Seriously considering having wall mounted units installed. We need 2 heat pumps and 2 heat exchangers so the cost is more than trivial. (14k & 9k btu)
Tell me your horror stories, if you have them and like them or hate them. Would you do it again? I’m looking for info from a users perspective. If I didn’t ask the right questions give me answers to what I should be asking.
FWIW, I can see us using them maybe down to 20°F for heating and definitely for the A/C function. I think the outfit doing the work uses Fujitsu.
I had a 5 ton Trane when I lived in NC and it was awesome, when it hit below 32 for days at a time the heat strips would have to run some during the night, it could cool very well when it was 100 or more in the summer. The small units you are talking about we had in sleeping quarters and some offices in Afghanistan, they did ok until it went into mid 90’s or below 40, then they were lacking, but it was mostly very poorly insulated buildings.
We have a wall mount unit on the apartment above my shop. The outside unit is so quiet I dont know its running unless i see the grass moving. It does a fair job heating and cooling it. I wish i would have gone with a bigger unit. When i get one for my gun shop i will go bigger for sure. The newer heat pumps are not like the old one and are more efficient and actually blow warm air. lol
Not sure what exactly my sister has. The heat pump works well on AC. When it gets real cold the propane part kicks in and adds gas heat. She also has a big wood stove running if it is below about 50 deg outside. Big house with cathedral ceilings.
Hey brian. You may or may not want to hear from me. I am a l or used to be an hvac guy. I actually have experience with fugitsu I have installed MANY of them. And have rarely been on many service calls for them. It’s a quality product and I don’t think you can do much better.
My parents have a Fujitsu heat pump with two indoor units. Theirs doesn’t have the electric heat strips in it and puts out less heat when it is REALLY cold outside. The unit is about 7 years old and will need to be serviced this summer because it trips a ‘discharge temp’ error if both indoor units are running for an extended period of time(likely low on refrigerant from what I’ve found. Perhaps @Machgunner could chime in there). Other than cleaning the filters and making sure the outside unit isn’t packed with leaves(they build up between the unit and the house in the fall) maintenance is minimal and it has worked flawlessly. A/C wise one unit has zero issue cooling off 500sf of combined living/dining/kitchen area. The operating cost??? That’s something you’ll need to determine on your own. My parents mostly use it to get the chill out of the air in the morning while they have a wood stove as the primary heat source for the main floor of the house.
Our experience has been they are better at cooling, than with heating.
Our winters are not severe, but the unit doesn’t heat nearly as well as it cools during the summer.
Hope this helps with your decision
You’ve all helped, thanks. (Machgunner, why wouldn’t I want to hear from you?)
For heat it would be a 2nd back up. Right now we have oil for down to 20°F, and below that we bring out the big guns, the wood stove. Of course the oil heat works well below 20° but I like the constant heat of wood and I dislike hearing the oil burner.
@BrianK hey bud. I just said that because I believe you originally addressed people or customers who have actually installed these in their homes and had experience with them in that way. I just wanted to disclose that I do not actually have a mini split that I use on a daily basis and that I used to get paid and make money off of fugitsu. I cannot speak on actually using one daily in my personal home. But I do spend lots of time in several places where the mini split is the main source of a/c. Both heating and cooling. I do believe that out of the 100’s of different brands of minis out there. Fujitsu is definitely at the top of the list as to which one I would put in my home. Samsung is another. Both have GREAT tech services which is PRICELESS when a home owner has an issue with an error code. It can potentially take many many hours, even days, off of the customers service bill because tech services get in there with the tech that’s on site to help diagnose the issue. Mini splits where I live are usually an after thought or something people put in garages or additions to their homes. But I would imagine another 10-12 years that they will be much more prevalent in the USA because of these ease of installs and replacements. Also the savings on power bills. Mini splits in Asia and places like that are the only thing those ppl use. They have probably never seen or heard of a central heating and air system like we are used to here. I believe that they will become more prevalent here in the near future as more and more companies in the US start to realize there is a huge market for them and start making better and better parts and mini splits themselves actually bringing the price down. I think minis have a ton of upside and a ton of potential here in certain parts of the country. Basically. I didn’t mean to go into all this. But basically. If you are getting a mini split and your contractor sells Fujitsu, GO FOR IT!! It doesn’t get much better than that. That’s a good decision for you and your home.
@CzechsixTV if you’d like to talk about your parents error code please feel free to direct message or private message I’m not sure what it’s called here yet as I’m super new and really don’t know how to use the site yet. I’ll be more than happy to give you my cell number and you can text me. Maybe I can help you out with it.
@g.willikers I would agree with that assessment. Heat pumps are not made to keep your home warm when it’s freezing cold outside. The condenser can only pull so much heat out of the air when it’s winter in Buffalo NY if you know what I mean. But for the most part contractors would explain that to the home owner before hand and they would come up with the best option for that situation. The I door units for a mini split can have different types of air handlers. The ones that go on a wall ( wall hung ) they have some they call a “cassette” type that sits on top of or in drop ceiling grids or even in a cutout in the ceiling made for the air handler then Sheetrock is hung around it like a typical Sheetrock ceiling room would have. You can actually use the outdoor unit with indoor units that are more like a typical split system air handler so you can add heat strips to make sure your home is warm enough on those freezing cold nights. Typically here in Alabama it’s not that big a deal. A contractor in your area who does minis will know what to do.
Good deal bro. You cannot do ANY better IMO at this point in time. I think you’ll be more than happy with it. Just make sure and tell the contractor (owner) or (bossman on site) to make sure and do the refrigerant line flares CORRECTLY!! Wouldn’t hurt to ask if they use a torque wrench. Most don’t. But at least the guy will recognize that you’ve done your homework so they will be less likely to skip simple procedure that can cause stupid unnecessary call backs. Good luck to you.
We’ve found that a good reliable local service is a must for servicing and maintaining our ac/heating system.
Far more important than the name brand of the unit itself.
Ours is terrific with a yearly contract, they usually put us at the top of the list.
@g.willikers can’t go wrong with a service contract. I’d say over 90% of people refuse to be on a service contract. Extra money the home owner just can’t justify. And while that may be the smart thing in some situations. If your one of those people who will pay for or at least address a potential issue with your unit early it really can prolong a system. It’s just hard for people to spend 8-10k on a change out (new system) and then turn around same day and sign up for a preventive maintenance plan. I like to clean my condenser in the spring and again in the fall. And at least once a year usually during the fall cleaning pull the cover off of the evaporator and check to see if that and the blower needs cleaning. Check capacitors, etc.
Thanks. I’ve been asking around, people I know, and I have yet to hear anything bad. Most use them as I intend to, mostly for the A/C and light heating during change of seasons.
The heat pumps were installed today and of course I’ve been pla… er’, ahem, testing them.
Since we don’t need cooling I have them in “dry” mode. I couldn’t do that with the A/C units. Speaking of which, we haven’t removed the a/c units yet.
First impressions… the heat pumps are so much quieter. I can feel the air movement when the fan comes on, but that’s the only clue that they’re on. I do hear the outside unit running and turning off, but only because it’s such a different noise… just a low pitched humming. It’s barely discernible at all.
Hot weather is coming next week. I want the window units out by then. I might comment on the heat pumps again or not. I definitely will if it turns out that they suck. What are the chances? I’m liking them so far, but they’re new.
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