All about Mini-Split AC. Are they Best? Can they do Geothermal Cheap?
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- A couple of weeks ago I published a video showing how to install a MiniSplit AC unit. Well, this video generated a LOT of comments. In this video I'm going to answer as many of these as I can and talk about how to possibly use one of these as a Geothermal heat pump with some DIY.
If you try this yourself please comment under the Pinned comment below. I think this might be the cheapest way to heat a house in really cold climates. I'm really hoping to read stories of how this worked out for you.
Here is a link to the AC I installed
amzn.to/3THw4dG
Here is my playlist about how refrigeration works
Boat Refrigeration and A/C 101: • Boat Refrigeration and...
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Please post comments about your geothermal and DIY projects under this comment so they stay at the top.
We built our house in 2017 in Seattle. We installed a mini split system and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. I highly recommend them to anyone. My HVAC contractor mostly just does mini splits and doesn't really recommend them for old houses that don't have much insulation, but I would still consider it.
I had EG4 mini split and you can hook solar directly to them. Absolutely love them super efficient and quiet.
In Europe heat pumps with ambient air or geothermal are standard and any specialized contractor installs them. Geothermal has better efficiency thus lower electricity consumption because of the higher temperature level in the ground, but it requires very deep and expensive drillholes. Ambient air heat pumps work down to -20° Celsius.
Well, I deleted my first question about a a multi-zone unit as I went to the Pioneer web site and they are available, but pretty close in price to the traditional units. That said I know folk who have used these systems to good effect and have had them installed by an "normal" A/C guy. Keep the good stuff coming Clark.
Thanks Clark! I'm on my Tartan 37 in the Great Lakes presently, also planning a Tiny House. Would be excellent for both. Saved video for both. Appreciate your knowledge, time & effort putting this video together. As always, Be Well.
Yes they are the best choice.
When I bought my current house in 2018 in Olympia, WA, I installed two Mitsubishi mini-splits as primary heating/cooling. These are DC inverter units and super efficient. I can heat/cool my 1700 sq ft house easily and the total electric bill for the property is a little over $100/mo (note that we do have relatively inexpensive electricity in the PNW). The inverter units are more expensive but not terribly so and the savings on electricity can be substantial. Of note is that these units kept my house at 74 degrees on a day that was 113 degrees outside. Conversely, these can pull heat out of the outside air down to -5 deg F and still heat the house. I've not had temps that low here but it does occasionally get into high single digits in the winter at night.
With inverter units, you set them and forget them. They're variable speed compressors. You just switching between heating and cooling only once (Fall/Spring). There is no benefit to turning them off and on -- the inverter regulates the compressor such that it is more efficient to keep it on all of the time at a constant temperature. They're amazing. On year 6 with zero problems or repairs needed. I just keep the units clean.
I also get a lot of power outages at this location and I can run my household (including the two mini-splits) with a Honda 6500 watt inverter generator with no problem (including the well). This with load-managing the heavy draw items like water heater, dryer, and cook stove.
DO NOT GO TO AN OLD HOSPITAL. I worked the commercial construction service area, and I was in an OLD hospital one day. I went above the ceiling in a room and saw the vent. It was COVERED inches thick with mold and dust. And that air would be blowing right down into the face of the patient.
Yuck
FYI, the bottom of a winter pond that is not frozen to the bottom will be 39 degrees F as that is the temp where water is the most dense.
I live and work on a mountainous lake with many houseboats and pocket cruisers (and everything in between). Even in the summer when the water surface gets in the 80's (F) dropping just 10-15ft down the temperature drops like a rock. Most of the houseboats rarely move and the sailboats and pocket cruisers don't have generators. I've been trying to think of a system that could work very efficiently using the cold water at depth. My thought is an intake hose on a 12V powered reel (kinda like a Glendenning shore power reel) that could be easily deployed and retracted when ready to move. The system would cool only by the water blowing over an evaporator/heat exchanger without the need of a compressor. And even in the winter when people just need to keep the inside of their boat from freezing it could work as cheap heat. Then if you wanted to get really slick and power is available, a mini split type system could be incorporated to supplement when underway or in a shallow waters and can't get down deep enough for cold water. Have you ever played with this idea? Thanks for your content Clark!
