Aircon insights

Just another option, over the weekend I walked into Kloppers Centurion and purchased two Midea 12000 BTU Breezeless E AC's.

Been a while since I have actually bought a large appliance and immediately have it in my possession.
So that was great.

This is now my 3rd Midea AC, all 3 running in the same house off an 8Kw Sunsynk Inverter with also just over 6k in Solar Panels.

These R32 gas AC's are amazing at sipping power and sometimes I just enable boost as I have too much Solar which I am just wasting.
 
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TheRoDent said:
I installed a BreezeAir Icon 210 Evaporative Cooling system last summer that provides 15Kw of cooling capacity.

It services 4 bedrooms, lounge, kitchen, office, and with some additional vents pointing outside, my patio/braai area as well which creates a pleasant breeze during hot summer braais on the patio.

The water consumption is minimal, and the power consumption is around 1700 watts at it's Maximum blower setting of 10, which I rarely use. Generally the consumption on blower level 3-4 setting is around 800 watts, which is what I generally use.

If you have a pitched roof, and a decent ceiling void, installation of the ducting, and the cooler is pretty easy and painless. Everything was done in a single day.

As someone who suffers from sinus, and seasonal allergies frequently, the improvement in air quality was also a boon, as incoming air is filtered and humidified, and the positive pressure inside the house keeps out dust and pollutants that would normally filter in.

I also got their WiFi enabled control panel and there is an integration for HomeAssistant.

You could probably get away with the smaller Icon 170 model for your space requirements.

Total cost was around 80k for a 9 duct/vent setup installed and everything.

I would highly recommend an Evap setup from a energy perspective, it's really amazing. Maintenance is basically cleaning of the filters by washing them anually, and perhaps a replacement after a couple of years. If there's one thing I'd add to my system, is some electric vent flaps to control specific areas, as the missus sometimes complains it's too cold, but for now, I just pinched the duct leading to her office a bit to reduce the flow.

The company that did my install was https://www.liftair.co.za/breezair/ -- Brad is the contact.
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I'm really liking this idea. My setup would be similar and the pricing is not bad. So the unit is installed in the ceiling? What kind of centre beam clearance would you need?
1724409466577.png
 
valiente said:
Just another option, over the weekend I walked into Kloppers Centurion and purchased two Midea 12000 BTU Breezeless E AC's.

Been a while when I have actually bought a large appliance and immediately have it in my possession.
So that was great.

This is now my 3rd Midea AC, all 3 running in the same house off an 8Kw Sunsynk Inverter with also just over 6k in Solar Panels.

These R32 gas AC's are amazing at sipping power and sometimes I just enable boost as I have too much Solar which I am just wasting.
Click to expand...
price and price to install?
 
acp said:
Connects to home wifi like most smart devices/switches etc. - it's just a remote in this instance, that broadcasts IR signal to AC depending on the input from the user from the app/scene.

Most mainstream ACs have their remotes already pre-programmed in the platform. If not, you can 'teach' it functions from the unit's original remote.

The RM4 also has an optional temp/humidity sensor cable which adds temp/humidity triggers in addition to time/schedule to smart scenes. I.e. turn on AC only to certain set temp, but only when ambient room temp > x'C, between certain times/days etc.

There's some Tuya and (or) Ewelink-compatible cheapies out there as well which I haven't tried - they don't come with integrated temp/humidity sensors, so that would require yet another set of additional 3rd party devices which I prefer to avoid.

I don't run Home Assistant or something similar (yet) so not sure about the higher-grade PV production/battery SOC triggers and scenes. I'm pretty sure that without life/family/work commitments anything is possible if you have enough time to spare/waste/sacrifice/dedicate.

For us, for now, either the native cloud-platforms and(or) Google Home suffices to bring the whole lot together with some smart scenes triggering various devices depending on various parameters across the upstream platforms.

RM4 Smart Remote:
www.geewiz.co.za

Broadlink RM4 Mini Universal IR Audio Video Remote Control - Smart Home Wi-Fi Remote Hub Compatible with Alexa

Supports 50,000+ IR controlled appliances, including TV, STB, DVD, Air Conditioner, Audio, PVR, etc. (IR only, no RF, compared with RM pro+ and RM4 pro). Large IR database: cover 98% IR remote function, update automatically on the cloud. Learning function: learn your remote controller if the...
www.geewiz.co.za www.geewiz.co.za

Temp/humidity cable:

Smart Home Accessories

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www.geewiz.co.za www.geewiz.co.za
Click to expand...
This is a good idea if you have no other option.

But the downside of this is that it has to have line of sight to the device that you are controlling.
Then also, these days remotes are simplified with more advanced features being available via the devices own mobile app.

Sure, this can control your AC, but having direct integration via Home Assistant gives you so many more metrics and control over the device.

Thus, I see these smart remotes as a last resort option
 
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valiente said:
It was R10495 per AC and R1900 of each installation - I took them home myself on Saturday and installation was done on Monday.
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ooh thanks will have a look there later I dont see anything online, who installed? happu with the install?
 
valiente said:
Just another option, over the weekend I walked into Kloppers Centurion and purchased two Midea 12000 BTU Breezeless E AC's.

Been a while since I have actually bought a large appliance and immediately have it in my possession.
So that was great.

This is now my 3rd Midea AC, all 3 running in the same house off an 8Kw Sunsynk Inverter with also just over 6k in Solar Panels.

These R32 gas AC's are amazing at sipping power and sometimes I just enable boost as I have too much Solar which I am just wasting.
Click to expand...

Same story here, but with 4 Samsung inverter aircons. Access solar is a good problem to have.
 
Snyper564 said:
ooh thanks will have a look there later I dont see anything online, who installed? happu with the install?
Click to expand...
It was actually Kloppers own installer guys.

