those with split a/c hows the heat?
Discussion
got a 3.5kw split fitted end of summer , hasnt been hot it cold enough to really try it out until recently
got it in a 4x4mtr living room , was hoping to take the edge of a 1x4mtr hall and small kitchen by having the doors open /or ajar
feels like it wants to be full on or its not man enough , temps outside been below 10degs
does that sound about right ? i was hoping to pre heat the rooms on cheap rate mornings and have it idle down a bit through the day
got it in a 4x4mtr living room , was hoping to take the edge of a 1x4mtr hall and small kitchen by having the doors open /or ajar
feels like it wants to be full on or its not man enough , temps outside been below 10degs
does that sound about right ? i was hoping to pre heat the rooms on cheap rate mornings and have it idle down a bit through the day
So just to clarify the question, you have a single wall mounted 3.5kw split located in a living room which measures 4 x 4 and you wish for it to also heat your hall way and kitchen? Is that bit correct?
Without having any details about the floor layout, location of split, construction type (U-values) and infiltration (leakiness of the building), it's almost impossible to say whether this will work. However, based on judgement of the living room size, the unit will "probably" be sufficient (output wise) to at least offer some basic heating across all areas....the issue here however, will always be distribution of the warmth.
The primary consequence of poor distribution will be that your warm air will be blown into the living room, which will primarily recirculate within the space and as such, the return air sensor on the intake of the split unit (from which it controls itself) will see a warmer temp that what will be experienced in the hall way or kitchen, hence ramp down, reducing output before the hall or kitchen get a look in of warmth. You can see why a split in this type of scenario is not the right type of system for such application, but nonetheless, you might be able to get it to work as you require with a Heath Robinson approach....
First and foremost, you may need to find a way to ensure the split runs full tilt, for as long as possible. My Daikin unit has a 'powerful' mode, which overrules any temp control and ensures the unit runs flat out for a set period. That may be an option. Otherwise, you'll need to just set the unit to max heating set point temp.
Secondly, distribution - depending on the layout of the room and direction of the outlet vanes, you may end up requiring a pedestal type fan (or similar) in the door way between said room and hall or kitchen to blow the warmth into these spaces. My gut feel is that natural infiltration/distribution alone will not be enough - but maybe you just need to test it first and foremost and see how you get on. Just bare in mind, warm air rises and hence will get 'trapped' at high level in the living room without some assistance, unless you are lucky enough that the outlet of the split points towards the hall way or kitchen. Furthermore, if the hall way is open to the staircase, heat will rise up to the landing and downstairs will feel cooler - so plenty to consider.
Without having any details about the floor layout, location of split, construction type (U-values) and infiltration (leakiness of the building), it's almost impossible to say whether this will work. However, based on judgement of the living room size, the unit will "probably" be sufficient (output wise) to at least offer some basic heating across all areas....the issue here however, will always be distribution of the warmth.
The primary consequence of poor distribution will be that your warm air will be blown into the living room, which will primarily recirculate within the space and as such, the return air sensor on the intake of the split unit (from which it controls itself) will see a warmer temp that what will be experienced in the hall way or kitchen, hence ramp down, reducing output before the hall or kitchen get a look in of warmth. You can see why a split in this type of scenario is not the right type of system for such application, but nonetheless, you might be able to get it to work as you require with a Heath Robinson approach....
First and foremost, you may need to find a way to ensure the split runs full tilt, for as long as possible. My Daikin unit has a 'powerful' mode, which overrules any temp control and ensures the unit runs flat out for a set period. That may be an option. Otherwise, you'll need to just set the unit to max heating set point temp.
Secondly, distribution - depending on the layout of the room and direction of the outlet vanes, you may end up requiring a pedestal type fan (or similar) in the door way between said room and hall or kitchen to blow the warmth into these spaces. My gut feel is that natural infiltration/distribution alone will not be enough - but maybe you just need to test it first and foremost and see how you get on. Just bare in mind, warm air rises and hence will get 'trapped' at high level in the living room without some assistance, unless you are lucky enough that the outlet of the split points towards the hall way or kitchen. Furthermore, if the hall way is open to the staircase, heat will rise up to the landing and downstairs will feel cooler - so plenty to consider.
