Got a Daikin - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

davidmash · #1 07-26-2018, 05:58 PM

We have a 300 sq ft sun room at our house. All glass and faces West. Its a bloody heat sink. I put solar screens on a few years ago and that helps significantly but the window AC unit (think hotel type about 2'x 3') had a hard hard time keeping up. It's an old Amana. Tech guessed 15-20 yrs old. This summer has been brutally harsh (had a 110 degree day last week) and the unit shut down for a bit till it cooled off. Figured we needed to be proactive and get it fixed. We have cats that stay out there because it's quiet and no one buggs them. Plus their kennel is attached to it outside and the litter boxes are out there.

Had the Daikin mini-split put in yesterday and boy what a difference. The sun room is only 300 sq ft but I git a 1.5 ton rated for 900 sq ft due to the sun exposure. I think it was the right choice. The temp right now is 102 right now and the room is comfy. It is not even blowing that hard. The fan is on auto and on its lowest setting. Holding 77 with out a problem. I hope this is reflected in my electric bill.

t walgamuth · #2 07-26-2018, 10:02 PM

I would not expect a big difference in your consumption.

davidmash · #3 07-26-2018, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I would not expect a big difference in your consumption.

You just like to crush dreams don't you Tom?

Why would a new, more efficint unit not use less power to do the same thing?

t walgamuth · #4 07-27-2018, 08:52 AM

Sounds like it has a lot more capacity. Even with 20% greater effeciency if it is triple the output it would use more juice. What is your BTU on the two devices? Effeciency?

davidmash · #5 07-27-2018, 10:11 AM

Not really sure on the old one. Tags is faded and can't read most of th4 info. It's about 15+ yrs old.and ran constantly during the day. This new one cycles.

barry12345 · #6 07-28-2018, 01:09 PM

Since it is cycling off as well during sunny periods. It is not using much current when actually running. Since it would remain running constantly otherwise during those periods. Even then it sounds like it is running very near or actually at the bottom of its variable output profile. When it is running. The majority of the time.

Perhaps a clamp meter would show it is drawing only 2 amps or less at 220 volts in your situation. Plus when not running no draw of course.

Efficiency overall and power consumption almost might be unbelievably low in comparison to the very old window unit. Even though it does a much better job as well.

From my perspective what you did was a logical choice. That you may even recapture the cost of acquisition or more over the lifespan of the unit in electricity savings. Would not surprise me.

pawoSD · #7 07-29-2018, 08:09 PM

The split unit should decrease your consumption a fair bit, the SEER rating is likely at least double that of a 10-15 year old unit. They are also inverter compressor driven, which allows them to vary their output rather than running in bursts.

I have a 24k btu split unit in my 2 car garage and it will keep it 69 in there on a 95 degree day for about 15-20 cents an hour in power.

barry12345 · #8 07-31-2018, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

The split unit should decrease your consumption a fair bit, the SEER rating is likely at least double that of a 10-15 year old unit. They are also inverter compressor driven, which allows them to vary their output rather than running in bursts.

I have a 24k btu split unit in my 2 car garage and it will keep it 69 in there on a 95 degree day for about 15-20 cents an hour in power.

That is what I based part of my last thread on. It actually cycling off and on. Your expression of running in bursts. As his new unit is. Means it is running very slow and drawing very low current. When it is running.

Except perhaps when it has been shut off and there is a large temperature differential present to initially overcome. Then it will run much harder until it reduces the differential substantially. Then slow down to almost nothing in his case.

Based on it also cycling off at times when the sun is out.

For the last poster I wanted to mention. If you have a decent aluminium foil radiant heat barrier incorporated it will reduce the demand by about thirty percent in your garage. There are cheap ways to do this.

Hard on a retrofit of a house other than perhaps the attic area. A lot of garages existing are much easier. It needs an air space on the interior side. I have also seen it operating fairy efficient with just open air in front of it.

You cannot give the foil an R value. What is known is that about a third of heating and cooling losses are radiant based. My feeling is if you have air space on both sides of the foil. You probably would be really surprised.

It has surprised me and allowed me to design and heat a small thirteen hundred foot house with only a one ton heat pump. It actually does a good job of servicing that house. As well it has good conventional insulation as well. as the radiant.

