Fitted Air conditioning

Author
Discussion

hab1966

1,098 posts

213 months

Thursday 13th August 2020
quotequote all
Harry Flashman said:
I have actually ordered three of these, as I have scaffolding up, so some core drilling for DIY installation from outside is easy. These are all for the front of the house, where I do not want AC pipes visible everywhere. I far prefer drilling in most of the way rather than drilling from inside the house; the dust from the latter is brutal, even with a vacuum on it. I suspect these will be noisier than the split versions, but frankly if you can put up with a pedestal fan on summer night, 56dB from one of these should be fine. Will report back once fitted.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-smart12...
I'll be very interested to hear what you think of these units.

They caught my eye earlier and i wonder how comparable they are to the split units. Noise i expect is louder but i wonder whether something so small in size can match something like a split unit.

MOBB

3,629 posts

128 months

Thursday 13th August 2020
quotequote all
PF62 said:
MOBB said:
I’m just north of Bedford
I would be interested in their details if you didn’t mind.
PM sent

Pheo

3,345 posts

203 months

Thursday 13th August 2020
quotequote all
hab1966 said:
I'll be very interested to hear what you think of these units.

They caught my eye earlier and i wonder how comparable they are to the split units. Noise i expect is louder but i wonder whether something so small in size can match something like a split unit.
There was osomeone on here who installed one in his garage and seemed happy (can’t remember the username but he asked for help with his rear extension a couple of weeks ago)

Harry Flashman

19,409 posts

243 months

Thursday 13th August 2020
quotequote all
hab1966 said:
Harry Flashman said:
I have actually ordered three of these, as I have scaffolding up, so some core drilling for DIY installation from outside is easy. These are all for the front of the house, where I do not want AC pipes visible everywhere. I far prefer drilling in most of the way rather than drilling from inside the house; the dust from the latter is brutal, even with a vacuum on it. I suspect these will be noisier than the split versions, but frankly if you can put up with a pedestal fan on summer night, 56dB from one of these should be fine. Will report back once fitted.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-smart12...
I'll be very interested to hear what you think of these units.

They caught my eye earlier and i wonder how comparable they are to the split units. Noise i expect is louder but i wonder whether something so small in size can match something like a split unit.
Arrived today. Big, and you need to core 2x180mm holes and drill a third hole for condensate for each unit.

Heavy buggers too, so will be going with the floor mount option. As they sit flush to the wall, that means chopping out some skirting board and making good, too.

So all in all, the splits may actually easier to put in if you have somewhere for the outdoor unit.

This works for me as I have scaffolding up, avoiding messy core drilling from inside. Interestingly, the external vents supplied are hinged and have sprung chains attached, so you could do the job from inside entirely - clearly designed for high rise apartments. Thoughtful touch.

Build quality looks excellent, albeit the usual cheap remote you get from ElectriQ/TCL. But I will use app/voice control anyway.

Will report back on installation, and if we ever survive that, actual operation.



Pheo

3,345 posts

203 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
I was chatting with an american colleague yesterday and she couldn’t understand why that kind of unit, and the window unit wasn’t more prevalent in the UK.

They’re also a lot cheaper over there; and in window unit being about $200

ralphrj

3,542 posts

192 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
MOBB said:
PF62 said:
MOBB said:
I’m just north of Bedford
I would be interested in their details if you didn’t mind.
PM sent
If it is not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind the details either.

I have been quoted £3.3k for 2 indoor units and 1 outdoor units with an estimate of 2-3 days work. Given that the guy doing to survey thought that it would be a really straightforward installation I was very surprised at the price and the estimated time to install.

MOBB

3,629 posts

128 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
ralphrj said:
MOBB said:
PF62 said:
MOBB said:
I’m just north of Bedford
I would be interested in their details if you didn’t mind.
PM sent
If it is not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind the details either.

I have been quoted £3.3k for 2 indoor units and 1 outdoor units with an estimate of 2-3 days work. Given that the guy doing to survey thought that it would be a really straightforward installation I was very surprised at the price and the estimated time to install.
Pm sent

kryten22uk

2,344 posts

232 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
Harry Flashman said:
Arrived today. Big, and you need to core 2x180mm holes and drill a third hole for condensate for each unit.
You got that correct? 180mm holes!! Did you mean 18mm?

kambites

67,654 posts

222 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
kryten22uk said:
You got that correct? 180mm holes!! Did you mean 18mm?
180mm sounds right. Air inlet and outlet for the condenser. You need quite a lot of air flow to cool an air con condenser. That's why most units mount it outdoors.