Edited by MattyD803 on Monday 27th October 11:12
yes a single unit
i was hoping it might keep the living room say 21 and be enough to take the chill off the other rooms with the door ajar, i didnt expect all rooms to be full temp
just initial impressions it seems a bit weak unless on full whack
still early days , anyway i wanted it for summer cooling if the heat was great then its a bonus
i was hoping it might keep the living room say 21 and be enough to take the chill off the other rooms with the door ajar, i didnt expect all rooms to be full temp
just initial impressions it seems a bit weak unless on full whack
still early days , anyway i wanted it for summer cooling if the heat was great then its a bonus
Wildfire said:
We have a 2.5kw in the bedroom (loft conversion) which would be unbearable in summer. Heat wise I don't find that the heat lingers very much. It takes the edge off and warms the air, but doesn't really "heat the room", if that makes sense.
It does; I see them as basically fan heaters - heat the air but not the things.steveo3002 said:
yes a single unit
i was hoping it might keep the living room say 21 and be enough to take the chill off the other rooms with the door ajar, i didnt expect all rooms to be full temp
just initial impressions it seems a bit weak unless on full whack
still early days , anyway i wanted it for summer cooling if the heat was great then its a bonus
The design of these units is such that they minimise overrun, by virtue of overheating a space. They typically ramp back on output before the set point is reached - all part of the 'eco' credentials, certainly is the case on my Daikin unit.i was hoping it might keep the living room say 21 and be enough to take the chill off the other rooms with the door ajar, i didnt expect all rooms to be full temp
just initial impressions it seems a bit weak unless on full whack
still early days , anyway i wanted it for summer cooling if the heat was great then its a bonus
To add to this, I believe there is a slight draw back / design flaw in the nature of a wall mounted unit, particularly in heating mode, as a portion of the air from the outlet finds its way back into the inlet at the top of the unit, hence they 'see' warmer temperatures than reality which (depending on room geometry), can worsen this effect. The only way I know to combat this is to use a separate stat/controller, which is typically hard wired into the unit.
For reference - I have a 3.5kW Daikin in my home office as the summer temps get unbearable. My office measures 3m x 7m and it absolutely eats the heating and cooling demand, 2.5kW would have been plenty in reality. Like you, bought primarily for summer cooling, but using it as a heat pump is the real benefit as it draws barely 120-150W (intermittent draw as it 'trims' in and out' to keep my office warm, even below zero....compared to a 1kW fan heater I used to use, which ran most of the day).
Are you able to run yours via an app on your phone? If so, try delving into some of the settings to see if it is locked in an econo / demand mode, or similar in case that is effecting performance. You should also be able to do this on the controller.
Two questions for those who are not happy with aircon as heating:
1) how much electrical power is it using?
2) is all the heat it kicks out warming the ceiling nicely while cold air hangs around lower down?
Do those who are happy do anything to increase circulation or mixing of air?
It's normal to locate aircon high up for cooling, and radiators low down for heating.
If heating performance of your aircon is important, should you mount it lower down? Install a ceiling fan? Is there some other factor?
I wonder if a well insulated ceiling makes a big difference, even if you have a room above?
1) how much electrical power is it using?
2) is all the heat it kicks out warming the ceiling nicely while cold air hangs around lower down?
Do those who are happy do anything to increase circulation or mixing of air?
It's normal to locate aircon high up for cooling, and radiators low down for heating.
If heating performance of your aircon is important, should you mount it lower down? Install a ceiling fan? Is there some other factor?
I wonder if a well insulated ceiling makes a big difference, even if you have a room above?
OutInTheShed said:
Two questions for those who are not happy with aircon as heating:
1) how much electrical power is it using?
2) is all the heat it kicks out warming the ceiling nicely while cold air hangs around lower down?
Do those who are happy do anything to increase circulation or mixing of air?
