OT: Mini Splits, revisited

[temery]

If you had them installed, I'm curious - how much did your electric bill go up?

Suggestions ? I'm getting quotes next week, and hope to have everything done by Oct.

 

[tykurez]

I haven’t gotten them myself - but shop around ... a lot. The prices are so varying - I was astounded when I was getting quotes last year.

One thing I am definitely going to consider is the 0.99% CT Heating Loan program offered through Energize CT. You can finance 90% of the project up to 10 years at less than 1% ... and you can add the $ to your energy bill if you wanted to go that far.

EDIT - added link for details: Energize CT Heating Loan Program

Unless you can afford to pay cash - I’ve never seen one of these companies offer a good financing option.

 

[temery]

I haven’t gotten them myself - but shop around ... a lot. The prices are so varying - I was astounded when I was getting quotes last year.

One thing I am definitely going to consider is the 0.99% CT Heating Loan program offered through Energize CT. You can finance 90% of the project up to 10 years at less than 1% ... and you can add the $ to your energy bill if you wanted to go that far.

EDIT - added link for details: Energize CT Heating Loan Program

Unless you can afford to pay cash - I’ve never seen one of these companies offer a good financing option.

How much did your electric bill go up?

 

[tykurez]

How much did your electric bill go up?

I haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet - still living with window units. What are you currently using? I’d imagine my bill might not change that much year to year if I got them considering they’re probably much more efficient than what I’m using now and could even supplement some heat and reduce my early and late season oil usage.

I was quote anywhere from $17k - $28k for a 5 unit set-up. One installer was able to configure one with only one compressor outside which lowered the cost a bit.

A lot of people will also tell you to buy the units yourself and then get a contractor/electrician to install them since most of the money is spent on the labor - but that might be another headache.

 

[Dove]

If you had them installed, I'm curious - how much did your electric bill go up?

Suggestions ? I'm getting quotes next week, and hope to have everything done by Oct.

We are going to install two units in our colonial...one up and one down. Will have a rep at our house in a few weeks to scope out the layout.

I work with that person who them installed and she raves about them. Her submitted building permit for the job... similar to our house and set-up had a $7,500 project cost. She went with the well-thought of Mitsubishi brand as are we.

 

[huskyinfl]

Should go down by alot. We just installed a 8 head dakin system in longboat key

 

[uconnfan68]

Should go down by alot. We just installed a 8 head dakin system in longboat key

More info? Sizing?

 

[huskyinfl]

If you want things done correctly you should have a heat load calculation done on your home. Orientation, amount of windows, building materials, age.

All HVAC products are bad which is why quality installation is your best bet. Under/overcharged, under /oversized, pinhole leak, float switch etc. So much simple stuff to mess up. No glamour in HVAC installation world.

 

[Conndog]

We have Mitsubishi heat pumps/mini splits, but our home is 200 years old and we put the units in the attic out of sight- we didn't want to see the boxes on the walls. Instead, in the ceiling are the grates from which the hot and cold air emanates- if any servicing needs to be done, they just go up into the attic.

 

[Conndog]

Also, we have supplemental heat source for the coldest temps when the heat pumps don't work well. This is an electric powered heater that uses the same ceiling grates. If it gets to zero or colder, that is when the heat pumps won't produce enough heat by themselves, ironically just when extra heat is needed the most. We live in southern New Hampshire.

 

[temery]

We have Mitsubishi heat pumps/mini splits, but our home is 200 years old and we put the units in the attic out of sight- we didn't want to see the boxes on the walls. Instead, in the ceiling are the grates from which the hot and cold air emanates- if any servicing needs to be done, they just go up into the attic.

I would think the summer heat in an attic would be too much? What about drainage for condensation?

 

[QuickDraw]

I installed a 24k BTU unit in my home 3 yrs ago. Very simple to install, just get a HVAC tech to cut, flare & connect the lines, draw a vacuum to evacuate any air from the lines and you are good to go. I installed a Blueridge unit which is manufactured by Gree, there are others like AirCon which is a Mitsubishi if you don't want to pay for a name brand. Mine cost $1300 + 300 for the tech (all in $1600+3hrs of my time. Cost of operation can vary depending on unit output, average daily temp, & how tight your home is. The unit I have is only good for heat with temps above 40Degrees outside, some units will work in colder temps but I got mine primarily for A/C . This past July my bill was about $50-$60 more than May, it ran full time during that month with out a break and we stayed nice and cool.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Installed a Mitsubishi about 5 years ago. As others said, installation is key. We have had problems which have now stopped. Mostly leaks in the lines. Have a new guy working on it. Original guy may have oversized it slightly.

As for electric I have not looked. We have central AC upstairs and this replaced a window unit downstairs. It’s both much more powerful and more efficient than that window unit.

Electric cost over no AC will be noticeable. But if you run fans now, those are hardly offering much cooling for electric used. As with anything, if you use it inky when you really need it, it won’t be that bad.

 

[Zissou]

Design good gravity drains for the condensate. No pumps!

 

[Crank]

Answer to original question - lower in summer (got rid of massive 23,000 BTUH window unit on main level, installed 30,000 BTUH minisplit) by about 30-40$ per month, which is about 15-20% of the bill. Used everyday for cooling. In the shoulder months, used for heating, in place of wood and some straight electric - little to no change in electric bill. May have had other use drop, however (daughters using hot water and electric, eg).

Things are ridiculously efficient.

NOTE ON OVERSIZING - Get a variable speed compressor unit (with inverter). They can operate at lower BTUH loads, so oversizing is a non-issue. My unit is a 30k BTUH unit, but can run as low as 10k BTUH, so there is not a risk of having clammy air because it cools too rapidly and leaves a cold, humid room. All automatic. Strong recommendation.

 

[Conndog]

Regarding condensation, we do have piping to handle that. We bumped up attic insulation with spray foam to keep out outside cold in winter.
One thing I’d advise is to get a whole house surge protection in place. We don’t yet but will. Our system is brand new but already had a big problem, apparently caused by a power surge, and we had to replace two mother boards and another part, cost was $2000. Contractor says power surges aren’t covered by warranty! We are contesting this, if they had said to put in whole house surge protection we would have done so. Most power surges, I think, are internal in nature- a big device like furnace maybe turns off and for instant there is extra power (surge) in system. An electrician could explain it better.

 

[huskyinfl]

What a horrible contractor. A system surge protector is like $30 for you $15 for us. Lazy sales guys and installers. We literally make you check boxes to turn down these things so when bad stuff happens were like you said no!

 

[ClifSpliffy]

overhead ceiling fan(s) is/are magical. make your space evenly mellow. vastly underrated and inexpensive, too. I bet them suckers pay back energy cost savings in like a year or so.
green city, both in cash and the other thing.