Hey folks
I live in a 1200 square foot home without central heating and cooling. I am tired of the window and floor units that are currently in use. Has anyone had any experience with ductless heating and cooling systems?
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Chris,
We use ductless PTACs in guest room of hotels all the time. Sometimes will add supplemental cooling to an office that has been converted to the computer server room or to a meeting room that has 6 or 8 people in it most of the time but has 30 in it 4 or 5 times a year. They are limited, like the window shakers, to effectively conditioning a single "room".
Mitsubishi ans Stulz Air Technology Systems are the manufacturers to consider. I believe they both have web sites.
BTW, if you have the access, a standard 1-1/2 ton furnace with AC should run you about $4500-5000 installed. I don't know the cost of the ductless, but the equipment cost is higher and the installation costs are lower, probably a wash.
Tim
Chris, If I did not know any better I thought I wrote this same post.. Same situation at our Lake home though we do have zero clearance heavy duty unit upstairs. Had ugly wall unit hubby put in in front doorway in a temp. plywood"frame'. I told him if he did not get it out that i would shove it out myself over the deck.
Been checking out the ductless unit over the web. Most folks here talk them down. My brother is supposed to check out prices. Got to soon Week before last it was up to 86 degrees. Sure wish could find that Sanyo unit that runs off propane for the heating aspect and electric for the cooling part. It says it is only for 1400 btu.
The suppliers wont talk or sell directly to us. Want to put in radiant flooring soon It will work off of the outdoor propane water heater. Not hooked to propane yet. Propane co wont install regulator till we install something to run off propane. So we have a filled 400 gal tank sitting out in yard not be used. They will start charging 100 bucks for rental this fall. We should be there now but Hubby helps take care of his Mom. We are retired in our early fifties and hope stock market does better or hubby will have to go back to work, after retiring judt two years ago.
Let me know what you end up doing. Summer here in Ky. Humidity hot weather is right around the corner. Been working on this house since 1989.
What lake in KY are you on, Jean? I have a couple of friends that have thier masters HVAC license. One has his "cabin" near Rough River, and the other has his "summer home" in the Glasgow area. Either one might be interested in your work if they are near you.
Tim, we have several places we use the ductless a/c units you have descibed. For the most part they do what they are designed to do. My only complaint about them is the quarterl PMs we do on them. They are just like a window shaker when you have to pull the whole unit out of the wall to wash the condenser coil. Give me a split system any day for preventive maintenance (unless, of course, the condenser is on the roof). Maybe I am just getting to old to pack those thing around anymore.
Dave
I've been under the impression that having one of those split ductless systems installed is very expensive. like maybe $10-$15,000 for a house under 2,000 sq feet,and that a mini duct system like Unico is even more expensive. Am I wrong? I'd love to be wrong because then I could call someone to give me a price on it.