It's normal to locate aircon high up for cooling, and radiators low down for heating.
If heating performance of your aircon is important, should you mount it lower down? Install a ceiling fan? Is there some other factor?
I wonder if a well insulated ceiling makes a big difference, even if you have a room above?
As above, we have a Daikin split and heating is excellent, even down to -5/-6 outside. The room measures 7m x 3m. Unit is mounted half way along one of the longer sides and I get excellent distribution.1) how much electrical power is it using?
2) is all the heat it kicks out warming the ceiling nicely while cold air hangs around lower down?
Do those who are happy do anything to increase circulation or mixing of air?
It's normal to locate aircon high up for cooling, and radiators low down for heating.
If heating performance of your aircon is important, should you mount it lower down? Install a ceiling fan? Is there some other factor?
I wonder if a well insulated ceiling makes a big difference, even if you have a room above?
Air "throw" off the unit is enough to send warm air downwards to the ground from around 2m high - this is how they are intended to be sited/operate, with sufficient space 'above' the unit for air to be drawn in. I angle the 'vanes' within the unit to each side, which I think helps with distribution across the space.
Naturally the heat is convective rather than radiant & convective, as you would get from a radiator, but this means the unit simply needs to run more consistently in the background most of the day, 'trimming' in and out as it see's fit to maintain the internal temp.
Power draw is around 120-150W for my space, peaking at around 300-400W for initial start up and/or defrost phase. Either way, a fraction of what a regular direct electrical heater or UFH would use.
PS: I don't work for Daikin, nor do I install units or have any affiliation to such companies. I am however, a HVAC system designer but that has minimal relevance to performance of my unit in reality.
got a 5kw ceiling cassette in a loft conversion which is about 35-40 sq-m built to the very latest insulation regs - works well in summer and winter, but struggles a little when it's sub-zero outside - but will get the room up to temp from a standing start over over about an hour, all other times it's very quick to heat and cool.
As has been said, the unit is a point source of heat and will not know or care what's going on in your hallway.
Have you considered using an additional tower fan to blow warm air out of the living room into the hall? If you shop carefully there are some pretty quiet ones available these days.
Have you considered using an additional tower fan to blow warm air out of the living room into the hall? If you shop carefully there are some pretty quiet ones available these days.
MattyD803 said:
As above, we have a Daikin split and heating is excellent, even down to -5/-6 outside. The room measures 7m x 3m. Unit is mounted half way along one of the longer sides and I get excellent distribution.
Air "throw" off the unit is enough to send warm air downwards to the ground from around 2m high - this is how they are intended to be sited/operate, with sufficient space 'above' the unit for air to be drawn in. I angle the 'vanes' within the unit to each side, which I think helps with distribution across the space.
Naturally the heat is convective rather than radiant & convective, as you would get from a radiator, but this means the unit simply needs to run more consistently in the background most of the day, 'trimming' in and out as it see's fit to maintain the internal temp.
Power draw is around 120-150W for my space, peaking at around 300-400W for initial start up and/or defrost phase. Either way, a fraction of what a regular direct electrical heater or UFH would use.
PS: I don't work for Daikin, nor do I install units or have any affiliation to such companies. I am however, a HVAC system designer but that has minimal relevance to performance of my unit in reality.
Thanks for that.Air "throw" off the unit is enough to send warm air downwards to the ground from around 2m high - this is how they are intended to be sited/operate, with sufficient space 'above' the unit for air to be drawn in. I angle the 'vanes' within the unit to each side, which I think helps with distribution across the space.
Naturally the heat is convective rather than radiant & convective, as you would get from a radiator, but this means the unit simply needs to run more consistently in the background most of the day, 'trimming' in and out as it see's fit to maintain the internal temp.
Power draw is around 120-150W for my space, peaking at around 300-400W for initial start up and/or defrost phase. Either way, a fraction of what a regular direct electrical heater or UFH would use.
PS: I don't work for Daikin, nor do I install units or have any affiliation to such companies. I am however, a HVAC system designer but that has minimal relevance to performance of my unit in reality.
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