perhaps your solution lies in a multi-mini split. 1-condensor mounted outdoors and 2 (or more) heads mounted indoors, at least one on each floor. I would suggest an Ã¢ÂÂEnergy StarÃ¢ÂÂ Inverter system that is able to modulate or vary its speed depending on demand. This will provide maximum comfort with minimum energy usage. If you determine that such a system would save energy in heating season then a heat pump instead of an air-conditioner would be required.

See link below.

SR

Here is a link that might be useful: Carrier Mini-Split Multi
ionized_gw
10 years ago
Efficiency for cooling might not be that important depending on Suzieque's climate. A short couple of years ago, heat pumps were a good idea. Now that nat gas prices are so low, running relatively expensive (heat pump) equipment is not as good in most cases.
ionized_gw
10 years ago
Geez, those carrier systems are only 14.5 seer max. Check out other manufacturers, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Daikin,....
gsistore
10 years ago
In your case it would make sense to go with a mini-split just like other readers mentioned. There are a lot of different manufacturers out there a simple google search will give you a lot of info. Then call some contractors locally to get quotes but do educate yourself about it so you will at least have an idea on how it works.
suzieque
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi - thank you so much, all, for your responses. Sorry for the confusion in my terms. By "no ductwork", I was really going on what an air conditioning company told me 10 years ago when I bought the house; perhaps those weren't their exact words. They told me that I didn't have the right ductwork for central air, and it would cost a lot of money (which is subjective, I know) to install it.

I've already learned from your responses and appreciate it so much. I will call and get some contractors to come out, but yes, will continue to read up prior to then so that I'm not totally at their mercy.

A pox on the heat and humidity!!!
suzieque
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi - thank you so much, all, for your responses. Sorry for the confusion in my terms. By "no ductwork", I was really going on what an air conditioning company told me 10 years ago when I bought the house; perhaps those weren't their exact words. They told me that I didn't have the right ductwork for central air, and it would cost a lot of money (which is subjective, I know) to install it.

I've already learned from your responses and appreciate it so much. I will call and get some contractors to come out, but yes, will continue to read up prior to then so that I'm not totally at their mercy.

A pox on the heat and humidity!!!
David
10 years ago
If you have forced air heating, there has to be ducting in place. Perhaps it is time to replace the ductwork or install ... The main items to look at would be
System sizing for cooling and also heating (with current insulation level and also with upgraded insulation)
Efficiency
Noise level
Electric panel adequacy or would you also need a panel upgrade.

In the meantime, you could also look into improving the insulation.

Absolute No-Nothing; Please Be Gentle (Air Conditioning)

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