Mini-Split heat in the Northeast winter? My experience so far.
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- Опубликовано: 27 май 2024
- In December '21, I installed an Innovair 12,000 BTU Mini-split AC unit with the heat pump option. Since then, the winter has dumped some below-zero temperatures, so how well has the unit handled the cold weather? Here's my opinion and experiences so far.
Edit: Many more manufacturers have and continue to come out with more efficient units, especially when it comes to heating in colder climates. My experience has been more than great, but these newer units will keep up and operate even better! 
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I live in the north east, and I have a 24k mini split as my main heat source. I bought the Cielo Breez Lite to control the unit remotely and set smart automatic scheduling. The daily high temps here are around 2pm currently so I have it programmed to run full power for a few hours during the day when the most heat energy is available in the outside air. It automatically drops temp to 60f while I’m sleeping or away at work.
Great video!!
Love the Hood !!!!!!!
I hated that it happened to it, but figured that repurposing it was better than scrap (for now at least)
MY 24000 SENVILLE WORKED GREAT! I WILL BE PUTTING A ROOF OVER IT BECAUSE OF FREEZING RAIN! 20 AND FREEZING RAIN IT STOPPED FOR 15 MINUTES TO DEFROST ON ITS OWN AND CAME BACK.ON WITH ALL KINDS OF HEAT!
Good video Charles I have an Innovair 12k unit with hyper heat. So it was nice to see how your 12k unit without the hyper heat was working in cold temps. Also your choice of a wall bracket install and the vibration issues was helpful. This will be my first winter using the system.
Let me just say for anyone considering a mini split check with your utility company for rebates. I received a $400 rebate from my utility company when I installed my Innovair 12k system. It allowed me to have the final cost of the higher SEER (30.5) and hyper heat (-22) model come in close to the cost of the lower SEER non hyper heat unit.
I'm in the Pocono mountains of Pa. so the cold temps and snow are probably not as bad as what you experience. I decided to deal with snow and wind a little different. For about $50 in material I elevated my outdoor unit on filled concrete blocks. Then I built a louvered shelter for it that covers all 4 sides and the top.
Thanks for your advice! Good to know for anyone else going this route!
As someone that comes out of the HVAC industry we recommended heat pumps when their was no Natural Gas available. If you have natural gas and are currently ducted in, stick with natural gas. In the case of a garage or shed, natural gas first, but if you should choose a heat pump consider what your main objective is, if it is heat, consider a unit that can be installed lower on the wall, heat raises. The other consideration is that heat pumps cannot capture the lower cooler air like a ducted system so what ever temperature you are choosing must also have the ability to "somewhat warm those areas as well. Here in New Brunswick Canada where it gets very cold and we have no natural gas I had 4 heat pumps installed, my first official bill was $333.00 which was considerably higher than expected based on my calculations. Last year I tried an experiment, I tried zone heating, only heating the zone I was occupying, heating above zero water lines, and turning many of the heaters off during sleeping hours. The average cost was $150.00per month. Remember the cheapest furnace you have is You, learn to dress warm, lots of layers, buy yourself a heated mattress pad, I also Have a heated seat pad for my office chair, these are all inexpensive ways to create zoned heat where you need them. Next I will install 4" PVC pipe from the ground to the the unit to draw air from the lower elevations to the unit. The first 3' of air in the room can easily be 10 degrees cooler than the upper elevations of air.
Got a senville (arctic version)12k with an inverter compressor for a full glass and aluminum sun room with called ceiling, 250sft. Says it works at 100% down to 0*F. All the way down to -22F. Absolutley amazing.
The efficiency of newer units as time goes is really impressive!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this video! I'm finishing my old garage. I've got the walls insulated and working on the ceiling. I live in the midwest with similar cold weather, maybe not as cold as you so I was debating on getting a vented propane heater with a bunch of tanks but then thought it was a waste once I get more close to finish and intall a ductless AC. It might not be and could supplement heat. Thanks!
I'm sure it'll work great, especially newer models that are more efficient and can handle colder temps even better than the one I installed. No worries about propane or refilling, nice and quiet and clean, they're definitely a great option!
Just happened to stumble on your review. I also live in the NE and was considering installing one of these but was skeptical about the amount of heat they could generate once the temperatures dropped below freezing. Apparently more than I believed based on your video. Not certain if you are still responding to comments but now that it's been 2 years, are you still happy with its performance?
Had to get you off 666 subscribers. I'm in Sullivan county. Looking to install a couple units.
Appreciate it, and good luck with your installs, I've had great luck with it so far
I worked with an Eric Olcott, relation?
Thxs dude....
Whats the size of the shed? Good video explaining everything.
