BajaNomad - Mini- Split Air Conditioning

Mini- Split Air Conditioning

CaboRon - 8-10-2008 at 11:37 AM

The owners of my casa are considering putting in a mini-split in the bedroom, or maybe more depending on the price.

I saw an add in the GG about mini-splits for 5K pesos with installation included (with conditions?) at Home Depot.

Could you possibly provide comments about these things.

And do you know of prices and installation in the Todos Santos area ?

I need to come up with information to pass along to the owners and I am starting from a zero knowledge base.

You input is requested .

I live in a concrete block casa and would like to get some sleep at night.

Thanks,

CaboRon

[Edited on 8-10-2008 by CaboRon]

Udo - 8-10-2008 at 11:47 AM

Ron, it might be cheaper if you stop at a local farmacia and pick up a bottle of HEMITARTRATE ZOLPIDEM, 10mg. and take one 15 minutes before bed time.
The best night's sleep you'll have since you were a baby.

vandenberg - 8-10-2008 at 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by udowinkler
Ron, it might be cheaper if you stop at a local farmacia and pick up a bottle of HEMITARTRATE ZOLPIDEM, 10mg. and take one 15 minutes before bed time.
The best night's sleep you'll have since you were a baby.

Udo,
Is this anything like Anthrax. :?:

vandenberg - 8-10-2008 at 01:06 PM

Ron,
Google for information and you will get tons of it.
Only advice I can give you, is to make sure you get ample tonnage, otherwise you will think that you/or your landlord waisted your money. An A/C man in Sacramento once advised me to get 1 ton of air for every 500 cubic feet of space. Sounded excessive at the time, but have found out since, that it's right on the button. Especially with the humidity here. I have 4 ton in my living quarters and 3 ton in my bedroom ( trane splits ) and can tell you that it's all needed during our summers. And don't forget that you likely will have to run 220 electricity. Maybe a 2 ton wall unit should do the trick. :?:

Lot cheaper, but lots noisier.

[Edited on 8-10-2008 by vandenberg]

Udo - 8-10-2008 at 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg

Quote:

Udo,
Is this anything like Anthrax. :?:

Quote:

I works the same manner as AMBIEN, and you don't even wake up to pee at 1 a.m. :!:

vandenberg - 8-10-2008 at 01:17 PM

Udo, How do you manage to get your reply into a quote box :?:

Is there a trick to that. :biggrin:

Udo - 8-10-2008 at 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg
Udo, How do you manage to get your reply into a quote box :?:

Is there a trick to that. :biggrin:

Quote:

Everyone on this board knows I'm not the go-to-guy when it comes to computers...that's Grover's title. But when I press the quote box on the nenu board, a title box popped up. I noticed that when I typed in the title box, the bb cobe for quote came up. So I decided to start my replies with the bb code: bracket-quote-bracket, wrote my reply, and finished the quote with another bracket/quote-bracket. I didn't bb code it in this context because we would have ended up with another quote box.

oxxo - 8-10-2008 at 02:10 PM

I remodeled my condo last year and had the contractor put in 3 Trane mini splits - one for each bedroom and one for the living area. I don't know what size they are, but they work terrific! The specs are all in Spanish and I think the size is in metric units. I do know that the two in the bedrooms are smaller than the one in the living/dining/ kitchen area. I don't know what they cost, it was all part of a larger contract.

Would I do it again? You betcha! We use the one in the living area by day, and the one in the master bedroom at night. Very economical. They have built in swinging louvers that sling cold air all over the room. Sometimes (seldom) they will drip water on the floor from condensation when it is particularly humid - like yesterday, but I think it is because they are not quite adjusted properly. You will need 220.

We are very satisfied customers.

oxxo - 8-10-2008 at 05:12 PM

Morgaine, my guess is I have one tons in the bedrooms and a two ton in the living area. I think the price of 24K pesos sounds about right with installation and running 220.

