Air Con unit in Bedroom - relocation, advice please.

Air Con unit in Bedroom - relocation, advice please.

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Discussion

russy01

Original Poster:

4,693 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Good Morning,

Moving soon and went and had a good poke around the house last night to get a renovation plan together!
Anyway in the main bedroom the current owners have installed an Air con unit. Ultimately I don't think I will use it but its new and decent so I may as well keep it, but I just want it to be more "integrated".

I don't know the slightest thing about Air con, so bear with me.

This is similar to what is installed. With the square external component installed outside the house with pipework leading to the long rectangular internal component which is literally screwed to the wall above the bed!



What I would like to do is somehow install the internal parts in the ceiling. It should be easy to extend the pipe work from outside into the attic, so that I can come down into the bedroom from above, however I have no idea how this can be done. The only things that I can find are monstrosities like this -



And I don't want this in my bedroom. Can anybody shed any light on this for me and potential discreet solutions which don't cost an arm and a leg.

Thanks in advance.

BoxsterS3.2

42 posts

204 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
I don't think you'll be able to do anything to hide the existing unit, it's meant to be wall mounted and if you attempt to hide it you'll need a huge grill below it to let the cold air into your bedroom, that type just aren't designed to be concealed, plus the infra-red remote control won't be able to 'see' the receiver so you won't be able to easily switch it on/off or change the fan speed or temperature.

The other type you show is a complete ceiling mounted until (the cold coils are contained within it, and the motors for the vanes and blower fan and the control circuits... your current wall mounted until contains all of these as well) which could in theory replace your wall mounted unit if the external condensor is compatible.

Realistically you'll have to stick with the existing system or completely replace it.

It's fairly straight forward to move the wall mounted unit to another location, just drain the refrigerant down, disconnect pipes, remove unit, re-plumb new pipe work, run some mains power to the new location, connect and refill.

Neither option will be cheap though.

Edited by BoxsterS3.2 on Wednesday 16th April 12:17

russy01

Original Poster:

4,693 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
BoxsterS3.2 said:
I don't think you'll be able to do anything to hide the existing unit, it's meant to be wall mounted and if you attempt to hide it you'll need a huge grill below it to let the cold air into your bedroom, that type just aren't designed to be concealed, plus the infra-red remote control won't be able to 'see' the receiver so you won't be able to easily switch it on/off or change the fan speed or temperature.

The other type you show is a complete ceiling mounted until (the cold coils are contained within it, and the motors for the vanes and blower fan and the control circuits... your current wall mounted until contains all of these as well) which could in theory replace your wall mounted unit if the external condensor is compatible.

Realistically you'll have to stick with the existing system or completely replace it.

It's fairly straight forward to move the wall mounted unit to another location, just drain the refrigerant down, disconnect pipes, remove unit, re-plumb new pipe work, run some mains power to the new location, connect and refill.

Neither option will be cheap though.

Edited by BoxsterS3.2 on Wednesday 16th April 12:17
Thanks for your reply. I understand it wont be viable to fix the current wall mounted unit in the ceiling as its not practical, I was going to bung this bit on eBay.

But I was wondering whether this part can be replaced with something similar that is mounted in the ceiling - therefore all I need to do is purchase and install this new part and extend the pipework a couple metres into the attic?

BoxsterS3.2

42 posts

204 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
In theory it should be possible but you'd need the model number of the condensor (the outdoors part of the system), some of the guys on diynot.co.uk or the other plumbers forums may be able to confirm.

Generally the ceiling mount ones tend to have a greater cooling capacity and usually require higher capacity condensors, but its worth a try.


russy01

Original Poster:

4,693 posts

180 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
BoxsterS3.2 said:
In theory it should be possible but you'd need the model number of the condensor (the outdoors part of the system), some of the guys on diynot.co.uk or the other plumbers forums may be able to confirm.

Generally the ceiling mount ones tend to have a greater cooling capacity and usually require higher capacity condensors, but its worth a try.
Ok thanks for your help. I'll try get the model no.

HelenT

263 posts

138 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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Before you invest too much time/money in relocating it, I would hear it running. We run a couple of similar units at work and they are very effective at both heating and cooling, but I don't think I would like to try and sleep with one running, but perhaps your's is quieter?

Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
Could you not just have the square fan bit in the loft and a duct running down to the bedroom ceiling?

It's something I've pondered myself on hot summer nights. Seems a long time ago...

NPI

1,310 posts

123 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
quotequote all
HelenT said:
Before you invest too much time/money in relocating it, I would hear it running. We run a couple of similar units at work and they are very effective at both heating and cooling, but I don't think I would like to try and sleep with one running, but perhaps your's is quieter?
We have a mobile unit which sounds like turbo-prop aircraft engine when it's running, but amazingly (especially bearing in mind a ticking clock can keep me awake) I can sleep with it on. It was a Godsend some nights last year. The split units are massively quieter.

The OPs evaporator unit being mounted over the bed seems a bit odd but maybe that's the only wall it could go on.

fridgedoctor

220 posts

158 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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You won't have much joy selling the indoor unit, they are the cheaper part of the system (also useless without a corresponding outdoor unit)
I'm pretty sure MHi do a 3.5 kW duct unit which you could have up in the loft, then ducted into the bedroom. This would then be connected to your existing outdoor unit.
If you post the outdoor unit Mod and SN I can check it out for you

Edited by fridgedoctor on Thursday 17th April 06:53

bradders

884 posts

270 months

Wednesday 16th April 2014
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I'm having aircon fitted in my house renovation - bedrooms will have the condenser, as you have shown outside, and in the loft, there are units that provide ducted cooling to the bedroom - basically, 2 or 4 grills in the bedroom ceiling (heat removal, and cold air replacement), which are fairly discrete - will ask for more details, and see if I can get model numbers - of course, you will then need to see if they match to your external condenser.

Google - ducted air conditioning ceiling vents - and look at the images to get an idea.

Edited by bradders on Wednesday 16th April 23:04

russy01

Original Poster:

4,693 posts

180 months

Thursday 17th April 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the help chaps - I'll try and find out the model numbers.

As for quietness, the current owner says it's pretty quiet but he usually runs it during the evening to cool the bedroom but then switches it off as he goes to bed - something I often do when on holiday.