Should help
I have built my own geothermal unit from a standard whole house air cooled heat pump. This was in Pennsylvania and we used it for years. It would be relatively easy to do this with a ductless mini-split. Now that I live near Tampa Florida, there is no need for this. I am preparing to convert a mini-split to water cooled for my boat. It will run from my inverter and battery bank. I already use an air cooled inverter based window unit for AC in my boat. We anchor off grid and run AC with no generator regularly. As soon as we recover from Helene's mess (yes, we flooded) I will get busy on my next project.
Jeff,
Thanks for your comment about your experience.
Would you copy it and add it under the comment from me I just pinned to the top of the comment list.
This would be useful to others and I'd hate for it to get lost in the list of comments
You keep mentioning things that I have done. My bedroom at my land based home has a 9,000 btu Gree ductless mini-split. I have a power cord connected to the disconnect. If I unplug the disconnect and plug the cord into my Honda 2000 watt generator I can run the AC in the one room. This is perfect for post hurricane power outages. So far I have not needed this (Thank God!) but it does work and is ready.
The reason they are low energy consumption is that the compressor is an inverter. The inverter runs from 30% to 100%, depending on the heating load demand.
I had family that lived in a US hell (our homestead area O.O). It was both extremely hot and extremely humid during the summer. The main house had NO A/C. The couple had built a small stand-alone room 20 yards from house that had A/C that was only used at night during the summer month. It had a small heater for the winter.
I guess this might have helped
We use them here in New England a lot these days and I imagine upstate New York and probably Maine New Hampshire as well
Hyperspace Pirate has a few videos on reworking refrigerator compressors and changing them together to get very cold. He also uses other gases.
They have become the dominant form of temp control in Australia. Multiple units per house are now common. I have seen huge numbers in India and south east Asia.
I'm hoping to see more of them in the US
Thanks, your comment might encourage people here
They seem to work good down to about zero nowadays. They made some improvements but that's about it. So once it gets close to zero usually just swap over to something else. Oil , wood, or some other heat source for those extra cold nights. It just doesn't get as cold as it used to up here either. It's still too cold for me. I prefer your climate down there.
Regarding geo thermal: The problem is with these is that they need a lot of mass around it, and lots of tubing. It is simple physics and maths. You can calculate how much "heat" is in in a given amount of material. To heat a house for a day, you would need like a couple cubic meter water or dirt, but then that is depleted/gets too cold.
So you need more for the other days. Geo thermal is only efficient if you have some heat that is "refilling" the material around your heat changer. Like moving water or true volcanic ground heat.
So the problem is that this is too expensive to build, compared to what you gain with it.
This is why split AC-s for cold areas, have a heating element outside. Not just to melt ice forming on the radiator, but to provide additional heat on the coldest days of the year.
But anyways, what you said about split AC-s are mostly correct, I think they are amazing, and a lot better than most of the other AC methods.
Also, they are being developed quite quickly, so their efficiency are still improving, and their heating capability too.
Thanks. You are very right, you need heat to be able to pump from.
Likely lots of tubing buried over lots of land.
I left that calculation to the DIYer to look up for their particular situation as this video was more about heat pumping with mini splits
Can't do it all in one video and honestly as I said I'm no expert in geothermal as I've never built one myself. I've always had an ocean available.
@@Clarks-Adventure True, the ocean is such an always refilling source of heat/cold for a boat :)
There are now mini-splits that are heat pump units, which are able to heat at temperatures below freezing but more expensive but well worth the money. I am a HVAC contractor in Florida.
I'm really glad you guys are working with these now.
My ex Emily was big in the tiny house movement 10 years ago. I put one in a house she built but not that many were being used because no one could find professional help back then
They use these all over the Middle East. They work well even in 120° weather. They are easy to install you can service the freon yourself.
Thanks
Cooling from 120 to 80 would be a delta of 40
Heating from -20 to 70 would be 90
But great to hear they can do the 120 satisfactorily. I've never tried it that far
Europe the middle east south America india and china use these mini splits . Only in America and wealthy homes across the world they use whole house AC ducted units and some need 2 or 3 or more. I have a whole house AC that cost me over $500.00 for August bill (2300 Sq ft). The AC went out july 4th of 2023 for 4 days because of the holiday. It was Murder here in AZ over 110 degrees. 30 minute fix $750.00 from the AC guy. I learned my lesson and serched for alternatives because the whole house AC is $14,000.00 to replace. Well I have my Mini split in now for about 3 or 4 weeks and it works great and I love it. Next I will do the bedroom. Waiting for a full month to see the bill.
