EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Geothermal & Heat Pumps
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-21-16, 01:57 PM   #31
oil pan 4
Land owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NM
Posts: 1,026
Thanks: 12
Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts
Default

I put those switches on my welding machine when I converted it to DC. The original on off switch is still used, but it only turns the fan on and off. The $5 neon red light switch was a big improvement over the tiny little toggle switch that turns the unit on and off.

You may not want to put MOVs in the power line near the air conditioner its self.
It looks like the air conditioner uses one of the power wires and dedicated signal wire to communicate with the outside unit.
Now in industrial instrumentation you can run into problems with coms when you have "power filtering" or MOVs too close to the instruments. The noise filters can filter out the 250MHz coms overlay signal. I don't know what frequency this unit uses but that's what industrial applications use. As long as your power filter is located more than 10 to 15 feet away you wont have this problem.

oil pan 4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-16, 08:15 AM   #32
WyrTwister
Master EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 543
Thanks: 6
Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4 View Post
I am going to use a 240v split unit. I don't not believe SquareD QO has 2 pole GFI breakers.

The bedroom is around 300 to 400 square feet.
It can get to around 0'F and the wind blows hard in winter so that is one reason I am over sizing it a little.
Square D QO Qwik-Gard 20 Amp 2-Pole GFCI Breaker-QO220GFICP - The Home Depot

Not cheap .

Most / all HVAC equipment has a listing for Minimum Circuit Ampasity & Max Over Current ( fuse or circuit breaker )_size on the label .

We wire according to the mac CB size .

An inverter drive Mini Split should never show a high start current surge .

God bless
Wyr
WyrTwister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-16, 12:08 PM   #33
oil pan 4
Land owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NM
Posts: 1,026
Thanks: 12
Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts
Default

The max recommended circuit breaker on this unit is 15 amps.

The inside unit only uses 3 amps max so the inside unit got wired with 16/3 SJ. The hole going into the indoor unit was barely big enough for the SJ and 18 gauge stranded THHN wire I used for the signal.
I think it has a small heater in it because the blower fan only uses like 0.05 amps.
I have the unit powered with my welding extension cord being ran off my back yard welder circuit for now.
Of course when I get the thing installed and ready to go its overcast and kind of cool. To cool the inside of the room off with the bed room door open its only drawing 1.2 amps.
You can tell its barely working to cool the room.
Even the condenser fan is variable speed it barely turns on the current light load.
I would say its marginal over kill using a 9,000btu unit to cool down a 400 square foot bed room.
Also I am going to replace the 1960s style single pane windows with something more modern and put insulation in the walls. I broke the small 23x27 window last year putting in a 6,000btu window unit so that really needs to be replaced. Drilling the hole for the "through the wall" portion of the split confirmed my suspicion that the walls are hollow. So I will fill the void by hole sawing a 4 inch hole in the top between the studs and hand filling with cellulose insulation.
The install cost me about $400 in tools I didn't have, a 2 stage vacuum pump which I have been wanting for a long time, an actual gauge manifold not my rigged up pile of junk I constructed years back and diamond tipped masonry hole saws.
But I figure do 1 install and its more than paid for its self and I need to do at least 1 more split install and I need to service the A/C on my VW.

For my next install I am going to put a 2 ton in the middle of the house blowing into the dining room, kitchen and living room area. About 800 square feet all together.
That is going to be a $1,600 machine.
oil pan 4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-16, 12:43 PM   #34
WyrTwister
Master EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 543
Thanks: 6
Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts
Default

Think you said you bought a 2 pole 10 amp CB . If it never trips , fine and good . If it does trip , be prepared to replace it with a 2 pole 15 amp CB .

The tooling is a good investment if you are going to do any more HVAC . When we installed our 1st MS , I already had most of the tooling .

God bless
Wyr
WyrTwister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-16, 10:51 PM   #35
oil pan 4
Land owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NM
Posts: 1,026
Thanks: 12
Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts
Default

I should have a 2-pole 15 amp breaker in my QO breaker stash.
I got the 10 amp because the ebay listing said it uses around 6 to 7 amps at 240 volts.
As far as I can tell the 9 amp rating only applies to 208v.
oil pan 4 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-16, 04:30 AM   #36
WyrTwister
Master EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 543
Thanks: 6
Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts
Default

Last winter , during a storm , we lost the circuit board in the outdoor unit serving our bedroom MS .

