Fitted Air conditioning

[dazmanultra]

Looking to get air conditioning installed in our dormer bungalow. The bedrooms being upstairs in what is essentially the attic get really warm in the summer. I think my son's room got to 30 degrees on occasion at nights last summer, when it had already cooled outside to much lower. Should I get a unit for each bedroom, or can you get a single bigger unit on the landing to keep temperatures in check?

[Trichloroacetaldehyde chic]

A multi or a single split for each room, depending where you want your pipework. No point sticking all the cool air in the landing.

[Harry Flashman]

Putting an indoor unit on the landing will just cool your staircase and downstairs hallways (slowly and expensively) as the cool air sinks. Put units in the rooms...

[s1962a]

Resurrecting this. Is it possible to buy unconnected units without being FGas registered? I.e. installing them yourself, running the pipes but having a FGas person commission it?

[thebraketester]

s1962a said:

Resurrecting this. Is it possible to buy unconnected units without being FGas registered? I.e. installing them yourself, running the pipes but having a FGas person commission it?

You'll struggle to find someone to do that I think.

[ST565NP]

thebraketester said:

s1962a said:

Resurrecting this. Is it possible to buy unconnected units without being FGas registered? I.e. installing them yourself, running the pipes but having a FGas person commission it?

You'll struggle to find someone to do that I think.

Also, you do need to make sure there is enough gas, otherwise it might not work as it should. And to do that you need some tools and measuring equipment, and also some gas to eventually add. Not worth it, IMHO.

[mrpbailey]

I’m thinking of buying a 3 way split such as the below:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-3ms9k9k...

One query I have for the more knowledgable folk, is what is the power required to run this? The spec states 8.8kw “cooling power”, but is that the max power consumption with all units running? Or is the actual current draw much less (as I suspect it is). 8.8kw would mean roughly 38amps, which is a lot!
Thanks

[PF62]

mrpbailey said:

I’m thinking of buying a 3 way split such as the below:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-3ms9k9k...

One query I have for the more knowledgable folk, is what is the power required to run this? The spec states 8.8kw “cooling power”, but is that the max power consumption with all units running? Or is the actual current draw much less (as I suspect it is). 8.8kw would mean roughly 38amps, which is a lot!
Thanks

2.4kW cooling (with all three in operation) or 2.1kW heating (with all three in operation) - https://www.electriq.co.uk/files/pdf/Iqool%20TRIPL...

You have overlooked that they are heat pumps so 1kW of electricity delivers multiple kW of cooling or heating, with the “cooling power” quoted being the result of that multiplication.

[ecs]

The 10kW unit we're having installed runs off of a 32a supply as I believe it's actually rated at 7.6kW. They use inverters/heat pumps so the cooling power is greater than the amount of electricity they consume. The power requirements should be listed somewhere in the installation instructions or on the website somewhere, they seem to be tricky to find sometimes. Fortunately, the guy installing ours just told us what we needed to ask the electrician to do and we're sorted.

[Meprobamate chic]

mrpbailey said:

I’m thinking of buying a 3 way split such as the below:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-3ms9k9k...

One query I have for the more knowledgable folk, is what is the power required to run this? The spec states 8.8kw “cooling power”, but is that the max power consumption with all units running? Or is the actual current draw much less (as I suspect it is). 8.8kw would mean roughly 38amps, which is a lot!
Thanks

Divide the cooling or heating power quoted by the coefficient of performance (CoP) for that function and you will get the electrical power required. If you're lucky you will find a graph of the CoP versus outside temperature to give you a better idea of how much current it will draw when it is cooling when it's 25 degrees outside etc, and the same for heating.

[Matt p]

s1962a said:

Resurrecting this. Is it possible to buy unconnected units without being FGas registered? I.e. installing them yourself, running the pipes but having a FGas person commission it?

Who’s going to pressure test and vac it out?. I’d be buggered doing it after someone else installed it.

Tbh I really don’t enjoy splits/vrv’s anyway. Rather big spinning things cooling water are my type.

