Air Con Suggestions

Jez said:
You are ignoring the other aspects of an inverter heat pump.
  • They also pump heat into the house at a 300% efficiency rating (meaning they pump 3KW of heat into the house for every 1KW of power consumed) - Big savings over my existing 100% efficient electrical system, one third of the cost! 11p/KWH translates to a useful energy heat unit costing equivalent of 3.66p.
  • They also dehumidify, so your example of in a few weeks it be raining and damp (ie, high humidity), you can now control the humidity inside the house resulting in it being much more comfortable.
  • The bonus too is obviously the cooling aspect as they can pump heat both in and out - so stable all year round.
Our system will be used all year round, hot or cold, damp or dry :)
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Yeah I understand what you mean I was mentioning my cheap fan blowing out the window isn't quite the same as a split air, its great a split air exist but for people on a budget and needing a quick summer fix with a £16 quid fan and 5 minutes they can really improve the air flow and quality in their homes.

I don't know a great deal about these splits but it sounds like its half replacing the boiler central heating system and radiators ?

humidity can be a real issue but I improved mine with placing bowls of water around the home and on shelves, under radiators and I leave the bathroom door and let the steam spread out in the house. And I also keep ventilation guards on windows and in rooms open when needed.

Sound like a right tight git which I am but it works ! my humidifier machine did next to nothing for improving air condition in my home sadly apart from making the place wet.
 
Haze said:
I take it op does not live in the UK, because he must be smoking crack if he thinks you need air con in a country that gets about 2 weeks of hot weather a year, just man up a bit
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My room was 35c last night... Man up indeed. :rolleyes:
 
Jez said:
Just checked and the units i am looking at are an SCOP of 3.8, much better than i thought. Wow, even cheaper to run, then. I have to wonder why this isnt the default heating method for most houses in the UK to be honest.
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It's worth it if you can't get gas but with gas being a 1/4 the price of electricity a modern gas boiler that is sized correctly with weather compensation controls and appropriate sized radiators will cost less to heat the house/generate hot water than a air/ground source heat pump.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
It's worth it if you can't get gas but with gas being a 1/4 the price of electricity a modern gas boiler that is sized correctly with weather compensation controls and appropriate sized radiators will cost less to heat the house/generate hot water than a air/ground source heat pump.
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I am out of the loop with gas prices as it has been absolutely years since i lived anywhere with it available. Out of interest i just checked my supplier rate for gas should i bolt on dual fuel and it is 2.8p/unit. Probably not much in it (based on 11.5p/kwh and 380% - 3p/kwh equivalent, which is amazing for someone where gas has never been an option. :)

R3X said:
I don't know a great deal about these splits but it sounds like its half replacing the boiler central heating system and radiators ?
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Sorry missed this :) Not quite as you wouldnt want to rely on it in all weathers as they work on temp differential, but yeah for us it should be close to making the existing system redundant and more of an emergency backup.
 
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tntcoder said:
Hey,

Does anyone have recommendations for an air con system for a standard sized main bedroom? Getting a bit fed up with the heat and I'm sure there will probably be an ice age after I buy one...

Budget would be £3-400 and quiet/eco friendly such that you can sleep with it on would be useful. Is it reasonable to expect getting temps down to 12-14 degrees easily enough? Something with a 5+ year warranty would be handy as well given only used for a few weeks a year.

It would probably be with a hose out the window rather than properly plumbed/wired in - so I guess it's a portable one I'm after.

Thanks!
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I was thinking of asking a similar question, but when I saw this OP, I thought this will do, although I was prepared to go to £750-£900 for the comfort, so I sat back and waited.
All these tales of hoses extended through holes drilled in the wall, or through windows, then sealed, gradually brought me down to earth, I’ll take the “man up” advice for the too few days per year that a/c would be great to have, and use the best fans I can.
I patently obviously had the wrong idea about mobile a/c units, I had an image in my head of something about the size of a taller, fatter, linen basket, that you just plugged in like a fan, or heater, and switched on, getting ice cold air in 40-50 seconds.
I knew that you’ll be cooler quicker and for longer if the doors were closed, I’ve walked across enough 35c restaurant parking lots in Texas and New Mexico, got in the car and fired up the a/c, only to have some dumbo get in and drop the window as I’ve driven away.
 
