Turning a window unit into a mini split?

[stevehull]

Come on guys. Give 8307c4 a break! Lets not be snarky with our collective wisdom to "burst his tepid bubble".

The likelihood of him further posting is reduced to zero after this. Isn't part of our mission to educate without humiliate?

If you are a well "seasoned" poster and you say something stupid, well then kick a man when he is down! Many of us have opened mouth and inserted foot here. But people with few posts should be treated with distinct politeness.

Steve

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by stevehull

Come on guys. Give 8307c4 a break!

SH,

There is a matter of perspective going on here, that you are blind to...

Those of us who have actually tried to do something interesting with vapor compression equipment, have had the experience of being entirely shut out of discussions about this stuff by trades people who are interested in protecting their lore.

So we made a place where experimenters can freely discuss and get answers on how to build and tune these machines. There are almost no other places where this topic can be discussed.

8307c4 is not the first one to try to discourage us from doing what we are doing, there have been at least a dozen others.

In fact, you tried to discourage me from developing my CO2 controlled HRV controller. You didn't know what I was doing, you didn't know why I was doing it. Your misunderstanding and discouraging remarks cost me readers of that thread, at a moment when I could have used help. I will never forget that.

If you seem to have forgotten, go back and read the thread.

Nope, if somebody comes around seeking to discourage or undermine our efforts, they deserve no breaks.

-AC

[stevehull]

AC,

Merry Christmas! I think you need a dose of cheer and good will to men.


Steve

[AC_Hacker]

SH,

Yes, jolly ho, ho.

HERE'S_THE_LINK to the CO2 controller thread.

As you can clearly see, you were discouraging from your very first sentence...

Originally Posted by stevehull

...Using CO2 as a trigger for an HRV (or ERV) will not work as a reliable index of home air "staleness"...

And your discouragement persisted in post after misguided, misinformed post.

Originally Posted by stevehull

...I can guarantee that CO2 is not building up...

Originally Posted by stevehull

...First off, homes rarely have any CO2 buildup as the inherent ventilation of a...

Finally, I had to tell you:

No Steve, this is NOT a great discussion.

So far Steve, you have written 1117 words on the topic of why a CO2 sensing HRV controller should NOT be built.

And in response, I have written 480 words as to why I am going to proceed. Writing this has been a waste of my time, just as your writing of your 1117 words was a waste of your time... and worse yet it has discouraged interest in this project. There are quite a few Arduino-savvy members of EcoRenovator, and not a single one has posted to this thread.

This is exactly what I am talking about...

EcoRenovator, probably by accident, offers a place where people who are trying to DIY something that is not usually thought of as being the domain of the a "non-expert", or who is trying to do something in a new way, or something that has never been done before.

Discouragement needs to be seen for what it is, whether it is coming from some unimaginative average Joe, or (even worse) whether it is coming from someone who claims to be an "expert".

(* By the way, BBP encountered the same CO2 concentration problem as I did, which he was able to numerically verify, and he built his own Arduino based CO2 controller for his HRV system. *)


Sincerely,

-AC_Hacker

[stevehull]

Now tell me exactly how your diatribe is part of the thread. AC, you LOVE to tweak people when it is convenient for you to do so, but . . . . stick with the thread!

I am sorry you are threatened.

But I will stick to what I said about CO2 build up as a biomedical engineer and also scientist.

Steve

[jeff5may]

And on that bombshell, this thread has pretty much been murdered. Tyvm.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by stevehull

...But I will stick to what I said about CO2 build up as a biomedical engineer and also scientist...

You can stick to what ever you want SH.

I've been monitoring CO2 levels in my own house for a couple of years now. I live with CO2 data every day.

I actually know what the situation is. In fact, you could say that I am doing science.

It really puzzles me why you think that citing your credentials will somehow compensate for your incorrect opinions. I don't know any scientist or engineer who would dream of citing their degree to make a point. That is not exactly the sign of an active, capable, inquiring mind.

Science doesn't proceed by citing credentials (I know a thing or two about science), engineering doesn't proceed by citing credentials either (I know a thing or two about engineering, too).

* * *

But my point regards the maintaining of an environment where DIY and the development of unconventional applications can flourish.

Telling members of our hacking community that they better leave their projects to certified techs (or, "don't come around expecting much sympathy later."), is simply coo coo.

And citing your credentials as some kind of persuasive factor is every bit as coo coo.

In fact, when BBP launched into the odyssey of developing, for a not yet built house, his solar/geothermal/radiant heated/custom system and controller, I told him that he should forget the whole complex system, and go whole hog on building the tightest, best insulated, best passive solar house he could possible do.

He told me to bug off, that I was disparaging his project.

Although I wasn't disparaging his project, he was completely right to do that... he was defending and maintaining his creative environment. Major Kudos to BBP!

-AC

[jeff5may]

I agree completely. This is hacker science, mythbuster science, practical feet-on-the-ground science. Institutionalized, regulated, theoretical science follows orders, practices and rules that I may reject in my own domain. Although I may eventually satisfy an agenda with my projects, I don't need to. You can take or leave my opinion, it doesn't hurt my feelings either way. If my words and advice help, great. If not, oh well, we each have our own journeys ahead of us.

I couldn't care less about some astrophysical biological trend on the international space station, nor will I ever read about (much less operate) a 10 million dollar gadget that some astrobiologist invented to define and measure the aforementioned trend. Nor will I buy into some opinion that what big brother says is ok by his wisdom gained from this type of information. Just because the EPA or NIOSH says I can ingest a certain amount of poison and live won't keep me from avoiding it if i have a choice. The powers that be can rationalize and justify a whole lot of evil in the name of progress.

My intentions are much "dumber" than what the prior paragraph eludes to. Simple goals of much smaller scope are addressed. Much like the OP asked for, most of these threads start out as "I have this idea, how can I make it real?" Sometimes the answer is simple, sometimes not. I intend to encourage and aid these "makers" and "builders" in making and building their projects to further the art at the "practical" end of the scale.

I have found there are many others in this forum that paved the road in this direction before me. I can only hope to contribute in building this road and following where others have already been. Many dozens of members have completed their respective experiments or projects with better than expected results due to the collective contributions of other members. I have been guided in my endeavors by other members' suggestions and tips. Just because some trolls tried to save me from myself sometime during the process didn't slow me down at all. Their advice just didn't fit what I was trying to do. I just left it behind, floundering behind me on the road as such things do.

[Stoker]

Gentlemen, I have a question.

I once tried turning a little 5k window unit backwards to see what would happen. It made great heat for about 3 minutes until the evaporator turned into an ice cube. (This is after I jumpered the thermostat of course).
Such is the climate on the Canadian south west coast. Temps a few degrees above freezing and high humidity. It seems like the perfect condition for making ice and it persists for months.

My question is, can anyone tell me how commercial air to air units deal with icing conditions? Obviously they could go reverse cycle to melt the ice, but efficiency would plunge. Is there a trick that I'm missing?

[Mikesolar]

defrost is the price you pay for an air source heat pump. Some reverse direction, some use hot gas directly from the pot to defrost, some have electric heaters (not many anymore)

Done right, defrost is 3 min out of an hour, averaged out over the season.