Fitted Air conditioning

[CorradoTDI]

Just revisiting this...

Can any one advise on the following please?

- What is the best brand for general quietness (outdoor and indoor unit) - just wondering if there is any particular tech out there that is better than others...

- Electrics, I gather you run power to the outdoor unit and then the indoor unit(s) come off this... can this be off a ring or does it have to be a dedicated circuit (16A radial?) - just wondering what others have done. I also take it you have to have the external isolator switch?

- Do most units come with some sort of in built programmer / timer? I'm not too bothered about wifi.

- Has anyone installed and hidden the pipework internally within a stud wall (rather than ducting on the outside) and how easy is it to run the pipework?

- Filters / Service costs - do all units have a filter and how often and how much to replace?

- My room sizes are fine for 2.5KW units according to BTU calcs - If I want to do 2 rooms off one outdoor unit does the outdoor simply need to be 5KW?

[FilH]

So I bought an electriq 12000btu system last year was £500 , now £50 more. For my front room.

Its sold as a DIY install? Comes gased ( belive all units do ) and with a 5M pipe kit to connect it up. But its not diy they won't ship it until you give them an Fgas no of an engineer, they have a list you can select from. And then knob off the pro fitting if you feel confident, you invalidate any warranty.

Anyway paid £13 for a 70mm core cutter, borrowed an sds drill. £2 on some pipe clips. And £40 on two rubber feet for the unit. Connected it all up and its worked fine last year and this last week it been bliss.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool12plus/e...

[heisthegaffer]

CorradoTDI said:

Just revisiting this...

Can any one advise on the following please?

- What is the best brand for general quietness (outdoor and indoor unit) - just wondering if there is any particular tech out there that is better than others...

- Electrics, I gather you run power to the outdoor unit and then the indoor unit(s) come off this... can this be off a ring or does it have to be a dedicated circuit (16A radial?) - just wondering what others have done. I also take it you have to have the external isolator switch?

- Do most units come with some sort of in built programmer / timer? I'm not too bothered about wifi.

- Has anyone installed and hidden the pipework internally within a stud wall (rather than ducting on the outside) and how easy is it to run the pipework?

- Filters / Service costs - do all units have a filter and how often and how much to replace?

- My room sizes are fine for 2.5KW units according to BTU calcs - If I want to do 2 rooms off one outdoor unit does the outdoor simply need to be 5KW?

I can't really help other than say a wifi/smart home capable one might be a bit easier if you want to change your schedule.

For instance, we're planning on having some installed 30th July and 6th July, one unit is for my son and I want to be able to easily control as I know hell forget to turn off.

[essayer]

Ours is on a 16A dedicated circuit, isolator outside.

SWA from the consumer unit to the outside compressor.
Inside unit runs from a fused spur.

You have to run two insulated pipes about 2cm diameter between inside and outside unit, so they could be accommodated in a void I guess.

[ChocolateFrog]

FilH said:

So I bought an electriq 12000btu system last year was £500 , now £50 more. For my front room.

Its sold as a DIY install? Comes gased ( belive all units do ) and with a 5M pipe kit to connect it up. But its not diy they won't ship it until you give them an Fgas no of an engineer, they have a list you can select from. And then knob off the pro fitting if you feel confident, you invalidate any warranty.

Anyway paid £13 for a 70mm core cutter, borrowed an sds drill. £2 on some pipe clips. And £40 on two rubber feet for the unit. Connected it all up and its worked fine last year and this last week it been bliss.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool12plus/e...

I've got the same system.

Just had to turn it up because the OH is too cold

[Jakg]

Not an expert, just someone who got a house with a (quite old) Fujitsu split in the conservatory...

CorradoTDI said:

- Electrics, I gather you run power to the outdoor unit and then the indoor unit(s) come off this... can this be off a ring or does it have to be a dedicated circuit (16A radial?) - just wondering what others have done. I also take it you have to have the external isolator switch?

Mines on spur off a socket on the ring, has an external rotary isolator.
Having said that, it's actually spurred off another outdoor socket first, so done by an air con fitter, not an electrician.

CorradoTDI said:

- Filters / Service costs - do all units have a filter and how often and how much to replace?

The internal filter was £27.50 from Wolseley and took 2 mins to fit.

I don't think it has an external filter, but your supposed to clean the external unit as part of a service.

I doubt my unit had ever been touched since it had been installed - the filter media was completely destroyed.

[FilH]

ChocolateFrog said:

FilH said:

So I bought an electriq 12000btu system last year was £500 , now £50 more. For my front room.

Its sold as a DIY install? Comes gased ( belive all units do ) and with a 5M pipe kit to connect it up. But its not diy they won't ship it until you give them an Fgas no of an engineer, they have a list you can select from. And then knob off the pro fitting if you feel confident, you invalidate any warranty.

Anyway paid £13 for a 70mm core cutter, borrowed an sds drill. £2 on some pipe clips. And £40 on two rubber feet for the unit. Connected it all up and its worked fine last year and this last week it been bliss.

https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/iqool12plus/e...

