What's new
By:
Filters

Mini split question

ThePanzerFuhrer

ThePanzerFuhrer

The Rock Breaker God
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
84
Messages
2,539
Loc
Wi
Need to ac the theater. It gets screaming hot in there with a few people and the projector bulb burning.

With that said we use the theater more in the winter than summer. In the summer I could use the ac off the house to cool which would be nbd. However in the winter it’s a no go because I have a 180 degree coil going in the hvac 24/7.

So looking at mini splits they all seem to have a minimum temperature of like 32 degrees outdoor temp for the ac to work.

I’m thinking about putting the condenser in my garage. It stay above freezing in the winter there, summer time I could just leave the garage door open. Other option is to put the condenser in the basement but I think that would be pretty loud.

Would this be a problem installing the condenser in the garage?
 
You’ll have to search a little but low ambient (for cooling) mini splits are available. We’ve installed daikins that will cool down to -20ish for server rooms, some models will operate at lower ambient temps with the addition of a wind baffle kit.
The inverter units are quiet enough you probably wouldn’t be bothered by installing it in the garage, you will want to install the drain hose kit for the condenser if you intend to use in heating mode at some point.
 
You're thinking about this a little backwards. Heat pumps have a limit of the outside temp for which they'll be able to heat.

If you're using it for cooling it should work at pretty much any outside temp.
 
SomeGuy said:
Why not just pipe a 4 inch vent line to outside and rather than exhausting air, bring air in? Seems like a much cheaper solution lol can put a filter inline too if you care about the outside yuckies.
Click to expand...
This was thought about but ac is needed in the summertime as well. Current house ac is just one zone system. To get it to work properly I would probably have to zone the system in the house. House would be freezing and the theater would still be hot type deal. Which would make it more complicated than just installing a mini split.
 
TanTJJim said:
You're thinking about this a little backwards. Heat pumps have a limit of the outside temp for which they'll be able to heat.

If you're using it for cooling it should work at pretty much any outside temp.
Click to expand...
They all seem like to say they will shut off the ac side of the system if the outdoor temp gets below 32.
 
TanTJJim said:
You're thinking about this a little backwards. Heat pumps have a limit of the outside temp for which they'll be able to heat.

If you're using it for cooling it should work at pretty much any outside temp.
Click to expand...
Many traditional systems will start having problems at even 55-60° ambient without some sort of head pressure control, fan cycler, freeze stat etc. That’s getting outside of design specifications. If it’s only running for short periods you can get away with it, otherwise you’ll be freezing up the evaporator. The inverter units do better because they can modulate both fans and the compressor to compensate.
 
Bowe said:
You’ll have to search a little but low ambient (for cooling) mini splits are available. We’ve installed daikins that will cool down to -20ish for server rooms, some models will operate at lower ambient temps with the addition of a wind baffle kit.
The inverter units are quiet enough you probably wouldn’t be bothered by installing it in the garage, you will want to install the drain hose kit for the condenser if you intend to use in heating mode at some point.
Click to expand...
Should not need heat. Just turn the projector on for 30 mins and bingo the room is 15 degrees warmer. Room is super insulated and no air leaks to keep the sound in the room.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
They all seem like to say they will shut off the ac side of the system if the outdoor temp gets below 32.
Click to expand...
Random thought, maybe you could relocate the ODA sensor somewhere warmer and avoid the cutoff. Or replace it with fixed value resistor and spoof the board.
 
Bowe said:
Random thought, maybe you could relocate the ODA sensor somewhere warmer and avoid the cutoff.
Click to expand...
The thought was my garage is insulated as well why not use the condenser to heat it up in the winter. Wife’s car will be all melted off after a ufc fight, or a movie night:lmao:
 
Bowe said:
Many traditional systems will start having problems at even 55-60° ambient without some sort of head pressure control, fan cycler, freeze stat etc. That’s getting outside of design specifications. If it’s only running for short periods you can get away with it, otherwise you’ll be freezing up the evaporator. The inverter units do better because they can modulate both fans and the compressor to compensate.
Click to expand...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that 55-60 ambient be with respect to the temperature that the evaporator is at? i.e. trying to cool a room to below 55 degrees?
 
TanTJJim said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that 55-60 ambient be with respect to the temperature that the evaporator is at? i.e. trying to cool a room to below 55 degrees?
Click to expand...
It could be 75° in the house and still freeze the coil at 55° outdoor ambient. The metering device also needs around a 100psi drop minimum to work correctly, too low of outdoor temp and you aren’t achieving that differential, that’s where head pressure controls etc come into play.
 
Bowe said:
It could be 75° in the house and still freeze the coil at 55° outdoor ambient. The metering device also needs around a 100psi drop minimum to work correctly, too low of outdoor temp and you aren’t achieving that differential, that’s where head pressure controls etc come into play.
Click to expand...
That makes sense, thanks for the info!
 
I was told the range of operating temps is for maximum efficiency. They still work beyond those limits, just not as well.
 
What about one of those portable AC units that suck in room air and vent the hot air outside? You'd just need to but something like a drier vent through the wall.
 
bgaidan said:
What about one of those portable AC units that suck in room air and vent the hot air outside? You'd just need to but something like a drier vent through the wall.
Click to expand...
If you're gonna do that in the winter then don't even bother sticking the hose outside, stick it in another room so that room gets the heat. :laughing:
 
bgaidan said:
What about one of those portable AC units that suck in room air and vent the hot air outside? You'd just need to but something like a drier vent through the wall.
Click to expand...
That is another option. I do have 2 6” ducts built into the room probably could be plumbed into them.
 
The 32 outside temp is for heat operation with a heatpump (without having strip heat in the outside coil)

Your mini split will work fine in cool when the outside temps are below freezing



The real question is …. Why not just get a “mini whole house fan” or pull filtered outside air into the area ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh