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Old 04-21-17, 11:19 AM   #2
AC_Hacker
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Quote:
Originally Posted by H16bill View Post
I have been looking at the Senville Aura 36k dual system for my house. I was watching the Gree Crown series but they increased in price, making them less attractive. The Senville 36k dual shows a SEER of 22.5 in their catalog. I have a ~2000sf two story house, very tight and well insulated. It is an open floor plan so I am thinking a 24k IDU downstairs for primarily heating and an 18K IDU upstairs for cooling in the summer. Heat flows upstairs pretty well to heat the upstairs family room from the wood stove so I think this will work out well. The room upstairs doesn't currently have a heater in it and doesn't seem to need one. The bedrooms upstairs have baseboard electric to supplement the natural convection.
I am surprised the Aura series aren't mentioned more since they heat down to -22F like the Gree. I would like to hear from anyone who has direct experience with Senville.
Also has anyone used one of the low end Chinese vacuum pumps off of Ebay? They get down to around $50. Just curious. I am shopping for tools if anyone has recommendations. I see that the cheap hose kits can be a problem.
The upstairs IDU will be on an inside wall and the line set will need to snake through an unheated attic. I was really worried about the drain line freezing until I read a comment that there is no condensation in heat mode. I was thinking that the ODU should be mounted 3-4 feet off the ground to minimize snow issues on the prevailing leeward side of the house. I do have a large deck I could put it under but, it isn't as good a spot to run lines from nad it sees huge wind off of the lake.

cheers
Bill
Heat pumps are required by law to have a rated value of performance. SEER is the value almost all sales literature emphasizes. Salesmen are the same way.

But there is another value of performance you need to look at: HSPF. Many salesmen have never heard of it. And some sales literature will omit this value. You may have to dig for it.

SEER was developed for air conditioners. If you have a 'heat pump' SEER is important for cooling, and also may or may not indicate heating efficiency.

HSPF stands for Heating Season Performance Factor. It is the figure of merit for seasonal heating.

So, if winter heating is your primary concern, you will want a system that has the highest HSPF, and SEER values could be of secondary importance.

If summer cooling is your primary concern, the opposite would be true.

Hope this helps,

-AC_Hacker
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