BTW, the Tranes are almost completely silent. They come with handheld remotes for operation. You can run them in "fan only" mode too. The guy who installed ours was a subcontractor from San Lucas.

vandenberg - 8-10-2008 at 07:12 PM

Morgaine and oxxo,
I also purchased my Trane units from Francisco Loubett, the dealer on Constitution in La Paz. Have known him for many years. Competitive and reliable. Had them installed here in Loreto about 2 years ago by a local ( very good ) contractor. Oxxo, you stated that your unit ( the diffuser inside ) produces no condensation unless it's very humid? You mean the diffusers are not supplied with condensation lines to the outside? My living quarter diffusers, 2 one ton and 1 two ton, produce roughly 6 gallons of water from 4 pm till 10 pm daily. Would hate to have that run down my tile floor. :biggrin:

Thank You

CaboRon - 8-11-2008 at 07:20 AM

Appreciate the dealer and price information.

Looking forward to cool evenings

CaboRon

bajajudy - 8-11-2008 at 07:47 AM

We have three Mitsubishi units(2 over 8 years old) and two Trane.
The Mitsubishi are much quieter than the Trane.
We have them serviced every year before it gets too hot.
Ron...clean the filters about once a month.

CaboRon - 8-11-2008 at 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajajudy
We have three Mitsubishi units(2 over 8 years old) and two Trane.
The Mitsubishi are much quieter than the Trane.
We have them serviced every year before it gets too hot.
Ron...clean the filters about once a month.

That is good news, as the agent said he is looking at a Mitsubishi unit .

Can only cross my fingers now and hope it is approved.

Am I mistaken, or do multiple units share a common compressor on the roof ?

CaboRon

bajajudy - 8-11-2008 at 09:06 AM

Each of my units has their own compressor
We have a 110 in our bedroom
All the rest are 220.

edit to correct grammar

[Edited on 8-11-2008 by bajajudy]

vandenberg - 8-11-2008 at 09:08 AM

Quote:

Am I mistaken, or do multiple units share a common compressor on the roof ?

CaboRon

Mistaken,
It can come in one unit (casing), but each diffuser has its own compressor.
And they can be anywhere and are better off in a shady area.
Also important to keep the run from the compresor to the blower as short as possible.

[Edited on 8-11-2008 by vandenberg]

oldlady - 8-11-2008 at 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CaboRon
[
That is good news, as the agent said he is looking at a Mitsubishi unit .

Can only cross my fingers now and hope it is approved.

Am I mistaken, or do multiple units share a common compressor on the roof ?

CaboRon

It depends on the manufacturer and the configuration you choose. Some of them have many options. We researched this a lot when we built. Ended up going with LG and are very pleased, they are quiet, have lots of different settings and can cool down a bedroom that has been sealed up all day in a heartbeat! As others have stated, don't short yourself on the tonnage, unit works more efficiently. We have a couple of splits sharing the same compressor and the master bedroom is on its own compressor.

Good Luck!
Good Luck.

oxxo - 8-11-2008 at 09:13 AM

Mitsubishis are supposed to be the Cadillacs of the mini splits. I have never heard one operate, but I can't imagine anything being more quiet than our Tranes. Ours are almost silent, although I admit I'm deaf in my right ear. Say What?! Judy, who services your units for you?

You do want to get a unit with a high SEER number - like 18. They are more efficient and less expensive to operate, although a bit more expensive upfront. I believe the promotional units at San Lucas Home Depot are low SEER, promotional units, but not sure.

With regards to condensation, we do have lines running to the exterior. It is just that a couple of times over the last year, we have had a quart of water or so, drip onto the tile floor over a two or three hour period. It hasn't been enough of a bother to call the service man out. It happened last Friday, but hasn't happened since. It happened just once last summer.

But hey, not to worry, life is good in Baja!

"off the grid" Air Conditioning

tripledigitken - 8-11-2008 at 09:18 AM

Question to those with mini-splits.

If any are "off the grid", how big a generator are you using?

Thanks

Ken

Everyone-- Thanks for the Thread

Mulegena - 8-31-2008 at 10:11 PM

You've helped give me clarity as to what I need to keep a Casa Cool.

A mini-split or even two will be the finish to my river house when we complete the cleanup from Julio. The diffuser'll be placed high on the wall near ceiling ('way above the water marks) with compressor on a small platform suspended from the eves of the roof outside in shade. If we get a second unit, the compressor would be in the attic.

Questions: What is a SEER number and where is it displayed, along with the unit specs? Why keep the run from the compressor to the diffuser as short as possible as they come with 15' hoses? Why is shade for the compressor better?

