Mini Split update for Offgrid

mike95490 · March 2018

Dave Angelini said:....We had a thunderstorm on friday that dropped such huge hail, dirt clods were being thrown up. Pretty wild to drive thru also.

How do PV panels hold up to that ? Marble sized ? ping pong ball size?

XRinger · March 2018

When I see those softball sized hailstones, I look outside at my little PV investment and think.. Those would never survive golf-ball hail..
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/texas-hit-massive-hail-38327607

XRinger · March 2018

Dave Angelini said:

It was just that you guys got so hammered with one after another I thought you might have bit the big one. I am glad that it worked out.
We had a thunderstorm on friday that dropped such huge hail, dirt clods were being thrown up. Pretty wild to drive thru also.

Cheers!

The only people we saw get hammered, were hit by falling trees. We've been driving around looking at the before & after of these storms and can't believe all the tree damage. Never seen anything like this.

This one happened about an hour after we had driven right by that big tree..
http://www.wcvb.com/article/woman-injured-by-falling-tree-in-woburn/19061248

Dave Angelini · March 2018

Yes trees ! The big equalizer. We have nasty hail here but when you have a 25 year product warranty for glass and everything else,
it was tested in development and made it once again.

My neighbors call and say when you come down the hill, bring the big saw. I am not sure mine is big enough for you east coasters

XRinger · March 2018

A few years ago, one of my panels was hit by a falling limb. It was a small limb, but it left a tiny ding in the glass.
Nothing that you would notice from 3 feet away.. The panel worked fine for a couple more years,
until I made the mistake of cleaning with a garden hose. I noticed a small dot on the panel and sprayed it with the hose..
A small amount of water got under the glass. An hour later, that little spot was burning under the glass. The burn was ~ 1/4" wide..
I disconnected the panel, and the burning stopped. A nice 200W Canadian Solar, is now a fire hazard!

My point: If you have hail on your PV panels, you need to put on a magnifier rig and inspect every square inch of your array..
You might have some micro damage that escapes notice..

Dave Angelini · March 2018

We gaze onto their glass and just are amazed. Often this happens at happy hour

My point is, really good solar panels, I mean relay good, come with a 25 year product warranty. If you bought them from Panasonic, or Sunpower or LG, all you need is a receipt and you get a new panel or a check. Because I am one of the few who insist my clients have at least one tracked array they use the best panels. This is because the best also have much better power to size ratio. This helps them fit on a tracker. In the old days Sanyo was the king but they sold to Panasonic, as you know Rich.

The product warranty is far different than the power warranty.

I thought you guys were not suppose to get sun until May

XRinger · March 2018

It's nice and sunny right at this second.. It will be mild for a while. But winter is coming back on Monday.

https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/?model=gfs&region=us&pkg=T2m&runtime=2018032812&fh=84

Dave Angelini · May 2018

Hfranco2018 said:

I buyed 2 mini split systems with 9000 BTU indoor units, works very well.

spam link deleted... -Bill B.

AirCon 9000 Btu 22 SEER 220V Mini-Split Heat Pump Air Conditioner. $749.99 ex. tax

Midea 9000 Btu 24.4 SEER 110v Super Inverter Mini Split Heat Pump AC. $899.99 ex. tax

That is amazing delivery time! You were just asking 2 days ago and you already have them, not to mention installed and working. It is almost impossible to believe

littleharbor2 · May 2018

You may have "buyed" yourself a timeout for advertising.

Dave Angelini · July 2018

Rich you still staying cool?
check this out.
https://www.lg.com/us/air-conditioners/lg-LW1517IVSM

XRinger · July 2018

Wow, LG is making inverter type window AC units. Pretty fancy. I looked at some of their units on Home Depot site and LG hasn't got a window unit that can provide low cost heat (heat pump style). They still use heating elements..

Dave Angelini · July 2018

I saw availability at Walmart in early August. A rep told me there will be a reverse cycle option later this year for heating. The reviews of this and the larger LG's were all 5 stars. Finally !

My second unit is an LG split and it is very similar to all of the good things we liked about Sanyo. Sips power at 28 SEER and is keeping the smoke out of the house for the past 16 days of 24/7 wildfire smoke. Yuk, send us your rain. We get down to 300 feet of visibility in the morning. I think there are 17 seperate fires burning in this state. The big guy is not happy with us out here?

So are you a flood victim yet?

XRinger · July 2018

Nope our weather in MA has been pretty mild, relative to what's going on all over the world these days.

A lot of farms have lost much of their crops this summer. This is the 3rd year in a row for some.

Seems like the GSM (grand solar minimum) is coming on strong. I think MA is in for some really cold winters.

Speaking of fires, I'm thinking about building up a supply of firewood, just in case.

I saw that "No reverse cycle" in some of the LG specs.. I wondered.. August eh?

I wonder how low they can go? My -20 deg system is still working. Does a great job cooling too.

The old Sanyo that I have in the den is still working. Working strangely, but doing the job..

For years, setting the fan speed didn't do hardly anything. Now it's working great-guns..

I had to point the vent defector at the floor, my wife was getting too cold..

Which she believes with all her heart, is not as bad as being too hot..

Dave Angelini · July 2018

She is a smart woman! Nothing as bad as too hot and cooking meals. Even I cook meals....