I am beefing up the insulation on our own house at this time. Unfortunatly there is no easy way to incorporate an efficient radiant barrier in the process. If I could a ton and a half unit would probably almost heat and cool the 2000 plus square foot house.

I am installing one and hope it will cope with a lot of the load. Before the retrofit it takes about two three tanks of fuel oil or 600 gallons to get this house through the winter in eastern Canada. That is pretty good for this location but I want it even better.

A two ton unit for a two car garage to me indicates your garage might also benefit from some type of insulation. Foil is cheap and the returns of the cost are fast. If you do it yourself.

Experience has taught me that there is no other way to stop the radiant loss. Or gain. You can make conventional insulation a foot thick in the walls and the radiant loss will still occur. Or in the case of summer still enter the garage through the general insulation.

Power here is about 18 cents a kilowatt hour. Not the cheapest but makes straight resistance heating like baseboards too expensive.

davidmash · #9 07-31-2018, 07:12 PM

$.18 a kWh? Wow. I'm paying about $.09 a kWh. I guess I won't complain too much.

Shortsguy1 · #10 07-31-2018, 11:55 PM

Cheapest kWh is my part of CA is $0.24, unless you have an electric car in which case you can get cheaper electricity at night (but then daytime electricity is more).

davidmash · #11 08-01-2018, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shortsguy1

Cheapest kWh is my part of CA is $0.24, unless you have an electric car in which case you can get cheaper electricity at night (but then daytime electricity is more).

That does suck but living in CA near the water you probably do not use as much as we do out her in Suckville TX. I'm using mid 2,000 kWh up to about 3k a month.

barry12345 · #12 08-06-2018, 04:17 PM

Not disturbing but just factual. I perhaps should have a look. We live at the shore for part of the year basically. We do not use electric heating at home.

It seems odd that the kilowatt hours used per month at the cottage are only half of what is consumed at home. When we are there full time.

Odd because we have about the same appliances at both places. Other than the freezer at home is larger by a substantial amount. Also the wife did not want a dishwasher at the cottage. Still I cannot see that consuming that much more.

Heat pumps are quickly replacing the burning of any type of fossil fuel in homes locally. Very quickly now.

One son in law just getting into the refrigeration business and is working long days. His phone at home is ringing pretty steadily as well. He just cannot do anything for the callers as he is working for a local company.

I am going to suggest he could do some auto air conditioning. When things are quieter as his employer is not in that area of the business. He cannot claim any conflict exists then.

One thing that has always bothered me. Why where heat pumps sold for all those years in Europe and the orient before really appearing here? Part of it of course may have been the cheap fuel oil in America.

Even in Canada when my father had an oil furnace installed all those years ago. Two hundred gallons of fuel oil was 19.00. Now it varies or floats pricewise from around eight hundred to eleven hundred for two hundred gallons.

The cost of natural gas once fairly priced is now seen as a much greater profit center by sellers locally . At the same time our province produces it and sells it to the eastern seaboard of America. Probably cheap as well.

One thing I have noticed. The sloped ceilings in the main area of the cottage start at twelve feet and go to 19 feet. We have two large fans hung at about the 16 foot level. They lower the temperature feel by about ten degrees F. This summer has been unusually hot.

I have a spare one ton split unit still in the boxes I may install it there.

t walgamuth · #13 08-06-2018, 04:27 PM

Around here natural gas has always been the most economical if available. In rural areas where gas is unavailable a heat pump will win out usually.

barry12345 · #14 08-06-2018, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash

$.18 a kWh? Wow. I'm paying about $.09 a kWh. I guess I won't complain too much.

The approximate 18 cents a kilowatt hour cost includes all the misc. charges on the bill. Consisting of surcharges and taxes. The actual cost of the electricity initially is just a little over fifteen cents a kilowatt hour.

davidmash · #15 08-06-2018, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry12345

The approximate 18 cents a kilowatt hour cost includes all the misc. charges on the bill. Consisting of surcharges and taxes. The actual cost of the electricity initially is just a little over fifteen cents a kilowatt hour.

The .08-.09 includes all fees.