I pulled the board & had Johnstone Supply order another one , for me . It was covered by warranty . Had the warranty not covered it , the cost would have been almost as much as I paid for the outdoor unit ( purchased on sale ) .

But I became a little pro active . I ordered and installed a Sq D whole house surge protector . I hope it works .

You can also buy surge protectors to install at the A/C disconnect . The wiring diagram for the outdoor unit indicates there is one built into the unit .

God bless
Wyr
WyrTwister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-24-16, 10:29 AM   #37
oil pan 4
Land owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NM
Posts: 1,026
Thanks: 12
Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts
Default

Yesterday it rained and then the sun came out in full force. So finely a realistic test.
I had the window unit going, I wanted to compare the point that the window unit cant handle it and turning on the split to see how big of a difference there was.
My wife says during the peak of summer which I already missed it would get above 75F in the room during they day while she was trying to sleep. Yesterday it got up to 73 which is normally fine but it was very humid because it just rained.
So I turned the window unit off turned the split unit on and set it to 67 just to see what would happen. In about 5 minutes it was 67 and my wife was wanted me to put it on a higher setting because in that time it had acheaved the set point.

What we had been doing on her days off if we were to go some where we would leave the window unit running all the time because if it gets behind it cant keep up.
If I were to turn the window unit off and say it were to get up to 88'F in the room, come home and turn the window unit on it might cool the bedroom down to 80'F while the sun is up. I think this split unit would cool it from 88 to 70 in maybe 10 minutes.
oil pan 4 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to oil pan 4 For This Useful Post:
jeff5may (08-24-16)
Old 08-24-16, 05:43 PM   #38
WyrTwister
Master EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 543
Thanks: 6
Thanked 44 Times in 38 Posts
Default

Sounds like your MS is rocking & rolling ! :-)

God bless
Wyr
WyrTwister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-16, 03:17 PM   #39
oil pan 4
Land owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: NM
Posts: 1,026
Thanks: 12
Thanked 127 Times in 107 Posts
Default

I have gone out and checked the power feed going to the split, even with the bedroom door wide open with a fan force circulating the air into the main room this split unit is still only running at about 1/3 of what its max A/C power draw should be. I don't think I have seen it over 2 amps. Its helping to cool the rest of the house as much as the opening to the bedroom and the box fan by the door will allow.

So I am thinking the window units are having their BTU ratings inflated and the split units have their BTU counts under rated.
oil pan 4 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to oil pan 4 For This Useful Post:
jeff5may (09-04-16)
Old 09-01-16, 01:54 PM   #40
AC_Hacker
Supreme EcoRenovator
 
AC_Hacker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 4,004
Thanks: 303
Thanked 723 Times in 534 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4 View Post
Best I can figure if I only used the more expensive air conditioner during the summer it would pay for its self in 2 years as compared to buying the $400 cheaper unit. Using the heat pump for heating during the winter, even better it may pay for its self in one year.
Really depends on how many hours a day you intend to run it.

If you do a break-even analysis, considering the initial cost (fixed cost), and the incremental cost (variable cost) of running in your comparison you will see what's going on.

I tend to strongly prefer units with the highest HSPF (for heating) because of cost, and also I am aware of the CO2 advantage. despite higher initial cost.

However, I was doing the very same consideration for a unit to use in my basement shop space, and in that case, the higher HSPF did not pay off.

The reason was that my shop heating is so intermittent, that the efficiency advantage was never there, even projecting a 15 year life.

I did the same comparison against a resistance heater, and the lower efficiency heat pump was the winner, even with intermittent use. Breaking even in about a year and a half.



-AC

__________________
I'm not an HVAC technician. In fact, I'm barely even a hacker...
AC_Hacker is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to AC_Hacker For This Useful Post:
stevehull (09-01-16)
Reply


Tags
15 seer, 23 seer, 25 seer, heat pump, split

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:22 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design