Looking at installing aircon on our small 3kva system (max hybrid size) as we have considerable spare solar on a sunny day, will need at least 24000BTU inverter type (area 40 - 44m^2 excl. furniture/kitchen cupboards etc.no real direct sun)
Still getting quotes, any suggestions for 1) Brand/model 2) COP heating/cooling 3) IoT wifi AC or just get a broadlink for HA control 4) Extended warranty??? 5) Anything else
Currently I have quotes for a
York non Wi-Fi R20k, 2kW (Min 910W Max 3070W)
When it comes to ACâs buy Japanese.
In retrospect, I should have gone with the in-ceiling ducted. So much better than a big wall wart, quieter too.
All the fancy features, of monitoring room activity, body temp whatever, you will never use. HA will just go 24C heat and you forget about it.
Daiken is worth the extra money.
Chat to Jaco, as he installed a small 12000 BTU split unit for me, also allowing me to use âexcess solarâ once my batteries were charged up in the morning.
A lot depends on the support in your area, some people think Samsung for example is Amazing where someone in another area / city think Samsung is the biggest piece of junk, but thatâs because of quality of installation in the first place, then willingness of installer to fix / source parts etc. So also try to get recommendations on installer and brand from people in your direct area.
Some also say to rather get 2 smaller ones in a bigger area then you can only switch 1 on if needed, so 2x 12000 BTU in your case.
In terms of electricity consumption it also helps to run the thing at 24, 25 degrees threw the whole day just to keep the room comfortable, rather than trying to slam it down to 12 degrees for example
My Samsung dealer wanted R350 for the inspection/cleaning, all the did was, washing out the filter and vacuuming the accumulated dust, less than an hour and he was a little over R1000 richer ( 3 aircons )
Would like to know if it is a manufacturer condition
A service involves checking gas pressures, topping up if required, and washing the filter. I know that aircons need to be inspected at least annually. Though I will also admit that I donât do it. I wash the filter myself, and that is that. In the last almost two decades, Iâve never had an AC that needed to be topped up.
The only ACs that needed that kind of attention was 1) my 1986 VW Jetta, and 2) my Wifeâs Toyota Tazz, which had an after-market installed AC, where they left out one of the sealing rings. After having these serviced properly, it was also never required again.
And all of this give you remote control over your aircon from Home Assistant:
Nothing as awesome as switching it on remotely on a hot day, or setting up automations to start it automatically when batteries are charged (although I havenât done that yet).
I would like to get in on this discussion also. Last year I suffered through lockdown working from home and this year I thought of easing the sauna temperature a bit with an aircon in my home office. I am thinking of a split system, 12000BTU. My requirement is simple:
Must be VERY quiet and if acceptable will perhaps double-up in bedroom also.
Include some method to be able to use node-red HA to manage it (waiting on future Venus OS Large, probably 2.8x release before I convert my Venus to see what is possible)
@ebendl What model Samsung did you eventually install? Have you looked at the LG Artcool also? I like their Sleep-Mode 19db option.
Sadly my AC does not support âSmartIRâ which sucks cause using a climate control would be muuuch easier.
The reason I want a control is that I can only invert 2.4kW so when the load is above 3000W and the AC is on then change temp of AC (i.e cooling from 21 to 26 (effectively dropping power level down)) or turn off till power is below the 500W.
I do this with the geyser, if its on and the house power exceeds a certain value turn it off till the power is below a certain level
Ok, I whipped out the 'ol sound meter and measured the ambient noise. Looks like all the big brand guys in the 32âish db area will be fine so wonât need the Ultra Quiet stuff. The âSmartâ control via WiFi and good reputation/service is then my biggest drivers.
Itâs not all about the db. Pitch, tone and vibration are all part of the experience. I know this from my Bosch fridge which never exceeds the db level advertised but it sounds annoying AF as itâs constantly gurgling.
It is fairly wind-noisy but I only notice it when I switch it off - otherwise it is background type noise. Doesnât bother me one bit when running in my lounge.
Does it not have an IR remote (infrared)? My Samsung wasnât supported either â I trained every combination of IR command myself (what a fun evening that was).
On this topic. I know thereâs a bunch of Wifi enabled aircons⌠which I wouldnât trust at all. Simply because I donât know of any that has a reliable API that is guaranteed to stay as is and locally accessible. They are also EASILY a couple of R1000 more expensive.
Thatâs why I went the IR route with SmartIR and a Broadlink Mini, a power measurement device (to see if it is currently on/off, which makes turning it on/off from HA much more reliable - I use a CBI Astute) and a local temperature sensor (a Zigbee temperature and humidity one in my case). Thereâs almost zero chance that this will stop working (biggest risk is that the Broadlink Mini stops playing ball with Home Assistant).
The only painful part is training the IR commands yourself - you basically have to train every permutation of fan speed, mode (cooling/heating/fan only etc.), temperature and if youâre interested, swing/air direction (I didnât bother with the latter). Most aircon remotes basically send through a whole string of commands every time you press a button - which actually makes it more reliable to control from something like HA.