Jean-F said:
I was thinking of asking a similar question, but when I saw this OP, I thought this will do, although I was prepared to go to £750-£900 for the comfort, so I sat back and waited.
All these tales of hoses extended through holes drilled in the wall, or through windows, then sealed, gradually brought me down to earth, I’ll take the “man up” advice for the too few days per year that a/c would be great to have, and use the best fans I can.
I patently obviously had the wrong idea about mobile a/c units, I had an image in my head of something about the size of a taller, fatter, linen basket, that you just plugged in like a fan, or heater, and switched on, getting ice cold air in 40-50 seconds.
I knew that you’ll be cooler quicker and for longer if the doors were closed, I’ve walked across enough 35c restaurant parking lots in Texas and New Mexico, got in the car and fired up the a/c, only to have some dumbo get in and drop the window as I’ve driven away.
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Where did you imagine that the unit would vent without an exhaust? :confused:
 
Jean-F said:
I was thinking of asking a similar question, but when I saw this OP, I thought this will do, although I was prepared to go to £750-£900 for the comfort, so I sat back and waited.
All these tales of hoses extended through holes drilled in the wall, or through windows, then sealed, gradually brought me down to earth, I’ll take the “man up” advice for the too few days per year that a/c would be great to have, and use the best fans I can.
I patently obviously had the wrong idea about mobile a/c units, I had an image in my head of something about the size of a taller, fatter, linen basket, that you just plugged in like a fan, or heater, and switched on, getting ice cold air in 40-50 seconds.
I knew that you’ll be cooler quicker and for longer if the doors were closed, I’ve walked across enough 35c restaurant parking lots in Texas and New Mexico, got in the car and fired up the a/c, only to have some dumbo get in and drop the window as I’ve driven away.
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Takes energy to move energy, so if you don't vent it then effectively you're just paying to heat the house. Saying that though, at £750 - £900 you could get a decent split unit with installation, which would be a much better than a portable one. They only need a small holes for refrigerate lines, power and condensate.
 
Jez said:
Where did you imagine that the unit would vent without an exhaust? :confused:
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As I said Jez, I had no idea of the exhaust requirements, no idea of how a unit worked, my mental image of an a/c unit was of a smallish cabinet that you just plugged in, and switched on, on the same basis as a fan, plug it in, hit the switch, and bingo, the blades go around, what goes on in the interior of the a/c unit I had no idea.
Like vehicles, they haven’t built one that I couldn’t drive, from a Smart car, to an 18 wheeled Mack truck, but lift the hood, and I’ll find the oil dipstick and the water expansion tank, the brake fluid and power steering oil reservoirs, but other than that, I may as well be staring at a map of the Mojave Desert.
 
Jez said:
I am out of the loop with gas prices as it has been absolutely years since i lived anywhere with it available. Out of interest i just checked my supplier rate for gas should i bolt on dual fuel and it is 2.8p/unit. Probably not much in it (based on 11.5p/kwh and 380% - 3p/kwh equivalent, which is amazing for someone where gas has never been an option. :)
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The efficiency of the system does drop in colder temperatures where the system needs to use an additional heat source to boast the system normally an electric heater element built into the system and hot water production will require immersion heaters to bring the water up to the required 55-60c. All this drops the total system efficiency when using electric only.

My work colleague is building his own house with gas available and the installer admitted it is only worth him installing due to the grants available. He is getting a gas boiler as the top up heat source for the winter months rather than relying on a smaller electric boaster with the air source system pre heating the water to the cylinder to around 30-35c before the gas boiler heats it up to 60c. It looks to be a very good setup as cooling units are also being installed for the summer months to cool the main living space (heating is provided via under floor heating which is ideal due to the low flow temperatures air source systems produce) main drawback is price quote is around 13k and the hardware will be taking up a lot of space.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
The efficiency of the system does drop in colder temperatures where the system needs to use an additional heat source to boast the system normally an electric heater element built into the system and hot water production will require immersion heaters to bring the water up to the required 55-60c. All this drops the total system efficiency when using electric only.