I've got the same system.

Just had to turn it up because the OH is too cold

Oh yes the down side of having it. Have also been moaned at ,that its too cold!

[selmahoos]

We had these supplied/fitted about 3 months ago in 2 south-facing rooms in a 7th floor penthouse


Air Conditioning (Air Source Heat Pump System) Price to supply and install new technology, energy saving air conditioning (heat pump) system(s), these new systems will provide a heating and cooling facility within the areas below.

Mitsubishi (prices inc manufacturer price increase from 01st April 2022)

Lounge2 – 1x 3.5kw Wall Mounted Unit £2244.00

Lounge1 – 1x 7kw Wall Mounted Unit £4107.52

Tot: £6351.52p

Used for cooling for 1st time today. Really good. (Used once a couple of months ago for heating. That was really good too).

ETA: An electrician had to install stuff prior to the AC install. Can't remember how much exactly - a few hundred comes to mind. So that on top.

O and this came with the invoice:

"The chancellor's decision to abolish VAT on the installation of domestic energy saving measures, including heat pumps, for five years from April 1 2022 was warmly welcomed as a means to help drive the uptake of carbon reducing technologies.
As well as cutting VAT on heat pump (water heating only) installations from 5% to zero, the government has also considerably simplified the rules about which types of heat pump qualify. Previously, those used for cooling were not eligible for the reduced tax rate, but the only rule that applies now is that the installation must be capable of heating the home.

Previously, air-source heat pumps of the split air conditioning type had been specifically ruled out from the reduced VAT scheme, however following lengthy talks between the BESA and HMRC, the guidance has been updated to clarify that air source reverse cycle heat pump air conditioners can be treated in the same way as monobloc heat pumps for VAT purposes from 01st April 2022"

I believe this impacted on our bill.

Edited by selmahoos on Tuesday 19th July 00:39

[PF62]

selmahoos said:

O and this came with the invoice:

"The chancellor's decision to abolish VAT on the installation of domestic energy saving measures, including heat pumps, for five years from April 1 2022 was warmly welcomed as a means to help drive the uptake of carbon reducing technologies.
As well as cutting VAT on heat pump (water heating only) installations from 5% to zero, the government has also considerably simplified the rules about which types of heat pump qualify. Previously, those used for cooling were not eligible for the reduced tax rate, but the only rule that applies now is that the installation must be capable of heating the home.

Previously, air-source heat pumps of the split air conditioning type had been specifically ruled out from the reduced VAT scheme, however following lengthy talks between the BESA and HMRC, the guidance has been updated to clarify that air source reverse cycle heat pump air conditioners can be treated in the same way as monobloc heat pumps for VAT purposes from 01st April 2022"

That is incorrect.

Reversible ASHPs, which included most split air-conditioning units, alway benefited from the reduced 5% VAT rate - it was just that HMRC wrote its public guidance so you *thought* it didn’t because they didn’t want to appear to be supporting the reduced 5% for aircon.

And the proof I am right - the law has not changed, which it would have needed to have done if they had actually reduced the VAT rate for aircon.

So anyone who had a reversible split air-con installed in the last three years (installed as the reduced rate only applies to installed not bought and self-fitted), then go back to the supplier and ask for a refund for the overcharged VAT - all aircon installers ought to be now submitting a bulk claim to claim back the 15% VAT overcharged for those last three years if they had been charging the standard 20% rate.

The law which has never changed -
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/23/sched...

Meaning of “energy-saving materials”

For the purposes of this Group “energy-saving materials” means any of the following—
(a)insulation for walls, floors, ceilings, roofs or lofts or for water tanks, pipes or other plumbing fittings;
(b)draught stripping for windows and doors;
(c)central heating system controls (including thermostatic radiator valves);
(d)hot water system controls;
(e)solar panels;
(f). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(g). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(h)ground source heat pumps;
(i) micro combined heat and power units. air source heat pumps;

Edited by PF62 on Tuesday 19th July 09:50

[Harry Flashman]

For those curious about bills, we are running 4 units continually at the moment in the heat, as kids nurseries have closed so we need more rooms cooled than normal in hot weather.

2 splits (one running two indoor units) and two integrated wall mount units. 3 big rooms (5x5 and 8x5) and two small ones (3x4 and 4x4) are at a constant 20C. Yesterday's smart meter reading for this was £7.52. So probably £4-5 worth of extra electricity

Modern inverter units seem pretty decent, and i will oay this money quite happily. One day, if it ever becomes cheap and London has Barcelona's climate, i'd like solar to help run it all. Will make me feel a bit less guilty...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 19th July 10:24

[mikey_b]

Harry Flashman said:

For those curious about bills, we are running 4 units continually at the moment in the heat, as kids nurseries have closed so we need more rooms cooled than normal in hot weather.