Thanks for the story.
That will really help guys making the same decision.
Please comment back on this thread to how you think it affected your bill
@@Clarks-Adventure I like the way you talk. No nonsense and full of good info. I am not a boater but I do watch a lot of boating videos. LOL. I watch these people that sail the ocean in a 25 foot or less sailboat. Or live aboards or restore and I especially love the vinatage wood boats.
When they came out originally they were about $5,000 a piece when we started building in people were asking about installing them That might have been about 15 years ago. I'm not sure I expect there's some government funding to bring the price down and get people to buy them. Just like with electric cars some kind of rebate
They make those dual source heat pumps in China . You can set temperature at which you want your heat pump to switch from air source to ground source
Great video! I have been thinking along the same lines myself.
Using my 70m3 pool is a nice option since the mini split would be even more efficient in both cooling and heating modes ( pool water is always warmer than the air during winter and cooler than the outside air hot summer days).
Another possible thing to use is elevating the water temperature from the source just before the heat pump via sun vacuum tubes.(They work great even if it is freezing outside and are also a great way of heating your tap warm water.)
Perhaps a modification with a Gas/water heat exchanger in series with the "radiator" on the outside unit can be an option?
I know that in marine refrigeration an air-cooled unit can be supplemented with a passive sea water-cooled add-on that will reduce electrical consumption as well as provide cold beer when hauled out...
If you really want to go overboard a seasonal storage tank heated via vacuum tubes is not a bad idea. If anyone is thinking about something like that I could not come up with anything better in terms of affordable insulation than foam concrete and strawbales.
I appreciate that you are making these videos pointing out what is now starting to be possible to DIY when the previously expensive heat pumps have come down in price.
Great inspiration!
I suggest you watch through my refrigeration playlist
I use both air and seawater on my boat gally fridge.
Geo-thermal… this will get yucky…. But for rural homes in cold climates, there’s likely a sewage weeping bed nearby the home. The sewage provides a constant source of additional heat being added to the ground, in addition to being below frost level (4’ depth is common for the vast majority of the populated regions).
Not only is there additional heat available, but lots of water makes for better heat transfer from the ground below, thus increasing the area that you draw heat from.
So, yes, run a closed circuit circulation system below frost level and just above the weeping system, and you’ll have ground temperature + waste heat from the house.
Cover the underground run to your ground heat source with 2” thick x 24” wide SM rigid insulation to not lose your collected heat on the way back towards the house.
I know… yucky.. but it’s a closed circuit. It’ll be fine. 😂
I had a drilled-well heat pump system in eastern Ontario Canada, just across the St. Lawrence River from upper New York State, and ground source heat pumps there become insufficient when the outside temperature reaches about -6°C. So, not good enough for the winter season, but good enough for three seasons. Supplemental heating was required. (of course the home’s insulation and air leakage make a difference, but let’s assume modern construction (the last 30 years).
Good idea Clark!
Great idea. I love it
Putting a ground loop in/under a septic drain field can be a really, really bad idea. If the winter weather is cold enough for long enough, the soil can be frozen by the constant heat extraction of the ground loop. This will cause the drain field to stop operating.
If the septic tank itself is used as a heat source, the reduction in temperature in the tank can have a negative effect on the bacterial action in the tank. This can lead to solids not being consumed, and then flowing into the drain field. Solids in a drain field will plug it up quickly, causing it to fail.
Septic systems are expensive and when they malfunction, life gets bad quickly. It's best not to mess around with them by trying to use them for purposes for which they are not designed.
Take care and God Bless.
Why not use water heater recirc return for liquid heat source?
Think about how that heat got into the water heater.
Greetings from South Texas Clark, is there any 12v mini splits for RV ,van, box truck or boats that are cheap and efficient that you might recommend? Thank you
Well, there is the one I developed.
ua-cam.com/video/_M0OiAi5rEM/v-deo.html
Stuart at MarineDCAC.com is putting the finishing touches on the commercial version.
Send him a note, it will encourage him to get at it faster I bet
I just want to know: Was Emily the "Temptress" ?
I bought, and named, Temptress when Emily was 4 years old. So no
Don’t they have heat pumps specifically for geothermal already ? With an option to heat a water tank?
At $500?
@@Clarks-Adventure no, not at that price. I think they are full house units