Thanks Everyone! We're still smiling :spingrin:

Hook - 9-1-2008 at 06:03 AM

SEER

SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) measures how efficiently a residential central cooling system (air conditioner or heat pump) will operate over an entire cooling season, as opposed to a single outdoor temperature. As with EER, a higher SEER reflects a more efficient cooling system. SEER is calculated based on the total amount of cooling (in Btu) the system will provide over the entire season divided by the total number of watt-hours it will consume:

seasonal Btu of cooling
___________________ =SEER
seasonal watt-hours used

By federal law, every central split cooling system manufactured in the U.S. today must have a seasonal energy efficiency ratio of at least 13.0.

[Edited on 9-1-2008 by Hook]

[Edited on 9-1-2008 by Hook]

[Edited on 9-1-2008 by Hook]

bacquito - 9-2-2008 at 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by udowinkler

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg

Quote:

Udo,
Is this anything like Anthrax. :?:

Quote:

I works the same manner as AMBIEN, and you don't even wake up to pee at 1 a.m. :!:

BUT, do you pee at 1 a.m. anyway without waking up??

woody with a view - 9-2-2008 at 09:12 AM

Quote:

BUT, do you pee at 1 a.m. anyway without waking up??

get back to us on that, ASAP!

Diver - 9-2-2008 at 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody in ob

Quote:

BUT, do you pee at 1 a.m. anyway without waking up??

get back to us on that, ASAP!

That "Depends". :smug:

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
.

oxxo - 9-25-2008 at 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg
Oxxo, you stated that your unit ( the diffuser inside ) produces no condensation unless it's very humid? You mean the diffusers are not supplied with condensation lines to the outside?

Over the last month the leaking problem got progressively worse. We had about 2 liters of water dripping on the floor every hour. Last Monday, I called the guy who installed our
Tranes, Omar Rodriguez in San Jose. He showed up within two hours of my call and right on time with (get this) 5 guys! They did all kinds of tests and determined that the drain hose was blocked. He said he would be back on Tuesday morning to tear into the block wall and repair it. He showed up Tuesday 30 minutes EARLY with......5 guys! They tore into the wall and found that when they had installed the unit, they had put a kink in the drain line. 1 1/2 hours later the repair was finished, the wall was patched (to my satisfaction) and they were gone. I gritted my teeth and asked, "how much?" He said, "oh no senor, es gratis, trabajo de warranty." Three days later everything is working perfectly and I couldn't be happier with Omar, his work ethic, and my units.

We installed the Trane mini-splits last November. Prior to that we had a 16 year old ducted system in the casa. We were assured we would save on electricity during the summer. I was skeptical. Well we can now do some comparisons. We have not changed out lifestyle. We have kept the A/C temperature the same as last summer. We run the units the same amount of time as last summer. We run the ceiling fans the same. Lighting is the same. We have the electric bills from mid July through mid September - this year (just got it yesterday) and last. OUR CFE ELECTRIC BILL HAS BEEN CUT IN HALF for those 2 months!

We are thrilled! Mini-splits rock! I figure the new system will pay for itself in 2 to 3 years.

vandenberg - 9-25-2008 at 01:33 PM

oxxo,
Glad you got that solved. My 4 ton unit (2 one ton and one 2 ton) produce at least 5 to 7 gallons in an 6 to 7 hour span.
Would hate to have that run down the floor. I save that condensation water for my houseplants.
And yes, our electric bill is lower then it used to be using wall units. And the cooling results are far superior.

El Jefe - 9-25-2008 at 08:13 PM

Question to those with mini-splits.

If any are "off the grid", how big a generator are you using?

Thanks

Ken

I would be interested in knowing this too. Our solar system does everything we need and we would be buying a bigger generator just to run AC. Tom

Hook - 9-25-2008 at 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg
oxxo,
Glad you got that solved. My 4 ton unit (2 one ton and one 2 ton) produce at least 5 to 7 gallons in an 6 to 7 hour span.
Would hate to have that run down the floor. I save that condensation water for my houseplants.
And yes, our electric bill is lower then it used to be using wall units. And the cooling results are far superior.

Also good for any distilled water uses.

vandenberg - 9-26-2008 at 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hook
Also good for any distilled water uses.

Didn't really know that, but figured as much.
Have been using it for my batteries and also to mop floors.
Doesn't leave waterstains like our, very hard, tapwater.