This is a 12x28' pre-built shed, 2x4 studs on the walls with T-111 siding and a metal roof. Not the most energy efficient, with the cheap windows, only 4" of insulation on the walls and 6" on the ceiling and no insulation underneath. It's been down to about 10-15 F a couple times over the last week, still no hiccups in keeping up so far this year. Still early though!
@@CharlesOlcott Thanks for the reply.
Hi Charles, I'm in Delhi! Oct 2022, oil guy told me prices are $5.25 a gallon and will likely go up. I just ordered a mini split (25.5 SEER, -22F (-30C)), my house is tight and runs on PV with very little grid and that's with a tankless water heater and an EV. We'll see how the mini split works out, I have back up oil and wood too so I should be okay.
I'm running a 12k 30.5 SEER and a 18K 2 zone 20 SEER and on cold nights (20F or -6C) I'm only burning a few hundred watts to keep the whole house at 68F or 20C.
@@pryda1 I've been checking my mini since it went in about a month ago. The temps have dropped and continue to do so. I do have a power monitor and temp gauge on the output and outside at the compressor. I'm still collecting data but here's a sample: When it's 30°F ~(-1°C) I'm using ~345 watts to heat my great room which is about 25' x 25' with 14' sealings (~7.5m x 7.5m x 4.2m). The temperature differential is ~60°F, outside 30°F, mini out ~94°F (-1°C to 34.5°C). I'm amazed at how efficient this thing is! From Nov. 15th to Dec. 10th I've used 216kWh, at my current rate that's about $30 increase in my electric monthly fee. I figure for the month 216kWh/25 days = ~8.64kWh per day so for a month it's probably going to cost 30 x 8.64 = 259.2kWh or ~$35 US. At 20°F outside it still runs inside temps of ~82°F at ~350 watts draw.
Heating oil here now is ~$5.50 a gallon, at two gallons a day to heat my great room (it's probably more) that would be 60 gallons for the month or ~$330.00 US. When the temps here hit ~40 - 45°F (4.44 - 7.22°C) the 12k mini heats the whole house. I will save the complete cost of the mini in one winter with free cooling in the summer. Actually my PV on sunny days completely compensates for the mini so it costs even less than the figures above. Next summer I'm adding more PV, I want to try to run the mini as much as possible next winter from PV and batteries.
To put things in perspective, right now heating my house, hot water, well pump, fridge, freezer, lights etc. along with charging my EV, it costs me in one month about the same as filling a gas car once for the same month. Granted I've had PV in since 2006 which has paid for itself and we're retired so we're not on the road everyday but I think that's still pretty good.
@pryda1 wow 30 seer that's amazing..Is that the Gree hyper heat?? I want one for my solar shop.
@@daveyboy8907 It's now March here in the Catskill's and we've had a good amount of snow and low temps this winter. The mini split is working flawlessly and I'm blown away how efficient it is at all temps even into the low 20's and teens.
What part of upstate? I am in the fingerlakes, currently installing heat pumps, hope it works for my heat because I will have nothing else, other than a space heater
I've over in the southern tier, a little east of Binghamton out in the hills.
@@CharlesOlcott ahh, ok
I'm right near Elmira! How has the minisplit performed? I just ordered two 24k aura arctic and am expecting to install them next weekend. I have outdoor woodboiler and indoor LP boiler that I'm trying to get away from.
@@Gamma_Labs you are not far from me, so we had no problems last winter with heat. We have four splits, they kept the house as warm as we wanted, sometimes we had the temperature at 74 degrees in the house, the highest electric bill for the month was 350.00, which includes electric water tank and electric stove. So far so good, as long you do not lose power, you should be good
@@suespony music to my ears. Glad it's worked for you. Thanks for the reply!
Upstate NY? I'm in the Adirondacks considering a mini split system because the summers are hotter than ever and my furnace is old so I'd thought its would be a win win except it doesn't appear they can heat by themselves in this climate? Your thoughts?
There are some units out there that offer a heating element built in, to help with heating once the outside temperatures drop below where the efficiency can keep up. They are few and far between, but check out the Hyper Heat lineup from Mr Cool - they're listed as being able to handle heating duties all the way down to negative double-digit temps. For me, my little electric space heater on low is enough to offset the temps in my shed/office once the temps get below 0 and the unit starts to struggle to maintain due to the cold. But for harsher weather if you're looking to completely eliminate another heat source, the Hyper Heat line might work out well for you. There's actually a video on the MrCool channel called "Heating Alaska" that has a customer using only those units for their business with no supplemental heating.
BTW, I have no affiliation with MrCool, nor with Innovair (the brand of my unit), and I have no problem recommending whatever product seems to have the best options for whatever situations. So don't crucify me for recommending MrCool units when my own isn't one lol
@CharlesOlcott hc has a hyper heat unit that runs at -22 and the price isn't to bad..
