Go Ductless with a Mini-Split Heat Pump Before we built a new home, I’d never heard of mini splits. What could they be, some kind of tiny frozen dessert or something? Mini splits are actually ductless heating-and-cooling systems. They look something akin to what you’ve probably seen in hotel rooms, though residential models these days are smaller and more streamlined. A mini-split system has two components: an indoor air-handling unit (or units) and an outdoor condenser. The components are connected by a conduit, and no ducts are involved. Related: Heating Systems 101 Mini-split technology has been around for 30 years, and it’s used a lot in Europe and Japan. Like a refrigerator, a heat pump uses electricity to pump refrigerant, transferring heat from one place to another. When that heat is being transferred from the outdoors to the inside of a house, that’s the heating mode. When heat is being transferred from the inside of a house to the outdoors, that’s the air-conditioning mode.

So mini splits can offer both heating and cooling in one. They are generally designed to cool and heat a single room or zone, and there may be up to four indoor handling units hooked up to a single outside condenser. Mini splits are not right for every space, but there are definitely advantages for particular applications. Here are a few places you might consider installing such a system: • A home that has no ductwork, like one that has previously had radiant or electric baseboard heat. One outdoor condenser can operate up to four indoor air handlers, so you could individually control four rooms/zones with a single mini-split system. • Rooms that are not regularly occupied. You can turn off the mini-split system and close the door to save money. • Additions or outbuildings where extending or installing ductwork is not feasible. • Spaces that are adjacent to unconditioned spaces (like garages, attics, and unfinished basements) where ductwork would be exposed to harsher temperatures.

We have our mini-split system in the bonus room over our garage. The garage is unconditioned, so running ductwork through that space would be a big energy loss liability for our HVAC system—a waste of money. We use that bonus room as a guest room, and it is unoccupied much of the time. We can close the door when no one is there, and that’s 400 square feet we’re not paying to heat or cool. Mini splits have no ducts and therefore can avoid the energy loss (up to 20% or 30%) that comes with forced-air systems running through ductwork. split unit ac problemsMini splits can be hung on the wall or a ceiling, and some even come as freestanding units.portable rv ac units I’m not going to lie. air handling unit selection procedureThe mini-split system at our house is not cute.

I don’t care for the way it looks. But it is quiet and it does keep the room remarkably comfortable. And I love that we’re not paying to heat or cool a room we don’t regularly use. For more on home heating, consider: 10 Space Heaters We Love Save Money with a Hybrid Furnace How To: Choose the Right Furnace Filter, , ,   »  DeLonghi – PACAN120EW : Portable Air Conditioner Review SummaryDescription of the PACAN120EW Technical SpecsProsConsUsers’ feedbackConclusion Delonghi : sounding like Italian nobility and yet maker of portable AC. Ain’t life quaint? The PACAN120EW is a strong air conditioner that offers a cooling capacity of 12,000 BTU. This unit is suitable for small and medium-sized offices, bedrooms, living rooms, computer rooms, et cetera. It employs an advanced technology to recirculate the captured moisture for cooling the air. This helps to minimize the accumulation of the condensate. In addition, this unit offers an intuitive interface and user controls to help you control the environment of your room with ease and convenience.

If you are planning to buy this air conditioner for your home or office, then you could be looking for reliable and accurate information about its features and performance. The Air Geeks have thoroughly researched to compile reliable and unbiased information that will help you to make a wise decision. We have also gone an extra mile to find out its strengths and weaknesses. Without wasting time, we will start with its description. What is the size of your room? In case your room is small or medium-sized, then the PACAN120EW is a suitable option for you. According to the manufacturer, it can be used for cooling rooms that are as large as 450 square feet. It is uniquely designed to deliver impressive capacity while consuming minimum power. Furthermore, this unit achieves the desired environment within a short time. The PACAN120EW utilizes an advanced condensate recirculation mechanism to minimize accumulation of the condensate. This highly effective mechanism makes this air conditioner a suitable solution for humid places.