I would give the Installation an 8/10, they knew what they were doing and the Installation is neat.

I wanted the outdoor units installed in a different location so they had to charge me more for the install which is understandable.

The great thing was that the install was done the very first workday available, bought the units on Saturday, installers were on site, Monday morning 09:15.

They left around 15:00 in the afternoon and I was happy with the installation.

I have both new units hooked up to Home Assistant and they also give realtime power consumption, so I added a couple of gauges to show these and full control from our main Dashboard.

Here was my first tests from the ACs as I wanted to upgrade the plug and circuit breaker they are connected to.

Power consumption of around 150w and it was set to 17 Degrees.

It was first set to 21, then after around 25 minutes I dropped it down to 17.

1000306613.jpg
 
Thun
valiente said:
It was actually Kloppers own installer guys.

I would give the Installation an 8/10, they knew what they were doing and the Installation is neat.

I wanted the outdoor units installed in a different location so they had to charge me more for the install which is understandable.

The great thing was that the install was done the very first workday available, bought the units on Saturday, installers were on site, Monday morning 09:15.

They left around 15:00 in the afternoon and I was happy with the installation.

I have both new units hooked up to Home Assistant and they also give realtime power consumption, so I added a couple of gauges to show these and full control from our main Dashboard.

Here was my first tests from the ACs as I wanted to upgrade the plug and circuit breaker they are connected to.

Power consumption of around 150w and it was set to 17 Degrees.

It was first set to 21, then after around 25 minutes I dropped it down to 17.

View attachment 1752983
Click to expand...
Think you sold me on these!
 
valiente said:
It was actually Kloppers own installer guys.

I would give the Installation an 8/10, they knew what they were doing and the Installation is neat.

I wanted the outdoor units installed in a different location so they had to charge me more for the install which is understandable.

The great thing was that the install was done the very first workday available, bought the units on Saturday, installers were on site, Monday morning 09:15.

They left around 15:00 in the afternoon and I was happy with the installation.

I have both new units hooked up to Home Assistant and they also give realtime power consumption, so I added a couple of gauges to show these and full control from our main Dashboard.

Here was my first tests from the ACs as I wanted to upgrade the plug and circuit breaker they are connected to.

Power consumption of around 150w and it was set to 17 Degrees.

It was first set to 21, then after around 25 minutes I dropped it down to 17.

View attachment 1752983
Click to expand...
Pls could you share a set of a few hours this the 9000 btu?
 
Thanks all for an insightful discussion. I'm also considering an inverter aircon to utilise wasted solar. The local guy in Kimberley is quoting me R12k for a 18 000btu inverter unit, all inclusive. I can't find info on the brand though, it's called Unitherm. Anyone with some experience on Unitherm units?
 
holler said:
Thanks all for an insightful discussion. I'm also considering an inverter aircon to utilise wasted solar. The local guy in Kimberley is quoting me R12k for a 18 000btu inverter unit, all inclusive. I can't find info on the brand though, it's called Unitherm. Anyone with some experience on Unitherm units?
Click to expand...
Go with known brands...
 
My 2c,
If you are going to use AC in the bedroom, you want them to run quiet. So inverter all the way. I had a Daikin for about 17 years before the compressor packed up. It was super quiet. I used it for heating in winter and cooling in summer.
It was a back-to-back installation on the wall my bed was standing against. Now I have a Samsung.

On cooling the fan runs all the time, on heating the fan stops if the target ambient temperature is obtained. On heating then it is even more critical that the "startup" is quiet. Fan starting up slowly, compressor starting up slowly, etc.
But there is another consideration: the expansion and contraction of the structure of the inside unit. Within a minute of the unit going "idle" on heating mode the structure would make minor cracking noises as it cools off and contracts. With my Daikin it was minimal, I got used to it easily, and slept like a log.
With the Samsung the noise is more pronounced. So I don't really use the AC in winter except on really cold nights. My workaround for the cracking noise is to put the AC on a very high temperature but lowest fan setting. The unit then runs all the time, because the thermostat setting is "unattainable", but the structure temp is stable, so no cracking noise. If it is cold enough, you end up with a comfortable temperature this way. It consumes a constant 600W odd on this setting.

Another observation, the AC measures the ambient at the air intake, usually at the top of the unit. So in summer, my ceiling area is warmer, meaning if I set the thermostat to 25 degrees, I would get 22 degrees odd measured next to my bed. But as the temperature changes overnight, this difference also changes. So you never have a true fixed temperature at your bed. In winter it works opposite. But I don't think the insulation in my bedroom is the greatest though.
 
holler said:
Thanks all for an insightful discussion. I'm also considering an inverter aircon to utilise wasted solar. The local guy in Kimberley is quoting me R12k for a 18 000btu inverter unit, all inclusive. I can't find info on the brand though, it's called Unitherm. Anyone with some experience on Unitherm units?
Click to expand...

Your ac will last a long time. Here at the coast in Cape Town stuff just rusts. Still have some 11 year old units running but now will see how long the Daikin lasts. Rust is what kills these devices, water gets in and fries the control board or the copper piping rusts. Copper rusts.
 
ajax said:
Another observation, the AC measures the ambient at the air intake, usually at the top of the unit. So in summer, my ceiling area is warmer, meaning if I set the thermostat to 25 degrees, I would get 22 degrees odd measured next to my bed. But as the temperature changes overnight, this difference also changes. So you never have a true fixed temperature at your bed. In winter it works opposite. But I don't think the insulation in my bedroom is the greatest though.
Click to expand...

My new modern Daikin gives 22.5 temp in the room air even though the device is set to 21.5.

17 years. My units at the coast start to pack up after 11.
 
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