Air Conditioning!

[killramos]

Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to…

[Mitsu3000gt]

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To what end? If they say “we don’t want to listen to your AC”, are you actually going to spend the extra $2k? I sure as duck wouldn’t. I wouldn’t expect my neighbours to do it for me either.

That's exactly what I did It was also only $1000, not $2000, for a substantial noise difference. Mine is pretty close to my neighbor's window and I don't want to be keeping them up at night. It's also nicer for us when we're out in the yard you can actually have a conversation with it running next to the patio furniture. I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to be a considerate neighbor when making a decision that is relatively permanent or will last many years. My neighbor has young kids and they keep their window open a lot. You're legally entitled to all kinds of things that will annoy people around you but I always do my best to minimize that.

[bjstare]

That logic makes sense. It’s a moot point for me since it’s not close to any windows or outdoor living spaces on either side. If it was tight quarters, and I had nice neighbours, I might spend money to keep on their good side. Mostly depending on how long I planned on living there haha.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Sounds like your neighbours need A/C and to close some windows.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Sounds like your neighbours need A/C and to close some windows.

I'm actually shocked they don't have it, they spend money on what seems like everything else and they have 2 young kids. Some people deal with heat better than others though I guess.

[88CRX]

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The noise/efficiency are not nearly as important as they make it out to be, IMO. Ours is the cheapest, noisiest model (Trane XR13 from W&J) and we're perfectly happy. Efficiency/SEER is more important if you use it 10h/day, 300days/yr like in florida or something. Noise, unless it's in your immediate space, won't be an issue. Ours is around the corner of the house, probably 20' away and we hardly notice it when sitting outside.

We got the 'less expensive' option from W&J as well. It makes noise, but ours is nowhere near our backyard space so I don't really care how loud it is.

[ThePenIsMightier]

If there's some neighbour's dads that require some fucking, let's just say that I know a guy...

[brucebanner]

Purchase what you want. If you want the cheap, noisy option and are okay with the extra noise yourself, get that one.

Unless your neighbors are paying for the more quiet unit, tough luck.

Doesn't make you any less of a neighbor.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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Purchase what you want. If you want the cheap, noisy option and are okay with the extra noise yourself, get that one.

Unless your neighbors are paying for the more quiet unit, tough luck.

Doesn't make you any less of a neighbor.

It's like when morons get mad at you for being the "Anchor" player in blackjack and not fucking yourself for their benefit.
I'm sorry, are you paying for my bets? Didn't think so. Suck this cock and I'll give you a hint when you can stop!

[pheoxs]

Well I survived the heatwave and this 12k btu Danby portable held up just fine keeping my 600sq foot main area cool. (Lots of tree shade + no South facing windows made life great). With the basement staying cool and the bedroom being fine in the evening I'm thinking of buying a mini split instead of central AC for next year as I really only need AC in my main living / kitchen room. Seems like a nice Daikin is about a grand for everything plus install.

Are Mini splits in Canada a thing? I don't care for the heating portion (are there ac only versions?) And it seems like a better option for my place. Higher efficiency unit and I only care about cooling the main room.

I even see some from MrCool that claim to be DIY install and come precharged with refrigerant so you can test and purge it solo. Is that even possible? Presumably I'd still need an electrician for the panel breaker?

[Darell_n]

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Well I survived the heatwave and this 12k btu Danby portable held up just fine keeping my 600sq foot main area cool. (Lots of tree shade + no South facing windows made life great). With the basement staying cool and the bedroom being fine in the evening I'm thinking of buying a mini split instead of central AC for next year as I really only need AC in my main living / kitchen room. Seems like a nice Daikin is about a grand for everything plus install.

Are Mini splits in Canada a thing? I don't care for the heating portion (are there ac only versions?) And it seems like a better option for my place. Higher efficiency unit and I only care about cooling the main room.

I even see some from MrCool that claim to be DIY install and come precharged with refrigerant so you can test and purge it solo. Is that even possible? Presumably I'd still need an electrician for the panel breaker?

Every mini-split I've seen is pre-charged up to a certain lineset length. Tons and tons of them in Calgary. There are a/c only versions on some but you are not really paying an extra for the heat pump version and I wouldn't recommend it be homeowner installed. At least have a professional terminate the piping and electrical ends, properly evacuate and electronic leak test it. They can be finicky making the system 100% pressure tight and not have nuisance water leaks inside / outside your wall from the condensate drain or improper insulation on the lines. I am a big fan of ductless mini splits and have installed close to 100 in the last 4 years.

[pheoxs]

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Every mini-split I've seen is pre-charged up to a certain lineset length. Tons and tons of them in Calgary. There are a/c only versions on some but you are not really paying an extra for the heat pump version and I wouldn't recommend it be homeowner installed. At least have a professional terminate the piping and electrical ends, properly evacuate and electronic leak test it. They can be finicky making the system 100% pressure tight and not have nuisance water leaks inside / outside your wall from the condensate drain or improper insulation on the lines. I am a big fan of ductless mini splits and have installed close to 100 in the last 4 years.

Any idea what a typical installation (guestimate) cost would be? I know its dependent on the house but assuming it's a typical setup, single zone, condenser is outside not too far from the evaporator. Unfinished basement so electrical routing isn't too hard.

