That’s a mini-split, which is technically a heat pump instead of an air conditioner. They can be extremely energy efficient for heating (they can easily reach above 100% efficiency in terms of power usage vs heat production) because you’re not actually generating heat, you’re just moving it around. If you want to cool a room, you pump it outside. And if you want to heat a room, you pump heat in from outside. You can even bury the heat lines if you have the yard for it, and (as long as you bury deeper than the local frost line) you’ll be able to use geothermal to get efficient heating even when it’s frigid outside.
Yeah that sounds right. I’m not totally sure about the UK but in Spain, Italy, and Ireland they have those mini splits instead of air conditioners in a lot of places. I know because it was something I specifically verified they had in all hotels I stayed in as a wimpy American that needs his cold air!
I also owned a condo in Spain for a bit, (lost it in it in a divorce) and we had one installed along with a dryer since those are fairly uncommon in Spain. It’s like a skinny ass thing towards the top of usually high sealing with a small duct installed behind it and much less powerful than your run of the mill window AC in the US. It did the trick when it was around 85 degrees F outside but just barely.
You guys need an engineer to install a basic wall mounted AC with a small duct or even better one that doesn’t require a duct at all and is just mountable? Or better yet, the various portable AC units you can buy that come on wheels and follow you into every room… I get the availability factor I guess.
This comment is hilarious because a heat pump and mini-split system can be installed by basically anyone in a few hours. It only requires a single hole drilled through an exterior wall, to reach the outside where your heat pump goes. After that, it’s just a matter of running hoses to the various mini-splits that are bolted to the walls in your various rooms. And if you really want to be economical, you can strategically cool certain rooms (like the bedrooms and office) while leaving the rest of the house hot. That way you’re not needing to cool the entire house, you’re just creating a few safe havens where you’ll spend most of your time.
a window unit can be installed in less than 5 minutes, no engineer necessary and because its a window unit it’s easily removed so you shouldn’t need planning permission
Wouldn’t buying an air conditioner be cheaper?
So get planning consent, find someone who has a conditioner in stock, find an engineer to install it, all in a few hours?
I’m guessing window units are not common then? Or you have different windows.
We have windows that open out.
Nah, they have these skinny ones that are mounted on walls near the ceiling.
That’s a mini-split, which is technically a heat pump instead of an air conditioner. They can be extremely energy efficient for heating (they can easily reach above 100% efficiency in terms of power usage vs heat production) because you’re not actually generating heat, you’re just moving it around. If you want to cool a room, you pump it outside. And if you want to heat a room, you pump heat in from outside. You can even bury the heat lines if you have the yard for it, and (as long as you bury deeper than the local frost line) you’ll be able to use geothermal to get efficient heating even when it’s frigid outside.
Yeah that sounds right. I’m not totally sure about the UK but in Spain, Italy, and Ireland they have those mini splits instead of air conditioners in a lot of places. I know because it was something I specifically verified they had in all hotels I stayed in as a wimpy American that needs his cold air!
I also owned a condo in Spain for a bit, (lost it in it in a divorce) and we had one installed along with a dryer since those are fairly uncommon in Spain. It’s like a skinny ass thing towards the top of usually high sealing with a small duct installed behind it and much less powerful than your run of the mill window AC in the US. It did the trick when it was around 85 degrees F outside but just barely.
You guys need an engineer to install a basic wall mounted AC with a small duct or even better one that doesn’t require a duct at all and is just mountable? Or better yet, the various portable AC units you can buy that come on wheels and follow you into every room… I get the availability factor I guess.
This comment is hilarious because a heat pump and mini-split system can be installed by basically anyone in a few hours. It only requires a single hole drilled through an exterior wall, to reach the outside where your heat pump goes. After that, it’s just a matter of running hoses to the various mini-splits that are bolted to the walls in your various rooms. And if you really want to be economical, you can strategically cool certain rooms (like the bedrooms and office) while leaving the rest of the house hot. That way you’re not needing to cool the entire house, you’re just creating a few safe havens where you’ll spend most of your time.
a window unit can be installed in less than 5 minutes, no engineer necessary and because its a window unit it’s easily removed so you shouldn’t need planning permission
Few houses have compatible windows.