We have found a home we are thinking of purchasing that has radiant
heat which means no duct work. I'm familiar with the mini duct high
velocity systems and I'm impressed with their story but don't like the
high price. The house has windows that would not accommodate window
units. I would like to know more about a system I just heard about
where you have the compressor outside as usual but individual lines run
to each room and in each room you have what I would assume to be a
blower unit. My questions are; What is the relative cost of the system
versus putting in conventional duct work? Are the blowers noisy? Is
the air distribution adequate for larger rooms with vaulted ceilings?
Are there any other alternatives to this system besides the high
velocitiy mini duct system or installing conventional ductwork.
Thanks in advance for the help.

wrote in message
ups.com...
We have found a home we are thinking of purchasing that has radiant
heat which means no duct work. I'm familiar with the mini duct high
velocity systems and I'm impressed with their story but don't like the
high price. The house has windows that would not accommodate window
units. I would like to know more about a system I just heard about
where you have the compressor outside as usual but individual lines run
to each room and in each room you have what I would assume to be a
blower unit. My questions are; What is the relative cost of the system
versus putting in conventional duct work? Are the blowers noisy? Is
the air distribution adequate for larger rooms with vaulted ceilings?
Are there any other alternatives to this system besides the high
velocitiy mini duct system or installing conventional ductwork.
Thanks in advance for the help.

The only other alternative I can think of are "through-the-wall" systems.
There are two variations on these systems. One is basically a glorified
version of a regular window air conditioner, but instead of having a big
rectangular opening in the side of the house, only the refrigerant,
condensate and electric lines run through the wall. Hanging on the outside
of the house is the condensor and condensor fan. Hanging on the inside is
the coil and another fan. These are pretty typical in motel rooms.

The other version is simply the above, but "split". That means you route the
refrigerant, condensate and electric lines through the side of the house but
you can locate the condensor piece further away, for aesthetics and noise
reasons. The only downside is that the inside units can occupy a bit of wall
space and bit intrusive looking compared to standard ducted system or a high
velocity system.

-al sung
Rapid Realm Technology, Inc.
Hopkinton, MA

In article . com,
says...

We have found a home we are thinking of purchasing that has radiant
heat which means no duct work. I'm familiar with the mini duct high
velocity systems and I'm impressed with their story but don't like the
high price. The house has windows that would not accommodate window
units. I would like to know more about a system I just heard about
where you have the compressor outside as usual but individual lines run
to each room and in each room you have what I would assume to be a
blower unit. My questions are; What is the relative cost of the system
versus putting in conventional duct work? Are the blowers noisy? Is
the air distribution adequate for larger rooms with vaulted ceilings?
Are there any other alternatives to this system besides the high
velocitiy mini duct system or installing conventional ductwork.
Thanks in advance for the help.


What you are describing is a ductless mini-split system. A compressor unit goes
outdoors, it is a fairly small unit compared to a whole house unit. Each indoor
air handler is geared towards fairly large areas, the smallest that I know of
is 9,000 btu, so it would be too large for just a bedroom, I would think.

I installed a one ton (12,000 btu) in my home this summer and really love it.
The fan is much quieter than the window units, and all functions are remote
controlled. The one I bought is just a single unit, and cost around $600
including shipping. There are systems available with multiple indoor units. I
just bought mine on eBay and installed it myself (they are pre-charged), but
you should have experience with working with tubing and a/c to do it yourself.
I recommend having it installed by a pro.

I cool a 25' x 20' area with a bathroom at the far end with mine, the air flow
is fine and even reaches into the bathroom 30' away. Just search on eBay for
"mini spli" to get an idea of the systems.

--
Dennis