Hmmm one thing I do like though is the ducted units. Run the ducts to each room and balance out to give equal air flow and hey presto three bedrooms done of one machine.

[Matt p]

mrpbailey said:

I’m thinking of buying a 3 way split such as the below:

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool-3ms9k9k...

One query I have for the more knowledgable folk, is what is the power required to run this? The spec states 8.8kw “cooling power”, but is that the max power consumption with all units running? Or is the actual current draw much less (as I suspect it is). 8.8kw would mean roughly 38amps, which is a lot!
Thanks

Expect the COP’s to drop off from 5 degrees ambient. I’ve got a book somewhere of the heat pumps we supply. I’ll dig it out and post it so you have a rough idea on what to look for on the data sheets.

[Meprobamate chic]

Matt p said:

Tbh I really don’t enjoy splits/vrv’s anyway. Rather big spinning things cooling water are my type.

I like big VRF units, I specced one a few years ago that was natural gas powered - the engine was a modified Micra engine. It broke down after a year, obvs.

[Matt p]

Meprobamate chic said:

I like big VRF units, I specced one a few years ago that was natural gas powered - the engine was a modified Micra engine. It broke down after a year, obvs.

Ahhhh the old Sanyo’s. I quite liked those as you could read everything from the outdoor motherboard. Just a ball ache to service as you needed to be corgi/gas safe registered to do the other side. Certainly an interesting way of running the compressor as it’s effectively the same as running it in your car just with an inverter controlling it.



I’m a Caribbean blue man myself.

[chrismoose91]

Pah, baby units. We run chill water systems for AC on ships totalling around 5MW over 5 chillers.

[mfmman]

Now that's more like it, I used to work on 500t R11 Carrier chillers when I was an apprentice. And with the same company, single splits and through-the-wall units. I guess you would call it wide ranging

I have been off the the tools for 22 years and moved towards general building services now, sometimes wish I was still a specialist rather than a generalist though!

[fastbikes76]

s1962a said:

Resurrecting this. Is it possible to buy unconnected units without being FGas registered? I.e. installing them yourself, running the pipes but having a FGas person commission it?

There will be some guys who will do it. I fitted my 3 way split and found a local Fgas guy who vac’d down and regassed it all for me. He charged me £125 including adding an extra 400grams gas due to longer pipes used.

[Matt p]

chrismoose91 said:

Pah, baby units. We run chill water systems for AC on ships totalling around 5MW over 5 chillers.

Nice!. Marine stuff is decent. I’m off to P+O for two days tomorrow. 3x1.6mw on one vessel. - first pic is of five machines 2.5mw each. Second pic is four 3.3mw each. These are what we term as babies. The big stuff we have dotted around but I’ll not post on an open forum.

mfmman said:

Now that's more like it, I used to work on 500t R11 Carrier chillers when I was an apprentice. And with the same company, single splits and through-the-wall units. I guess you would call it wide ranging

I have been off the the tools for 22 years and moved towards general building services now, sometimes wish I was still a specialist rather than a generalist though!

You’d be surprised now that the turbos and refrigerant have gone full circle and back to those R11 days. I feel you’ve made the right choice. Our role has been dumbed down so much now. We are just a spec on people’s shoes these days. The job though does keep me interested as it’s always evolving.

[mrpbailey]

PF62 said:

2.4kW cooling (with all three in operation) or 2.1kW heating (with all three in operation) - https://www.electriq.co.uk/files/pdf/Iqool%20TRIPL...

You have overlooked that they are heat pumps so 1kW of electricity delivers multiple kW of cooling or heating, with the “cooling power” quoted being the result of that multiplication.

Great stuff, thanks!
So at 2.4KW / 10A, could that (legally) be taken as a spur off the ring main into an isolator outside? A direct supply from the house CU is not an option as it’s on the other side of the house.

My other option is to run an armoured cable from the garage CU as it has spare ways available, and bury it under the new patio that’s going to be built. I believe this is the better option, but will be more work!

[chrismoose91]

MattP, what ship?