2 splits (one running two indoor units) and two integrated wall mount units. 3 big rooms (5x5 and 8x5) and two small ones (3x4 and 4x4) are at a constant 20C. Yesterday's smart meter reading for this was £7.52. So probably £4-5 worth of extra electricity

Modern inverter units seem pretty decent, and i will oay this money quite happily. One day, if it ever becomes cheap and London has Barcelona's climate, i'd like solar to help run it all. Will make me feel a bit less guilty...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 19th July 10:24

I have been running our 3.5kW Toshiba split unit in the loft room continuously over the last couple of days, and those figures concur with mine. By coincidence I had a bill from Bulb two days ago which said that over the last month we have been averaging 17kWh per day. I took readings 1.5 days ago and since then the AC has been running continuously, and it's gone up 38 kWh since then. Taking away the 25.5kWh we would on average have consumed in that 1.5 days, that leaves an increase of 12.5kWh used, or £2.33 a day at the capped rate. Since we don't normally need it during the day, I'll happily pay that for working from home in comfort on the odd extremely hot day - not to mention sleeping better!

Bulb claims to be all renewable power anyway, so no guilt felt here.

[Harry Flashman]

Thanks for the numbers! We are with Octopus, who i believe are also supposedly all renewable.

I do hope that domestic solar becomes a realistic option one day. When we re-roof this house, i would love to fit it. But at the moment, the payback is just silly.

[Countdown]

Harry Flashman said:

For those curious about bills, we are running 4 units continually at the moment in the heat, as kids nurseries have closed so we need more rooms cooled than normal in hot weather.

2 splits (one running two indoor units) and two integrated wall mount units. 3 big rooms (5x5 and 8x5) and two small ones (3x4 and 4x4) are at a constant 20C. Yesterday's smart meter reading for this was £7.52. So probably £4-5 worth of extra electricity

Modern inverter units seem pretty decent, and i will oay this money quite happily. One day, if it ever becomes cheap and London has Barcelona's climate, i'd like solar to help run it all. Will make me feel a bit less guilty...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 19th July 10:24

I think ours is roughly £1 per hour per room.

I wonder if using it intermittently actually costs more than leaving ot on all the time. However leaving it on means the room is freezing in fairly short order. The thing is as we only use it for a few days of the year I've never bothered working out how to program the damn things.

[4Q]

Harry Flashman said:

Thanks for the numbers! We are with Octopus, who i believe are also supposedly all renewable.

I do hope that domestic solar becomes a realistic option one day. When we re-roof this house, i would love to fit it. But at the moment, the payback is just silly.

The payback is around 5 years at the moment, maybe 6 at London prices. I'm tired of arguing with people on here who are anti-solar so I'm not going to get drawn into an argument which is as productive as bashing my head against a wall, but if you want to PM me I can send you a spreadsheet so you can play with your own figures.

Edited by 4Q on Tuesday 19th July 14:51

[ST565NP]

Countdown said:

I wonder if using it intermittently actually costs more than leaving ot on all the time. However leaving it on means the room is freezing in fairly short order. The thing is as we only use it for a few days of the year I've never bothered working out how to program the damn things.

If you leave the temperature a bit higher, about 7 degree below outside temperature, and fan on auto, it will not be freezing, but will still be cool. Works if you have an inverter type A/C.

[heisthegaffer]

ST565NP said:

Countdown said:

I wonder if using it intermittently actually costs more than leaving ot on all the time. However leaving it on means the room is freezing in fairly short order. The thing is as we only use it for a few days of the year I've never bothered working out how to program the damn things.

If you leave the temperature a bit higher, about 7 degree below outside temperature, and fan on auto, it will not be freezing, but will still be cool. Works if you have an inverter type A/C.

Does this mean it'll be cheaper to run as not working so hard yet still a more pleasant experience when trying to sleep etc?

[mikey_b]

Countdown said:

]I think ours is roughly £1 per hour per room.

I wonder if using it intermittently actually costs more than leaving ot on all the time. However leaving it on means the room is freezing in fairly short order. The thing is as we only use it for a few days of the year I've never bothered working out how to program the damn things.

That sounds ridiculously high. What sort of system is it? You're not just taking the cooling capacity (which is measured in kW) and taking that as the electricity consumption are you?

[David A]

mikey_b said:

Countdown said:

]I think ours is roughly £1 per hour per room.

I wonder if using it intermittently actually costs more than leaving ot on all the time. However leaving it on means the room is freezing in fairly short order. The thing is as we only use it for a few days of the year I've never bothered working out how to program the damn things.

That sounds ridiculously high. What sort of system is it? You're not just taking the cooling capacity (which is measured in kW) and taking that as the electricity consumption are you?

Yes that doesn’t sound right at all. If you have the wifi daikin ones you can see the consumption eg

[okgo]

I think I asked this pages back but are the split systems not a goer for a terraced house due to rules about where you can place the outdoor bit?

[GranpaB]

Just had a quote to replace my two ageing 3.5kw splits for £2k with 5 year warranty so i ripped his arm off.