Our firewood is 200 feet from the house this time of year

Here are specs from mine. It has a nice feature for preventing the build-up we discussed cooling. Not sure what the new LG dual inverter will do..

Temperature Ranges

Outdoor Unit

Operating ranges for Outdoor units of 14°F

to 118°F DB for cooling; -13°F to 65°F WB

for heating.

Indoor Unit

Operating ranges for Indoor Units of 53°F to

75°F WB for cooling; 60°F to 86°F DB for

heating.

XRinger · July 2018

200 feet away from the house? I assume that's because of the fire danger?

-13F is pretty dang good. The old Sanyo starts to give up around 8F, depending on the RH %..

I like the new Gree because I can leave it on and go to bed when the forecast is below zero..

Dave Angelini · July 2018

Yes Fire danger. The fire guys want it 100 feet. Since they never come here until after the fire goes by (3 times now) we double it

Did you notice the new LG window unit refrigerant? I really like this unit as I can go buy something decent now that I can install easily, that is a quality quiet unit, and I can recommend to my clients in very remote places where HVAC people never go.

https://www.lg.com/us/air-conditioners/lg-LW1517IVSM

Daikin, One of the Leading AC manufacturer, is using R32 refrigerant which has GWP (Global warming potential) of 675. The R32 Refrigerant has three times lower GWP than R410A (2088). R32 is also more energy efficient than R410A.

Now, Other companies like Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp and Fujitsu General are also using R32 Refrigerants in their Air Conditioners.

XRinger · July 2018

I did notice that R32 for the first time. I don't recall hearing about it before now.. But, I'm not a big follower of the HVAC news these days..

That R32 some impressive stuff. Kinda reminds me of R290 in a way. I've got about 20+ pounds of R410a around here.

And about 75 pounds of propane in the detached garage..

So, I assume the LG Cooling & heat-pump window ACs are going to be using R32. At least they don't have to worry about leaking line-sets..

Dave Angelini · August 2018

Assumption correct. I am going to try one next month with a client. I will set it up here first in a window to make sure it works.

Down the road these types of high end window units should get better and I probably will replace my back-up split with one.
Cut a whole in the wall and do a nice install and you would be in the cat birds seat!

XRinger · August 2018

I already have a hole in my den wall for the old in-wall unit that I'm going to get rid of.. (Power hog)..

Why just patch up the hole? When I can get a hi-tech Cool & Heat in-wall to replace the old unit?

MrM1 · August 2018

I'm tablet searching so I'm having a hard time navigating the LG site Is that the smallest inverter compressor AC they have? I need down around 5000 btu

Raj174 · August 2018

It looks like 14000 BTU is the smallest inverter window A/C currently available.

XRinger · August 2018

HomeDepot has some LG 5000 BTUh units, but I don't see any inverter units in that small size.. At first glance anyways..

I used LG and the Energy Star filter and saw a good range of coolers..

Dave Angelini · August 2018

Not out until mid August. Rick because it is variable speed, one can run this type of cooling at 4 or 5 distinct power levels below max.

Raj174 · August 2018

Nope, their out there now: https://www.appliancesconnection.com/lg-lw1517ivsm.html

Dave Angelini · August 2018

Cool ! I just looked at local. Could be very nice for you and having the ducted system as a back-up. Many are doing just that and finding they do not need forced air ducted.

Raj174 · August 2018

i'd like to but don't have an appropriate window for it. I see the CEER rating is only 11.2. What's up with that? Thought it might be better.

Dave Angelini · August 2018

You may be mixing up CEER and SEER. The spec they list is not SEER.

EER they list is BTU divided by power at max BTU. The higher the EER the better for saving power.

While these models are not at the top tier of mini-splits, they are good enough and 25%+ better than the old school window units.

For someone (not you Rick) who does not know, they work on the differential of programmed temp and actual temp.

As the differential decreases the variable speed compressor uses less power (200 to 400 watts and less) and one can control this with the remote that senses/displays actual and programmed temp. If you program more differential, the power used will go up to its max at 1200 watts. This what they say! I assume it is right because LG is such an excellent company.

WaterWheel · August 2018

After reading the last few pages on this thread I had my boy check the filters and fan for signs of mold on my LG indoor units.
The living room unit has been running 12 hrs a day with the "auto clean" turned off. There was some black buildup on the fan, like sooty dryer fluff. A shop vac and a blower managed to get 95% of it out in about 15 minutes and I will leave auto clean on in the future.

The bedroom head has had auto clean on all summer and had a bit of tan dust colored "dryer fluff" but no black stuff.

I'm not saying the black stuff was mold but there was a lot more stuff on the living room fan than the bedroom unit.

BB. · August 2018

Mold seems to stick/stain much worse than dust (at least in my area). If you need to clean it off, get the "Mold Remover" in the spray bottles from hardware store... It is much higher concentration of bleach vs that used with washing clothes (obviously, don't get on yourself without rinsing well after).

-Bill

Dave Angelini · August 2018

Adding to Bill, make sure it is safe for the plastics in the fan area and has a good history in a mini split system.

Best to buy the exact solution for your unit. I would not use chlorine. The cleaners for splits are self rinsing BTW. It is an art. There is an excellent preventative for mold called, you guessed it, "mold control" by BBJ company.

Mini Split update for Offgrid

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