"Partial Air Conditioning?" Topic

With the run of warmer summers we've had lately in the UK, I've been thinking about the possibilities of some form of home air conditioning or cooling.

I don't really want to radically rebuild the whole house (or have the bills and environmental impact of cooling empty or seldom-used rooms), but I'm not sure that scattering portable units around like a horde of dripping daleks is the answer either.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

Here in the US we have new systems that will do what you want. The unit typically installs in a crawl space/closet what have you. They can use existing ducts (I assume you have ducts for heat?) and can cool just select rooms.

If you don't have ducts then window units are your only option as far as I know….

Heat ducts are unusual in British houses – depends when they were built and/or how they've been modernised.

These PDF link split units work well. Split units are probilbaly your best bet. In the UK your always going to have to think about drips as humidity is often high.

x42

Thanks x42. I gather you put the smaller louvred bit on the wall and the larger unit on the floor. I guess also that it needs some form of hose or tube to the outside to vent the hot air?

Just about everyone has aircon down here and we have high humidity. Split units are pretty much standard for homes, apartments and small buildings.

The big noisy compressor etc are housed externally and the cold water piped into the rooms where the smallish heat exchanger and fan are mounted on the wall.

It needs professional installation and a few holes for pipes drilled in the walls. Also needs regular maintainence.

We also have window units that install in sliding windows, if you have them. Just stick it in and slide the window snug against the unit. Self installed and near zero maintanence.

Mitsubishi makes one that is a unit outside the home, and uses a hose along the outside wall to reach up to the upper vent unit, fixed higher up on the wall.

Apparently, only a small hole in the wall is needed to permit the air to flow through, e.g. roughly 3" I think.

Looks like a decent alternative to those noisy window A/C units.

No. The smaller unit goes on the wall in side the house. The larger unit goes outside the house and 2 refrigerent pipes go between them.

I'm a little out of touch but my memory says you need a 30mm hole eather in the wall or (in the last one I fitted) the window frame. This should take both pipes and the electric cable to the outside unit.

x42

Another consideration is the electrical capacity of your existing service. A wiring system not installed with air conditioning in mind may be overloaded.

How much square footage do you have?

They make enormous monolithic window units now, that'll cool a big space all by themselves – we have one that takes care of our first floor all by itself (about 1800 sq. ft.)… You might be able to get away with just the one.
-Kle.

I have had the type of Air Con linked to by x42 installed at work a couple of times to keep servers cool (in the UK).

The inside unit is very quiet, just a bit of fan noise (if you have the fan on). They have always had to have a separate set of wiring done to the distribution board as part of the installation.

The external unit is quite big, but can be mounted higher up if this is practical. There doesn't seem to be too much limit on distance between the internal and external unit, but you have to run an insulated pipe between them, and both units need power.

Seem to remember total cost was around £2k. But this would depend on you having the right electrics in the house.

With bigger rooms it can be hard to keep the temp constant, near the air con can be cold, the other side can be hot -- this is probably worse in offices with lots of people and PCs.

Extra Crispy -- heat ducts are very rare in UK houses, can't think of any I have seen with them in. Central Heating (i.e. radiators with pipes pumping hot water round) isn't a given.

Thanks all for the info – I'll revive the thread if I actually go any further with the project

The new place me,the wife & cat moved into , already has central air and heat plus an air conditioner in the bedroom for backup,and a ceiling fan in the living room. Quite nice.