Wound up putting in a very efficient LP gas Rinnai vented ductless heater in the basement, heats the whole house, belonging to a CoOp we pay $1.81 gal so its part of an overall energy solution with a Mini Split for AC, did the same for my 1024 sg ft woodworking shop.
I used to live in the North Country and think a mini split would serve you well. Here is the deal: Most low ambient units are rated to ~15 dF, some colder. You only typically see maybe 5-10 days of super cold temps like this a season, so as long as you have backup you're good to go there. If internet forums are anything to be believed, many people just leave there systems running over very cold nights without backup heat and do not worry about it. This is an inefficient way to heat (for 8-20 hours/overnight) but the units should still be producing enough heat to barely maintain the inside temperature if they are sized right. If they can heat your house well at -15dF, you probably oversized the system. Worst case, any capacity issues at these low temps can be resolved with cheap and effective electric heat- space heaters or baseboard. You are likely not getting a COP of 1.0 anyway at -15dF ambient.
Depending on your primary heat source (wood, coal, gas, etc) is where you need to figure out at what ambient temp you should cut over to that backup heat source. It's also never a bad idea to have some space heaters sitting around if there are cold spaces in your house.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but many areas in upstate/northern/adk NY have very reasonable electric rates- well under 15 cents/kwh delivered. In general, if you do not have access to natural gas, a mini split or low ambient heat pump is the way to go from a cost savings perspective. You will also not need to deal with fuel deliveries as much. Say you have propane backup- keep it but- top your system off in summer or spring when prices are low and you may only need to have your tanks filled once a year- you will be using the heat pump 90% of the time.
Too bad you never located the outside unit on the south side it would have improved the performance considerably.
It definitely would've! Unfortunately I do have my other tool shed right next to it on that end which would've covered up the unit with shade full-time. In the AC mode that would've been perfect, but it would give a knock on the heating in the winter due to no sun at all in that area to help the ambient temps. Looking forward to giving another winter workout this year.
I had a Mitsubishi mini split installed last January and it leaked refrigerant in the summer and the hvac guy had to come out. Now it is not heating my sunroom even if I turn it to over 80 degrees. I paid extra for the hyper heat model and it is not working so well.
Sorry to hear about your experience, especially after having to have someone out before. I can't speculate on the work done or what might be the issue, I'm not an expert by any means. But I do hope you are able to get it working soon!
@@CharlesOlcott thank you. I am wishing I would have went with the Mr Cool instead. It would have been cheaper and less aggravation.
@@ThePlantUtopiaI have a Mr Cool Diy 24k unit. It was great before it stopped heating in January. The indoor unit had a leak. What nobody tells you about the DIY units is that many HVAC companies will not work on them. Their warranty is a bit of a sham too. I had to pay over $300 for shipping on the unit because they said it ships on a pallet on a trailer truck. Well, it showed up on the brown UPS van and the driver carried it with 1 hand.
I'd stay clear of Mr Cool if I were you.
@@larrybird6696nothing wrong with mrcool it always boils down to the installer it never is the hardware it's always the installer Truth Hurts sometimes
@@karmendimas5274 ya I would have agreed with you before they sent me (3) leaking indoor head units under warranty.
What Seer is it?
This particular unit is rated at 18, though the 240v is 17 instead. Certainly not the highest out there but for the price point, I'm more than happy with it. It's kept my office area at an easy 70 degrees without the fan even having to ramp up, even when it's been 90+ outside, even with this metal roof and 4" insulation.
How many watts do the unit draw when its heating please ?
I will have to get a new meter to verify, but I believe it was somewhere around the 8-9 amp range in heating mode (about 1000 watts or so). If I can get a better number, I'll update this :) Bear in mind that even in just the short time since I installed it, many of the newer units are getting more and more efficient. Mine is actually on the lower end of the efficiency scale.
Brilliant thanks
newer models can still be viable down to -20..
There are definitely a lot of newer, more efficient models out there. Fortunately this one is working fine for my climate, but I'm eyeing some newer ones for my house renovation in the future!
Performance NUMBERS???
So far the unit has been pulling about 8-10 Amps max under normal usage when the compressor first kicks on in either mode, and in between cycles, far less. I haven't had a meter on full-time to measure though, sorry. The rest of the numbers are hard to quantify but this past year, I did give it a few tests by accidentally forgetting that I turned it off in the middle of the day, not using my little heater at all, and coming out to a 40 degree office. At that point, turning it back on, raised it about 15 degrees per hour on a normal 30-ish degree day outside, and was usually back up to 65 or so within just a couple hours. Not exact, I apologize, but in that weather outside, that was the experience I've had on the heating side. Cooling-wise I haven't made that mistake, but i have had the power go out in the summer, and it's been able to cool back from 80 down to 70 in under an hour on an 80-degree day outside with very little fanfare.
4 mins of blah blah first
you need to just get to the point!!!!! stop talking to much!