Harry Flashman

19,409 posts

243 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
Yep - big holes. Also I suspect that the fans will be a bit quieter this way as can run at lower RPMs to move higher volumes of air?

kambites

67,654 posts

222 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
Harry Flashman said:
Yep - big holes. Also I suspect that the fans will be a bit quieter this way as can run at lower RPMs to move higher volumes of air?
That and efficiency. Fans need quite a lot of power to force significant quantities of air through a small opening.

Harry Flashman

19,409 posts

243 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
Question - what size core drill do I need to fit a split ac unit (inlet, outlet and condensate). You would think this would come up on google!

65mm seems to be a standard core drill size - is it enough?

kambites

67,654 posts

222 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
It probably depends on the system. 50mm was enough for the 12000BTU one I installed a couple of years ago.

kryten22uk

2,344 posts

232 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
kambites said:
180mm sounds right. Air inlet and outlet for the condenser. You need quite a lot of air flow to cool an air con condenser. That's why most units mount it outdoors.
My bad, I didnt read the detail, thought we were still talking split units!
That will surely be one noisy bugger at 58db.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

225 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
58db is bloody loud.

Most projectors at sub 30db are annoying. +6db is roughly double the volume.


To put that into perspective, a Henry hoover is 47db. So 58db will be quite a racket.

kryten22uk

2,344 posts

232 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
It'll have a big compressor units rumbling away like a diesel generator, so difficullt to keep noise down. Isnt this just the same as the portable type units, except that the hose is 'hard-wired' into the wall rather than through a tube out the window?

I've got one of those portables, and I've just tested it at 59db, and its darn noisy. My tower fans operate at about 48db at full whack, and about 30db on sleep mode. All measured at 1m distance.

wiffmaster

2,604 posts

199 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
cmvtec said:
Scratch that, I am on metered water, not happening here!
I've got a water-cooled system installed, because I live in a London flat where I wouldn't get planning permission or approval from the freeholder for external mounted condenser.

It's absolutely brilliant and the company that installed it are incredibly professional. Bloody expensive compared to external condenser systems - but lounge and bedrooms routinely hit 40 degrees previously - now we have it set to 18 degrees in the bedroom and 21 degrees in the lounge. It'll keep them at that temperature even when it's nudging 40 degrees outside.

Haven't noticed a difference in my electricity bill, and thankfully not on a water meter!

Harry Flashman

19,409 posts

243 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
58db is bloody loud.

Most projectors at sub 30db are annoying. +6db is roughly double the volume.


To put that into perspective, a Henry hoover is 47db. So 58db will be quite a racket.
My outdoor units on the splits run at 56dB as well. They are not very loud at all - about the same as a noisy pedestal fan running, if that. However, you don't have to sleep next to them. Also, that rating is the max DBa. These are inverters, so no on/off noise and hopefully once the room is cooled, run quietly on part load. We'll see.

As someone said, these are much noisier than a split system. But really, they are for occasional (main bed, childerns' beds, living room, study and kitchen all have split systems already installed) use so I am pretty relaxed about it. One is for the guest bedroom/second study, one is for the eventual family room upstairs, and one is for the dressing room/gym. All places that can bear a bit of noise when in use during the daytime.

I would have preferred splits, but couldn't really make them work in these locations.


Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 14th August 14:19


Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 14th August 14:20

ralphrj

3,542 posts

192 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
MOBB said:
Pm sent
Received, thank you.

guindilias

5,245 posts

121 months

Friday 14th August 2020
quotequote all
Harry Flashman said:
My outdoor units on the splits run at 56dB as well. They are not very loud at all - about the same as a noisy pedestal fan running, if that. However, you don't have to sleep next to them. Also, that rating is the max DBa. These are inverters, so no on/off noise and hopefully once the room is cooled, run quietly on part load. We'll see.

As someone said, these are much noisier than a split system. But really, they are for occasional (main bed, childerns' beds, living room, study and kitchen all have split systems already installed) use so I am pretty relaxed about it. One is for the guest bedroom/second study, one is for the eventual family room upstairs, and one is for the dressing room/gym. All places that can bear a bit of noise when in use during the daytime.

I would have preferred splits, but couldn't really make them work in these locations.
You can always wire them up before you core anything, to get an idea of how loud they are - obviously a fair amount of that will be from the exhaust duct and won't be audible once they're installed, but at least you'll be able to tell the difference between that and a compressor running.