This unit is capable of removing up to 54.95 pints of moisture per day when the air conditioner is dehumidifying while cooling. In the dehumidifying-only setting, this air cooling system is capable of pulling up to 86.65 pints of moisture per day. In case you are looking for a unit that will serve both air cooling and dehumidification functions, then this air conditioner is a suitable solution. Apart from cooling and dehumidifying your room, this air conditioner features a BioSilver air filter that effectively traps dust, pollen, and bacteria. With this unit in your house, you will get cool, clean, and fresh air that is free from excess moisture. In addition, this air conditioner features a remote control that allows you to control the environment of your room without the need to walk to where the unit is positioned. Moreover, the PACAN120EW has castor wheels that allow you to it move from one position to another with ease and convenience. Virtually all home appliances that have a fan and a compressor produce an audible sound.

This air conditioner produces an audible sound that can be disturbing to people who are highly sensitive to noise. Nevertheless, the unit does not produce an irritating sound. In addition, this air conditioner consumes minimum power and you therefore don’t need to worry that it will make your electricity consumption to rise abnormally. The PACAN120EW is constructed with high quality material and it is durable. The PACAN120EW comes with a window venting kit that fits in most standard windows. Although the process is clearly elaborated in the manual, we have noted that it can be time consuming if any improvisation is required for the unit to fit in your window. For most custom designed windows, minor modifications are required. If installed correctly, the unit cools the room effectively to ensure that your room has a comfortable environment. This unit arrived well packaged for shipping (double boxed). Shipping label says it weighs 89 pounds. It doesn’t seem that heavy out of the box though.

The window kit adjusts to 47 inches max which falls three inches short in my standard 50 inch slider windows. The whisper mode is not as quiet as I had hoped but it does cut the level of the compressor significantly. The fan is still quite noisy. It uses a centrifugal (squirrel cage) fan that sucks air in through a filter so it’s never going to get that quiet. Of course the hotter the room gets, the more tolerable the noise. So far I’ve used it in a 500 sq ft room it falls short of cooling the far perimeter of the room even after hours of being on. So my guess is that a max of 450 sq ft which is what the manufacturer recommends is accurate. It easily cools a 200 sq ft bedroom. The portability is nice as long as you can roll it where you need to go. It has decent casters.” The DeLonghi Unit is an excellent air conditioner for a single room if you have the space. The unit measures 28 inches high, 12 inches wide, and 16 ½ inches deep. This is about the size of an end table.

The unit must be placed near a window in order to vent the hot air. It also has to be 5 ½ feet from an electrical outlet that does not have multiple devices on the same circuit. This would include computers, televisions, and electronic gadgets of this nature. The air conditioner is reasonably easy to install. The parts all fit together without requiring tools. However, if you live in an older house, like we do, there may be some problems to overcome. The window kit is the most difficult part of the installation. It is designed to fit most standard windows from about 20 inches to over 40 inches and there is an extender for windows bigger than that. A pin is included to fit into the predriled holes to keep the device extended to the correct amount while you fit the hose to it. The problem is that the holes are about an inch apart which wasn’t a good spacing for our window. This problem can be overcome by drilling an additional hole to make a snug fit. The other problem is the depth of the distance from the inner sill to the outer sill.

The device is designed for about a half inch. Our windows have an inch between the inner and outer sill. We remedied this by placing a piece of wood under the window kit to raise it to the correct position. When the hose is connected the air conditioner sits about 18 inches from the wall. This is fine in our room, but you need to be sure you have enough space to accommodate the hose. It might be possible to squeeze it in a few inches, but not many.” In case you are looking for a strongly built air conditioner that cools your room without producing irritating sound, then you should consider the PACAN120EW. This unit effectively cools the room within a short time to ensure that your office, bedroom, living room, computer room, et cetera has a comfortable environment. Despite its impressive performance, we have noted that this unit does not fit easily in most horizontally sliding windows. However, you only require minor modifications to make it fit in such windows. Unless this drawback is a major issue to you, we feel that this is a great appliance if it is installed in a small or medium-sized room.