My house is heated by hot water, and it's about 1100 square feet on
one floor, with open stairway leading to the basement of about 900
square feet. There's an open floor plan, except that the two
bedrooms and the bathroom have conventional doors.

I'm most concerned about sleeping comfortably at night, though
obviously it would be nice to keep the living areas below 80° during
the day. My bedroom is small, so you'd think a window a/c would make
sense. But the window is 39" wide, which means an a/c small enough
for the room is too small for the window. Security isn't a major
concern, but it's a concern. And even in summer we do have some
pleasant nights, but with an a/c unit in the window I can't get the
breezes.

I've seen advertisements recently for ductless air conditioning,
which I gather is a unit mounted on the exterior wall of the building
with pipeline to the heat pump outside:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...192764,00.html

Does it even make sense for me to consider this? Are there any
"gotchas" I should look out for if I talk to a/c people?


--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

In article ,
says...

My house is heated by hot water, and it's about 1100 square feet on
one floor, with open stairway leading to the basement of about 900
square feet. There's an open floor plan, except that the two
bedrooms and the bathroom have conventional doors.

I'm most concerned about sleeping comfortably at night, though
obviously it would be nice to keep the living areas below 80° during
the day. My bedroom is small, so you'd think a window a/c would make
sense. But the window is 39" wide, which means an a/c small enough
for the room is too small for the window. Security isn't a major
concern, but it's a concern. And even in summer we do have some
pleasant nights, but with an a/c unit in the window I can't get the
breezes.

I've seen advertisements recently for ductless air conditioning,
which I gather is a unit mounted on the exterior wall of the building
with pipeline to the heat pump outside:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...192764,00.html

Does it even make sense for me to consider this? Are there any
"gotchas" I should look out for if I talk to a/c people?

The mini splits can be very efficient and save on the electric bill.
These use all sorts of advanced technology to make them more efficient.
Certain brands are more efficient than others, so shop around and
compare before buying. I think Mitsubishi might be one of the more
efficient types?

But the best mini split system can be even MORE energy saving. That is
one model I saw where you can have up to 4 separate inside units (one in
each separate room) which all connect to one outside unit. So just turn
on the inside unit(s) in the room(s) you want to cool or heat. Then the
outside unit ramps up/down depending on how many units inside are on and
the cooling or heating demand for that unit. Then you are just
cooling/heating the room(s) you are using, not the whole house.

For example if just a little cooling is needed, everything runs slower
including the outside unit.

Whole house and window A/C units are full blast and on/off cycles (less
efficient).

And you can the the kind which allows for 4 inside units, but just
install one inside unit for now. Add more units later.

For heating, the heat pumps on these new mini splits will now work to
very low outside temperatures. Another improvement.

In article ,
Stan Brown wrote:
My house is heated by hot water, and it's about 1100 square feet on
one floor, with open stairway leading to the basement of about 900
square feet. There's an open floor plan, except that the two
bedrooms and the bathroom have conventional doors.

I'm most concerned about sleeping comfortably at night, though
obviously it would be nice to keep the living areas below 80° during
the day. My bedroom is small, so you'd think a window a/c would make
sense. But the window is 39" wide, which means an a/c small enough
for the room is too small for the window. Security isn't a major
concern, but it's a concern. And even in summer we do have some
pleasant nights, but with an a/c unit in the window I can't get the
breezes.

You can either build a frame to fit in the window and hold the
A/C, lag-screwed to the window frame (so the window isn't holding
the A/C in). How to secure the window depends on what the window is
made of.

Alternatively, you can cut and frame an opening just to hold the A/C,
leaving the window free for normal use.

There are also units designed for through-wall mounting.

In either case, make the opening larger than necessary, in case the
replacement unit you buy in 6-8 years is larger.

I've seen advertisements recently for ductless air conditioning,
which I gather is a unit mounted on the exterior wall of the building
with pipeline to the heat pump outside:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/askt...192764,00.html

Does it even make sense for me to consider this? Are there any
"gotchas" I should look out for if I talk to a/c people?

Most of these have an exterior unit on a concrete pad, and up to
four interior units. They will be easier and faster to install
than putting in ductwork (and therefore most likely cheaper).

Make sure your exterior unit is big enough.


Gary

Thanks for the responses!

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...