[Darell_n]

Around $2k not including breaker and wire would be in the ballpark for a small single zone unit. They usually start at 1 ton (12,000 btuh) and go up in .5 ton increments. The biggest pain is what to do with water from the indoor evap coil. Most reliable solution is free draining into the house plumbing but many need to use little water pumps to push the water up and outside someplace. (noisy and common failure point)

[Maxt]

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Every mini-split I've seen is pre-charged up to a certain lineset length. Tons and tons of them in Calgary. There are a/c only versions on some but you are not really paying an extra for the heat pump version and I wouldn't recommend it be homeowner installed. At least have a professional terminate the piping and electrical ends, properly evacuate and electronic leak test it. They can be finicky making the system 100% pressure tight and not have nuisance water leaks inside / outside your wall from the condensate drain or improper insulation on the lines. I am a big fan of ductless mini splits and have installed close to 100 in the last 4 years.

They really are a great way to air condition a home, especially multi-room larger homes with few people, cool the required rooms instead of the whole structure. I find the installs much cleaner if they are incorporated into a new build or down to the studs reno, the drain line then is much less of a hassle and the plumber can run a branch. If you can get a drain in the right spot, you can put the evaporator in the best spot. On retrofits I always go for the outside wall just so I can run the drain out the lineset cover down to the ground, I haven't had a ton of long term luck with the mini split condensate pumps, quite a few dead right out of the box, I hate having to bury them in places dreading dong the replacement when the pump dies. The brand names in mini splits have pretty stellar reliability, the off brand knockoffs seem to have early circuit board failure, and their replacement boards are as much as the machine cost originally.
People that are in the situation where a/c noise is a problem, complaining neighbour scenario etc, should look in to minisplits, so damn quiet that you have to look at the fan to see if its actually running it or not. I think we will see a gradual shift towards mini splits as electricity costs get higher, the inverter machines amp draw are ridiculously low for the tonnage. With the heat pump mini splits, you can also just warm one room on cooler days in the shoulder seasons, instead of firing up the furnace to do the whole house.
I can't remember if I posted this before, but this is picture of a Mini split store I went to in Nagoya Japan, they had a deal going IIRC, if you bought 2 condensers and 4 evaps as a homeowner, they gave you a days worth of training how to run the linesets, install the units, leak check and evacuate. Would only make sense though from a tool cost perspective, if you were doing multiple homes. The big problem here for homeowners doing the minisplit install themselves is that all the minisplit install instructions are notoriously bad because of poor translation from Chinese/Korean/Japanese depending on the brand. Having refrigeration/technical knowledge helps to decipher or just disregard the often laughable phrasing and esoteric illustrations,"the two spanner in the hand is required!". The instructions probably make a lot more sense in their original form to a person fluent in such, so that a homeowner there could probably pull it off themselves.

[The_Penguin]

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Are Mini-splits in Canada a thing? I don't care for the heating portion (are there ac only versions?) And it seems like a better option for my place. Higher efficiency unit and I only care about cooling the main room.

I see lots of them on balconies of condos. My mother-in-law had a Fujitsu in her place a few years ago.
The company I work for just moved and we inherited a server room that's a bit overkill for us, but I'll take it.
2 Fujitsi Halcyon mini-splits and a big-ass Liebert chiller. the 2 mini splits have been perfectly adequate. The interesting thing is that the "outdoor" units are mounted in the drop-ceiling of the room next door, and not on the roof. I went and had a listen, and they're pretty quiet.

[Maxt]

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The interesting thing is that the "outdoor" units are mounted in the drop-ceiling of the room next door, and not on the roof. I went and had a listen, and they're pretty quiet.

I've seen that done a few times, it works usually until the building ventilation system fails or turns off, then it's roast time for the condensers. I have a few schools where the install was done like that even though it was roof level right above. A few days after the automation shuts down the main air handlers on summer schedule, the calls for the server room ac's start coming in, the failure point is usually the compressor wiring burnt from high amperage and temperature, I did one yesterday. Engineers sign off on it, even though some of the condensers say right on the unit itself, for outdoor use only. Poor practice IMHO, I refuse to do it. I came across this in a bank office downtown where their server room minisplit condensers were mounted in the ceiling that had made the floor uncomfortable warm for the training room on the next floor up. The original service call was the heat seemed to be stuck on in the training room, having 4 tons of condenser in the ceiling of the floor below was the mystery heat source.

[The_Penguin]

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I've seen that done a few times, it works usually until the building ventilation system fails or turns off, then it's roast time for the condensers. I have a few schools where the install was done like that even though it was roof level right above.

Yeah this is weird, seeing that it's the top floor. And the Liebert condenser is clearly installed on the roof.
I have 2 temp sensors in the rack, and the Eaton UPS has an internal and ambient temp sensor, plus all 5 physical servers have input temp sensors. All of which will alert the team if it goes over a certain threshold.

[sabad66]

This looks like a decent unit if you want a mini split. Dual air handlers too (9000 btu each)
https://www.costco.ca/danby-18%2c000...100786769.html

[Rocket1k78]

Its time to join the dark side and get some AC, did anyone go the Zoned route? We spent last week in the basement and temp wise it was perfect so im worried that once we run the AC the basement will be like an ice box without a zoned system. The basement is where my kids will be

[vengie]

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Its time to join the dark side and get some AC, did anyone go the Zoned route? We spent last week in the basement and temp wise it was perfect so im worried that once we run the AC the basement will be like an ice box without a zoned system. The basement is where my kids will be

Close the vents