Who on here uses them? As a main source of air and heat or even just in the grow room.
What’s it like vs a central system ? Electricity difference coverage power pros cons all of it. I
My central unit has gone down twice in the past year. I’m speaking with someone about redoing the whole thing and they offer both central and mini splits and I’m going to get an estimate on both but ultimately will stick with one.
I’d stick with central since you have the ducting already installed.
If your grow is big enough to warrant it, get a separate mini-split. Probably easier to keep 'em separate if your grow is generating a lot of heat, and you don’t need A/C to the rest of the house when it’s not hot out.
I have central but I have to keep the grow room door closed. I wanted to get a window unit but was advised to get a split because it’s more efficient.
It is, and more BTU’s than a window unit. But a little more expensive and and a more complex to install. Nothing crazy, though.
I think a split system is more energy efficient. Central air at its most basic will have an AHU with a DX coil inside running to a remote condenser. Individual room control is done with VAV/Fan powered boxes with either a reheat coils or both a reheat coils and chilled water coil. Never see this in houses. Usually a motorized damper tied to a rooms thermostat. Sometimes not even that and the whole house is one zone.
A split system will have head units in each room all tied to a shared condensing unit that has an inverter on it to vary the load. So if one room requires 70F and another 80F and each room is 75F only the room thats 70F would require cooling. So the compressor will only run at the capacity needed to cool that room.
For a grow room you will have much different heating and cooling loads than the rest of your house. This is where split systems shine.
Can also make it easier to run a sealed room if thats your thing.
They also make split systems that heat as well. They are called heat pumps.
This is the route im going for my whole house. They also make cassette style units and fan coil units that are ducted.
I agree if you have existing duct work stick with a split system ahu and condenser. The seer or eer on splits are just as efficient as the minis. In my experience and I’ve worked in the HVAC industry since 2010 mini splits in the long run will create more problems compared to a regular split system and not everyone knows how to work on them.
My thought was the mini splits give more control over individual rooms and they could be shut off when said room is empty. I can see how they have more problems down the line though and I do have existing duct. It probably needs to be replaced though.
I’m currently building a new house and just finished taking bids on HVAC. Had 3 quotes. 1 suggested typical HVAC. $34,000 . 2 suggested could go either way. 1 was $31,000 either way the other was $31,500 for straight HVAC or $28,100 for Mitsubishi ducted mini split… 6 zones heat and ac. 10 year warranty on parts and labor.You guess which way I went
Damn thats expensive. How big of a house? U in boston?
I’ve got a mini split with intentions of hooking the house to it this summer . Don’t believe it’s too much to plumb the house guess I’ll find out the price once the snows gone and the ground thaws .
It’s 3800 sqft. Sounds big but we’re downsizing… coming from 5300. It’s just kinda how they build them around here. Land is so expensive maximizing square footage offsets that cost. I’m Boston adjacent. Heh heh heh.
The mini split systems are the way to go for retrofits without question. The USA is just now catching up with Europe on how they approach air conditioning in general. Most offices and commercial spaces and houses are done with mini splits of some type in new construction
Yeah im at 2k and figuring ducted upstairs and wall mounts in the basement. I have 10k set aside for it. Going with the mitsubishi hyper heat H2i tech. But I work for a mechanical contractor so plan on getting a deep discount on insulation, ductwork, equipment and labor
How well does the central work when it’s cold outside? Will you need to run the AC when it’s cold outside? I use minisplits with a low ambient rating so that I can run sealed / co2 in the winter without the evaporator coil on the AC freezing into a block of ice. Yeah you can get a freeze kit for a normal AC unit but it’s not as efficient by a long shot.
So I’m in florida. During the winter I RARELY run heat. During the summer sometimes just central a.c isnt enough. We live in an old trailer with shitty insulation . I have some portable units for those really hot days but recently I switched my lights on to night time to battle that heat.
I’d prefer to have the ability to keep things as even as possible ( temp swings ect ) throughout lights on and off without killing my electricity which… running a portable in each room PLUS a grow is starting to do. Heat and high humidity is my biggest struggle. I can supplement the heat during winter easier then cooling an entire trailer down.
Before this grow, I didnt allow myself to grow during the summer months, but when I first started growing and my a.c didnt break down it wasnt as much as a battle and what i did battle wasnt as big as a stresser on the plants ( with central my temps wouldnt break 83, recently I walked into a 103 veg tent )
But for ease of mind/more control over electricity if I’m gone/not using a room/ environmental changes or whatever I was leaning mini splits. However thinking bigger then just growing idk if that thought is the right one.
Insulating your room would help with the cooling costs for sure.
The nice thing about a minisplit is the compressor and fan can run at variable speeds instead of just on or off. So a smart mini will only run as hard as it needs to in order to maintain temps. When it’s cooler or hotter outside the fan speed on the condenser coil is optimized. They really can be much more efficient and effective.
The installation is more complex indeed but youre no longer dealing with those portables and their stupid vent tubes lol.
Can you describe the installation?
Obviously with my state… yeah lol
Its not the fan its the compressor. Inverter technology.
Mitsubishi is the best brand but they arent cheap. Some states u need a refrigeration license to get the refrigerant.
Other than that youd need to know how to braze pipe. Need a vacuum pump to purge nitrogen from the lines. Nitrogen is used to pressure test your lines.