My work colleague is building his own house with gas available and the installer admitted it is only worth him installing due to the grants available. He is getting a gas boiler as the top up heat source for the winter months rather than relying on a smaller electric boaster with the air source system pre heating the water to the cylinder to around 30-35c before the gas boiler heats it up to 60c. It looks to be a very good setup as cooling units are also being installed for the summer months to cool the main living space (heating is provided via under floor heating which is ideal due to the low flow temperatures air source systems produce) main drawback is price quote is around 13k and the hardware will be taking up a lot of space.
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Very interesting, thanks for the insight. :)

Insight to ours; Our setup will be complementing an immersion heated megaflo tank for water (no change there, it is very well insulated) and Nest controlled electric wet boiler feeding traditional radiators (this neat clean setup took over from a very large, very end of life Oil boiler, with rusting smelly oil tank in the garden). The heat pumps should compliment this nicely we hope, and provide quite a saving to the overall electrical unit consumption, assuming that the heat pumps can cause the wet radiator system to not have to come on too much.

Jean-F said:
As I said Jez, I had no idea of the exhaust requirements, no idea of how a unit worked, my mental image of an a/c unit was of a smallish cabinet that you just plugged in, and switched on, on the same basis as a fan, plug it in, hit the switch, and bingo, the blades go around, what goes on in the interior of the a/c unit I had no idea.
Like vehicles, they haven’t built one that I couldn’t drive, from a Smart car, to an 18 wheeled Mack truck, but lift the hood, and I’ll find the oil dipstick and the water expansion tank, the brake fluid and power steering oil reservoirs, but other than that, I may as well be staring at a map of the Mojave Desert.
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What i was meaning, even with absolutely zero knowledge of an AC system, or even having never seen one ever, where did you think the heat would go if the unit got cold as you imagined? You cant just make something cold, you can only move the heat away, like a fridge does to the hot radiator on the back of it :p
 
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Jez said:
What i was meaning, even with absolutely zero knowledge of an AC system, or even having never seen one ever, where did you think the heat would go if the unit got cold as you imagined? You cant just make something cold, you can only move the heat away, like a fridge does to the hot radiator on the back of it :p
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Jez, I love you like a brother, but where did I imagine the heat would go? Gimme a clue.
I just have to put my hands up and confess that what I know about the workings of any machinery, you could write on a postage stamp, and still have room for every verse of La Marseillaise.
 
I have a few 15K BTU portable AC units. They're 'fine' as a thing to try and cool a room before sleeping - but they're not something I'd leave on as I'd never sleep. The vent hoses are a pain. They're certainly not worth the £450 or whatever they cost.
If you're going to spend actual money on AC, get a proper split system.
 
I installed a split air con unit in my old house. Best thing ever. I'm fitting one in new place in a couple of weeks time. It's strange but once you had it, you realise just how awesome air conditioning is when it's gone!

Air source heat pumps are very similar to aircon but also totally different tech. That guy who says that the air source heat pump will only get the water to 35c and struggle going higher is wrong. They can go to 55c with absolutely no problem, they only boost from 55c to 60c one a week with the immersion heater for legionnaire protection.
 
How is this filled up the when you install one yourself? I'm confident to pipe and wire the system in but how would i go about gassing the system?
 
Get an air source heat pump unit, and it can both heat and cool your home. It is a renewable heat source, so qualifies for the renewable heat incentive.
 
Craigius said:
How is this filled up the when you install one yourself? I'm confident to pipe and wire the system in but how would i go about gassing the system?
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a lot of units come "pre charged" so you can gas them up as part of the install. Presumably you'd need a machine to regas it but you shouldn't need to regas unless you have a fault. (like how you don't need to regas your fridge). Regasing tends to be a car thing due to all the plastics used, where as home air con systems use copper
 
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