Quote:
Originally Posted by AC_Hacker
I'm not sure where the thread went, but there was some talk about the efficiency of the Inverter Technology being unique to mini-splits.
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Nordyne has had their iQ drive for quite awhile. It uses an invertor with a Panasonic rotary compressor. It comes as either a 24.5SEER air conditioner or 22SEER heat pump with 10HSPF. It's the best SEER performance of any air-source air conditioner or heat pump that isn't a mini. These Nordyne units are very pricey though, likely the most expensive air conditioner on the market. The Fujitsu RLS series beats both of those measures and many inverter air source mini-splits meet/beat the 10HSPF for much less cash.
For non-invertors:
There is a 2.5 ton RHEEM/RUUD unit with a system-match(non 3rd party coil) that gets 10.20HSPF which might just be the best bang for the buck for a unit as far as heating goes for central HVAC.
There is also a York 3 ton with 17.5 SEER with 10.7HSPF capable of 34400 at 47 degrees F and 24800BTU at 17 degrees F. That seems like plenty of BTU for my needs for quite a bit of the winter if I were to time my heating out to the hottest part of the day it might not be too expensive to use this unit and it might be capable enough but I'm not sure if it would be cheaper than nat. gas though below the 110 therm bracket where I have .67/therm or cheaper.
I'd still rather get the mini and snag better A/C SEER since that is what I'm after. I wouldn't mind two Fujitsu 12RLS (25SEER/12HSPF) installed but one might be enough of a supplement if I implement it right for cost-effectiveness using the current central air(1.5 ton 8 or 10 SEER, I think) on the worst days to make up for the slack.