Aircon insights

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?
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If you can afford it, go with known brands..

We couldn't, it was piping hot in our office and we couldn't get any work done, sitting in a pool of our own sweat.. we pulled the trigger on a unitherm unit, non- inverter..

Looks wise it's not the greatest looking and build quality wise, not fantastic but not terrible..

For non-inverter it's not too loud, but do wish it was a bit softer.. it's going on almost a year now, cooled our office fantastically and has been heating it fine as well..

We might (finances depending) buy the 12k btu inverter, as we are moving our office and need the current Aircon has to remain where it is..

Edit:
I should add, the unitherm was also the only correct size we could get our hands on at the time, middle of summer..
 
abudabi said:
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?
View attachment 1752673
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The conduit is around 40-50cm from
abudabi said:
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?
View attachment 1752673
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The duct itself is 55cm in diameter.
 
Quick question, I have a room that the 9000 btu is perfect for. Now the 12000 btu is slightly more expensive is there any reason to forgo the 9k and go 12k btu?
 
Snyper564 said:
Quick question, I have a room that the 9000 btu is perfect for. Now the 12000 btu is slightly more expensive is there any reason to forgo the 9k and go 12k btu?
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Nope, 12k will help it get to temp quicker. Not sure what that translates to in terms of energy savings, and how long it would take to make up the price difference. Just purely a convenience thing...
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
Nope, 12k will help it get to temp quicker. Not sure what that translates to in terms of energy savings, and how long it would take to make up the price difference. Just purely a convenience thing...
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Ah so overall the energy use will be the same once temp is reached? Is that a decent assumption?
 
Snyper564 said:
Ah so overall the energy use will be the same once temp is reached? Is that a decent assumption?
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No, don't think so.. it's likely to be more, but would not be much more..

what we have seen though, using a 12k unit in a space perfect for a 9k, is it gets to temp really quick, but it's often too cold, even if running at so called room temp at 23 degrees.. this effect is likely worse if you are at the bottom end of the 9k capacity vs closer to the borderline where either a 9k or 12k would make sense.. we just couldn't pass up on the deal we got for a 12k inverter at 6500rondellas..
 
WAslayer said:
No, don't think so.. it's likely to be more, but would not be much more..

what we have seen though, using a 12k unit in a space perfect for a 9k, is it gets to temp really quick, but it's often too cold, even if running at so called room temp at 23 degrees.. this effect is likely worse if you are at the bottom end of the 9k capacity vs closer to the borderline where either a 9k or 12k would make sense.. we just couldn't pass up on the deal we got for a 12k inverter at 6500rondellas..
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Gotcha yeah that is difficult to pass up!
 
Snyper564 said:
So I decided that this might be the year I pull the trigger on some if not all the aircons.

I have a sunsynk 8kw with 22kw battery bank with about 6kw of panels to be increased in the future.

Anyway.

I want to pop aircons in the rooms in red. the red green room is a slightly divided but open space so its rather large.

Any suggestions I am aiming for the both cost efficient running and hopefully not to crazy to install off the bat. Likely wanna do inverter as this is better I think but just wanted to know what I should consider before diving in.

This is pretoria roof is insulated and windows seal decently to cover those points.

View attachment 1748062

Also open to "smart" versions as the house is semi-autonomous at present - but not a deal breaker
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Quick question.

The bedrooms are sorted with the 9k btu.

But I'm a little torn as to what size I should get for the lounge/living room.

The main area occupied that the aircon will be situated in is 30m2 but the open room next to it is 14m2 so this pushes it into 24k btu territory. Room isn't used to often but there will be natural spill over anyway.


So do I view it as 44m2 or 30m2?

Would 18k btu be OK or bite the bullet get 24k
 
Snyper564 said:
Quick question.

The bedrooms are sorted with the 9k btu.

But I'm a little torn as to what size I should get for the lounge/living room.

The main area occupied that the aircon will be situated in is 30m2 but the open room next to it is 14m2 so this pushes it into 24k btu territory. Room isn't used to often but there will be natural spill over anyway.


So do I view it as 44m2 or 30m2?

Would 18k btu be OK or bite the bullet get 24k
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I have a similar layout, 30m2 lounge leading into 16m2 bar, along with two passages leading to the kitchen and bedrooms.

18k doesn't quite cut it, has difficulty getting up to temp. I would have went with 24k had I known better at the time. Just keep in mind that 24k upwards would need to be wired directly to the DB...
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
I have a similar layout, 30m2 lounge leading into 16m2 bar, along with two passages leading to the kitchen and bedrooms.

18k doesn't quite cut it, has difficulty getting up to temp. I would have went with 24k had I known better at the time. Just keep in mind that 24k upwards would need to be wired directly to the DB...
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I think I was leaning this way as well. Save a few k but not better in the long run

Thanks for the heads up on the DB something I was "considering" already but not everyone knows.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
I have a similar layout, 30m2 lounge leading into 16m2 bar, along with two passages leading to the kitchen and bedrooms.

18k doesn't quite cut it, has difficulty getting up to temp. I would have went with 24k had I known better at the time. Just keep in mind that 24k upwards would need to be wired directly to the DB...
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I wired all mine direct to the DB, to be on the safe side.. it's just too easy to overload a single circuit when adding Aircons to existing ones..
 
WAslayer said:
I wired all mine direct to the DB, to be on the safe side.. it's just too easy to overload a single circuit when adding Aircons to existing ones..
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Quick question can you pop 3 9kbtu on one DB isolator? Or is it one per 9k? I'm considering popping my 9k on the DB but will likely have 3 to 4 and would prefer them on one if possible not 4

These would all be inverter
 
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Snyper564 said:
Quick question can you pop 3 9kbtu on one DB isolator? Or is it one per 9k? I'm considering popping my 9k on the DB but will likely have 3 to 4 and would prefer them on one if possible not 4
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Check the power draw(amps) per unit that you would be getting.. your breaker would need to be able to handle the power draw for all three units combined.. additionally, the cable from the breaker as well, depending how power is distributed from the breaker to the units..
 
WAslayer said:
Check the power draw(amps) per unit that you would be getting.. your breaker would need to be able to handle the power draw for all three units combined.. additionally, the cable from the breaker as well, depending how power is distributed from the breaker to the units..
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Gotcha but in theory you should be able to handle multiple?
 
Snyper564 said:
Gotcha but in theory you should be able to handle multiple?
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In theory, yes.. can't say in terms of coc though, but can't see there being an issue if you are using the correct rated breaker and cable to handle the load.. not an electrician, but this is what I have come to understand from my electrician who hooked up my latest AC..
 
WAslayer said:
In theory, yes.. can't say in terms of coc though, but can't see there being an issue if you are using the correct rated breaker and cable to handle the load.. not an electrician, but this is what I have come to understand from my electrician who hooked up my latest AC..
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@soulie would multi Aircons on one circuit breaker fly coc?
 
abudabi said:
I think some of your repsonse got cut off.

And the unit? Does that stand outside?
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Yes, the unit is mounted on the roof, it's quite sizeable. about 1m x 1m x 90cm, the ducting going into the roof/ceiling void is the 550mm diameter from where it splits into multiple ducts via Y-connectors to the various areas. The area ducts are sized based on room size and can be sized from 400mm to 550mm depending on the required airflow.
 
Collecting the breezless midea tomorrow hoping to have installed and running within the week :)

Starting off with one and going from there
 
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