Till now home units have gotten a bit of a raw deal when it comes to air conditioning. Ducted air conditioning is usually not possible because of limited ceiling space, so home units tend to have a wall mount split system; the disadvantage being it only air conditions the one room. Now there's a new system by Sanyo called Eco Home. Previously only available commercially due to cost, you can have between six and sixteen inside consoles off the one outdoor unit (depending on which outdoor motor you get). And what's more, if you're only air conditioning one room at a time, you only use that percentage of power from the system, saving thousands of dollars over time. Rebecca checks out an installation by Ian Marsh.
Installation Procedure
1 Do a heat load calculation with a lap top computer on the premises to determine the size of air conditioning needed for the apartment. By measuring the size of the home in linear metres and putting in all the dimensions of glass, window treatments and aspect of the areas the computer tells you what amount of power you need for each area. This prevents putting in the wrong size unit. Because of this technology, Ian is able to give a 100% guarantee on installations.2 Determine layout of copper run to reach the areas with the consoles. 3 Position outside condensor in place (1200mm high x 400mm wide & 600 mm long) 4 Hang all internal fancoils in position with mounting brackets so that they can run the copper to them. 5 Run copper to each internal unit from the outside system. This does involve welding. The copper pipes are attached to the wall by special brackets that are screwed. 6 Connect all copper to the fancoil units. 7 Run Data Cable to all of the internal units to send signals to the relevant fan coils 8 Screw thermostats to the wall. 9 The drain hose collects the water generated by the cold air generated and is taken to the motor outside and diverted to a pot plant or garden if possible! 10 There are different ways you can cover up the copper piping. In this case we will be gyprocking over it. Other options include a timber skirting or metal "skirting duct". 11 Clean up and charge the outdoor unit with gas by installing a refrigeration charge that is then taken away. It's now ready to test!
Benefits of using Eco Home - If you are only air conditioning one room of your home, you will only use that percentage of the power from the system.
- There's 10 year warranty available (if you pay an annual fee) and an expected lifespan of over twenty years.
- With a wall mount split system you can only air condition the family area of an apartment (up to 50 sq m) and you're limited to 15m between the outdoor and indoor unit. This system allows a distance of up to 100m. A ducted system is usually not viable for apartments as you need to run 450mm ductwork and have unsightly boxing wherever you would like air to go. With this system you only need to run two small copper pipes and install a fan coil in the room you would like air conditioning.
- This system allows you to have each room controlled to the temperature of your choice.
- The cost benefit is that if you're only cooling 15% of your home then that's all the power you're using. With ducted, even if its only in one room, you're still using 100% of power.
- Also, for a group of apartments, you could ask the body corporate if they would like the whole block air conditioned. One motor can be installed upstairs that can air condition up to four apartments and each apartment will have an energy meter so that they can determine power usage. This way, you reduce the capital cost of installation.
- These systems also use less refrigerant than a conventional system so are better for the environment
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