Split Air con

Craigius said:
Yes it’s on the opposite side of the house that’s the issue and reading about it it would require a lot of work with pipes being routed through the loft etc

I get on well with the neighbours to be fair I wasn’t aware of any planning issues related to air con units attached to your own wall of your house?

Why is planning required?
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Not too complex to route stuff through the loft and the pipework and electrics are minimal, it also means you have one cohesive system rather than the potential of two fighting against each other or at best two different control systems.

When I expand my system past the current units, the outdoor unit will be changed, some indoor units will be over the other side of the house and on other floors, it really isn't an issue unless your loft is inaccessible.
 
Craigius said:
Yes it’s on the opposite side of the house that’s the issue and reading about it it would require a lot of work with pipes being routed through the loft etc

I get on well with the neighbours to be fair I wasn’t aware of any planning issues related to air con units attached to your own wall of your house?

Why is planning required?
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To stop you annoying the neighbours presumably. Some older systems can be incredibly noisy.

Even with a single outside unit there are rules around how close it can be to your property boundary, the size of the unit and it can’t be on a pitched roof etc. I think it’s 1metre from memory. When I was researching my system there were a few articles of people getting caught up and ending up in a bit of a battle.

Just highlighting the fact as installers don’t seem to offer this info until you push.
 
You also can’t have more than one outside unit which is why people tend to go for splits rather than individual units for cooling multiple rooms.

I assume that also includes heat pumps for central heating systems.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
You also can’t have more than one outside unit which is why people tend to go for splits rather than individual units for cooling multiple rooms.

I assume that also includes heat pumps for central heating systems.
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You can have more than one outside unit but it requires planning permission if I recall correctly :)
 
The gaming room is like a fridge :D

I’m glad we have one multisplit unit, we already have 3 inverters on the wall, wouldn’t fancy 5. That said, if the multisplit unit fails then we lose 3 internal units. There are pros and cons to both. It also depends on the nature of the outside of your house. I’m personally not fussed about what it all looks like outside and we have done it so that there is nothing on the front or back of the house. I wanted the gaming room on a separate loop as it will only ever cool, whereas my wife will no doubt want others in the house for heat.

ci_newman said:
You can have more than one outside unit but it requires planning permission if I recall correctly :)
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You do not need planning permission for your air conditioner unit if the unit is not installed on a pitched roof and if the external unit is not positioned within one metre from the edge of a flat roof.
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Good info here: https://controlled-climate.co.uk/do...on,for the building work you are having done.

This is when it’s good to have good neighbours or a large boundary - or even better, no neighbours. Modern units are very quiet and ours even comes with a night mode that make the internal and external units even quieter. That said, one faces our neighbours side wall (about 1.5-2m away) and the others just face a hedge.

You can barely hear them most of the time, it’s too easy to think of the old units that you come across in many older/cheaper hotels. They are perhaps a little louder on 30C+ days, but still nowhere close to the older units.
 
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Craigius said:
Yes it’s on the opposite side of the house that’s the issue and reading about it it would require a lot of work with pipes being routed through the loft etc

I get on well with the neighbours to be fair I wasn’t aware of any planning issues related to air con units attached to your own wall of your house?

Why is planning required?
Click to expand...

AFAIK i was told that you only needed planning if you have more than 1 condenser
 
All units now up and running such that every room now has air con. This is the other side of the house:






It was helpful that they could use the same trunking along the length of the wall as the previous units.
 
My gaming room air con was such a fantastic addition. Conveniently it blows over the hardware too (it’s positioned down the same end of the room), so my tv is cool to the touch (makes a change!) and my XSX is so much cooler, as am I. I have it set to 23C and it regulates the air temperature perfectly. I can finally have long gaming sessions without overheating and getting sweaty by the end. It’s a small room too, so the unit has plenty of overhead.
 
Well the guy who came this morning has already sent through some quotes. I asked him to quote separately for the downstairs and upstairs bit - because if we go for the ducted system upstairs, we'll need to first get the loft hatch replaced.

So he's started by quoting for the lounge only. In fact, he thought to ask if we wanted the unit there to also cool the conservatory - which I hadn't even considered before.

So he's given us three quotes. A 2.5kW system which he wouldn't expect to do much for the conservatory, a 3.5kW system which would have a limited ability to cool it, and a 5.5kW system which he would expect to be able to cool both with ease.

Prices for the three, respectively, are £1,200, £1,400, or £2,000.

i think part of the reason for the big jump for the latter might be that as well as the unit being more expensive of course, the two lower powered can be run from a normal 13A plug, the bigger one will have to be powered more directly - however that might just be me misinterpreting something he said.

He also reckons he could fit the downstairs one within the next two weeks. I'm trying to force myself to wait for the other quote to come through, but tempting to just get it agreed!
 
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bazzabear said:
Well the guy who came this morning has already sent through some quotes. I asked him to quote separately for the downstairs and upstairs bit - because if we go for the ducted system upstairs, we'll need to first get the loft hatch replaced.

So he's started by quoting for the lounge only. In fact, he thought to ask if we wanted the unit there to also cool the conservatory - which I hadn't even considered before.

