Interior air handlers on mini splits

[EatenByLimestone]

I had a contractor over to look at installing a couple mini splits and he seemed to have some trouble finding good spots to install the inside units. I didn’t expect that would be an issue. It seems that my cape floor plan doesn’t leave large enough open wall spaces, or at least, not many of them. I’m sure he was looking for easy, slam dunk installations. Maybe I don’t have one, lol.

So, are there any manufacturers that have small inside units for their minisplits? I don’t need a lot of capacity, I figure two 1 ton units would easily cover my needs.

 

[begreen]

Most companies have floor and ceiling air handler options in addition to the wall warts.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I’ve been looking into those too. Downstairs I’d have trouble with the ceiling cassettes, as the floors/ceiling isn’t thick enough. I had to use an aluminum plate over my bathroom fan as it was thicker than the floor, but the 3/4” of wood tongue and groove over it barely cleared the fan. The plate covers the floor hole and has carpet stretched over the top. I’m thinking it must have been 2x6 floor joists.

Upstairs I could use a ceiling cassette with a little reframing of a false ceiling. They appear to be 20” x 20” or so. Just larger than the 16” on center I framed it with when I put the ceiling in, lol.

I haven’t looked much into the floor cassettes. Finding a spot that would be out of the way and not covered by furniture is harder than I thought it would be, lol. I’m still researching, looking at my floor, etc. I’ll figure it out, but I don’t think it’s going to be a super easy install.

 

[begreen]

What's the primary heating system?

 

[stoveliker]

These look to be very narrow?
https://www.alpinehomeair.com/product/air-conditioning-cooling/ductless-mini-splits/five-zone-mini-split-systems/blueridge/bmm55hh19-12l-12l-12l-12l-12l

 

[stoveliker]

Well that doesn't work...

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What's the primary heating system?

Natural gas boiler.


It’s a comfort thing. I think it’d be hard to actually save money with this.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Well that doesn't work...

View attachment 329732

They do look narrow. Unfortunately they only list the regular wall unit size(34” wide). I’ll keep searching.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

So far Daiken has the smallest floor mount that I’ve found.

 

[begreen]

Natural gas boiler.

OK, so no existing ductwork. If there is a basement, would a ducted air handler work with just floor registers upstairs? This is an available option for several brands.

Mr. Cool DUCT-12HP-230 Olympus 12,000 BTU 1 Ton Ducted Mini-Split Air Handler

MRCOOL Olympus 12,000 BTU 1 Ton Ducted Mini-Split Air Handler - 230V-60HZSpecifications: CFM176.57/282.52/353.15TONNAGE1COOLING CAPACITY12000 BTUHEATING CAPACITY12000 BTUVOLTAGE208-230 VPHASE1CYCLE60 HzMAX FUSE BREAKER15 AMIN CIRCUIT AMPACITY1.3 AMOUNT TYPEDuctedCOLORWhiteCOLOR FAMILYWhiteMAX...

skipthewarehouse.com

It’s a comfort thing. I think it’d be hard to actually save money with this.

If cooling and dehumidification is desired then comfort can be year round.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I do have some duct work down there from an old coal stove that used to be in the basement. I just had never gotten around to removing all of it. It’s all 6” round, I figured it was all undersized and bad, lol.

 

[EbS-P]

my only recommendation is try and stay away from condensate pumps.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Yeah, when that fails, there will be issues!