So he's given us three quotes. A 2.5kW system which he wouldn't expect to do much for the conservatory, a 3.5kW system which would have a limeted ability to cool it, and a 5.5kW system which he would expect to be able to cool both with ease.

Prices for the three, respectively, are £1,200, £1,400, or £2,000.

i think part of the reason for the big jump for the latter might be that as well as the unit being more expensive of course, the two lower powered can be run from a normal 13A plug, the bigger one will have to be powered more directly - however that might just be me misinterpreting something he said.

He also reckons he could fit the downstairs one within the next two weeks. I'm trying to force myself to wait for the other quote to come through, but tempting to just get it agreed!
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Our 2.5kw units run off a socket with an outdoor switch. Our 7.5kw multisplit unit runs from the main fuse box with a 32A isolator switch next to it.

I would have thought a 5Kw system would easily cool two rooms next to each other. For comparison our original setup of a 2.5Kw system in the main bedroom would at best lower the temperature of the front rooms by 3-4C at best.

I only ever got one quote. Terrible I know, but I just wanted to get on with it and they did a fantastic job.

Our setup also ensures that all drains are gravity powered, so we didn’t need any additional pumps to get condensation out. They are also all on external walls which keeps it a lot neater vs internal wall placement and pipe work either visibly running along internal walls or going up into the loft, requiring additional pumps.

Our neighbours returned from holiday abs noted how neat it is on their side of the house and how quiet the unit is. I think people imagine those old, loud, rattling units. I think he was considering it until I told him the cost, although I think our units put the cost up somewhat.
 
Despite the big jump in price, I am tempted to go with the 5.5kW version. I'd rather over-specify than under-specify. And it adds flexibility to possibly remove the french doors we have between lounge and conservatory, and have it as an open plan room at some point in the future - something we've idly considered from time to time.

What do others with experience thing of those prices? Do they seem reasonable?

Thanks CaptainRAVE for your thoughts - what you've said about the wiring seems to confirm I understood him correctly. I'm not sure how he'll route a supply directly to the larger unit though. It couldn't be further away from our fuse box!
 
bazzabear said:
And it adds flexibility to possibly remove the french doors we have between lounge and conservatory, and have it as an open plan room at some point in the future - something we've idly considered from time to time.
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I can’t help you on the air con, but I suggest not doing this unless it’s got a solid roof and minimal glass. Full glass conservatories cost a fantastic amount of money to heat in the winter and you’d have no choice but to heat it.

I’m also fairly sure that it’s a breach of building regs because conservatories are not habitual rooms and therefore they don’t apply. When you take the doors off, the space gets bought into scope of building regs and you’d need to get it signed off. You’d have to reinstate them or get it signed off if you wanted to move on, any surveyor is going to spot that from a mile away.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
I can’t help you on the air con, but I suggest not doing this unless it’s got a solid roof and minimal glass.
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It does indeed have a solid roof, although still a lot of glass. The roof works fantastically well though - I'd say on the average hot day, the conservatory is maybe a degree or two hotter than the rest of the house.

Our old house with a conservatory with a polycarb roof - it was unusable for 6 months of the year.
 
bazzabear said:
Despite the big jump in price, I am tempted to go with the 5.5kW version. I'd rather over-specify than under-specify. And it adds flexibility to possibly remove the french doors we have between lounge and conservatory, and have it as an open plan room at some point in the future - something we've idly considered from time to time.

What do others with experience thing of those prices? Do they seem reasonable?

Thanks CaptainRAVE for your thoughts - what you've said about the wiring seems to confirm I understood him correctly. I'm not sure how he'll route a supply directly to the larger unit though. It couldn't be further away from our fuse box!
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Each of our Daikin Emura 2.5Kw units plus installation and wiring came to a little over 2.5K each - note that we are paying London prices.
 
I just had a 2.5kw Samsung split unit installed in the bedroom. Best money I've spent and was a dream finally being able to sleep in the heatwave as our bedroom has the sun all afternoon and evening and is 5 degrees hotter than the opposite side of the house.

We paid £949 (including VAT) which they said was a fixed price for that unit and they cover nationwide.

https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/stevevarleyairconditioningnationwideltd986987

Will be getting the living room done at some point
 
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Well I am having the professional system fitted on Friday, however I have fitted the “self fit system” earlier in the week in the front bedroom on the other side of the house, I have to say the self fit system was really easy to fit, I have had it about 15 months sat in my lock up and not got round to doing it, it’s a 9000btu one.

When it’s on full blast with the door open to the room it cools all the landing.

I look forward to seeing how the professional system goes on but it will be handy for me working shifts in the heat, and with the noise on my estate.
 
I just had split Aircon installed. Three units + outdoor main one.

They installed pumps below each AC unit which make a terrible noise every time. In my bedroom it wakes me up.
They claim they'd need a way of using gravity to get the water away without a pump.
I said that I would have taken this into consideration regarding unis placement had they told me beforehand.

Were they just being lazy?

I'm hoping they might come and do gravity drainage on every one since the noise is awful.
I'm on the third floor.
 
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