After the many discussions we had over the summer about aircon,
I decided to go ahead and install one, in readiness for next summer.

The room is a very modest home office, 3.5x4.5m, with lots of
PCs and two people in it most of the time.

I went for a split unit for obvious reasons and I wanted about
2.5-3kW. After talking to a supplier, they managed to convince
me that I ought to go for a cheaper generic Chinese unit rather
than the Fujitsu which I initially wanted.

Given that the Fujitsu was about £950, and the unit they
recommended was only £550 all in, and that it would only be used
for say 2 months of the year, I decided to go for the cheaper
one. I may end up regretting that, I may not - I don't know.

The unit included all the hoses, multicore cable and brackets
for a complete self install. The install was a piece of cake -
the hardest part was the 3" hole through the 2' wall.

Once you've installed it, you bleed off a small amount of
refrigerant through the system, which flushes out the air.
That's it - no vac pump needed.

It's now running fine (there was a minor problem with the main
indoor unit fan rubbing on the case, but a small modification
fixed that).

I will post if it breaks or anything bad happens.

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
After the many discussions we had over the summer about aircon,
I decided to go ahead and install one, in readiness for next summer.

The room is a very modest home office, 3.5x4.5m, with lots of
PCs and two people in it most of the time.

I went for a split unit for obvious reasons and I wanted about
2.5-3kW. After talking to a supplier, they managed to convince
me that I ought to go for a cheaper generic Chinese unit rather
than the Fujitsu which I initially wanted.

Given that the Fujitsu was about £950, and the unit they
recommended was only £550 all in, and that it would only be used
for say 2 months of the year, I decided to go for the cheaper
one. I may end up regretting that, I may not - I don't know.

The unit included all the hoses, multicore cable and brackets
for a complete self install. The install was a piece of cake -
the hardest part was the 3" hole through the 2' wall.

Once you've installed it, you bleed off a small amount of
refrigerant through the system, which flushes out the air.
That's it - no vac pump needed.

It's now running fine (there was a minor problem with the main
indoor unit fan rubbing on the case, but a small modification
fixed that).

I will post if it breaks or anything bad happens.

What make?


---
--

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.548 / Virus Database: 341 - Release Date: 05/12/2003

IMM wrote:

What make?

It's called Millenniumair.
http://www.uk-airconditioning.co.uk/millennium.htm

--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:

It's called Millenniumair.
http://www.uk-airconditioning.co.uk/millennium.htm

Have you tried it in heat pump mode yet? If so what is it like? What
outside temerature does it give up at?


--
Cheers,

John.

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John Rumm wrote:

Have you tried it in heat pump mode yet? If so what is it like? What
outside temerature does it give up at?

No, I haven't - in fact when I ordered it I thought I was
getting a non-heat pump model.

TBH it's pretty irrelevant since the room has a great big
radiator in it!

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
John Rumm wrote:

Have you tried it in heat pump mode yet? If so what is it like? What
outside temerature does it give up at?

No, I haven't - in fact when I ordered it I thought I was
getting a non-heat pump model.

TBH it's pretty irrelevant since the room has a great big
radiator in it!

--
Grunff

Any chance we could persuade you to try it?
The application I have in mind would benifit as much from heat in winter as
cooling in
summer.
I've tried to find some additional technical info on the heat pump mode but
failed.
mikej

Grunff wrote:

After the many discussions we had over the summer about aircon, I
decided to go ahead and install one, in readiness for next summer.

The room is a very modest home office, 3.5x4.5m, with lots of PCs and
two people in it most of the time.

I went for a split unit for obvious reasons and I wanted about 2.5-3kW.
After talking to a supplier, they managed to convince me that I ought to
go for a cheaper generic Chinese unit rather than the Fujitsu which I
initially wanted.

Given that the Fujitsu was about £950, and the unit they recommended was
only £550 all in, and that it would only be used for say 2 months of the
year, I decided to go for the cheaper one. I may end up regretting that,
I may not - I don't know.

snip

How noisy is the unit? Would you be able to sleep with it on? I'm
looking at a similar project for a loft conversion, so the noise factor
is important, as the room will be a bedroom.

Also, what are the power requirements? Did you need a seperate feed
from your consumer unit, or is it a relatively low consumption?

Finally, the outside unit: I'd be looking to place this reasonably high
up on the wall, out of the way: how big and how heavy (ie: easy for one
man on a ladder, or bloomin' difficult will do!) is that part?

So many questions - sorry!

Regards
Paul

PS: Mind if I ask where you bought from?

Paul Boakes wrote:

How noisy is the unit? Would you be able to sleep with it on? I'm
looking at a similar project for a loft conversion, so the noise factor
is important, as the room will be a bedroom.

We sleep with a fan on in the summer anyway - so that may
prejudice my feelings.

The fan has different speed settings. On medium, it's about the
same noise level as our old 3 speed fan on full. So yes,
sleeping with it on would be fine.


Also, what are the power requirements? Did you need a seperate feed
from your consumer unit, or is it a relatively low consumption?

It's 3kW, so just plugs into the mains.


Finally, the outside unit: I'd be looking to place this reasonably high
up on the wall, out of the way: how big and how heavy (ie: easy for one
man on a ladder, or bloomin' difficult will do!) is that part?

It's large (~3'x2'x1'), and weighs about 30kg (~60lb). I
wouldn't want to carry it up a ladder on my own.

I mounted it at head height on the outside of the house. That
was easy.

So many questions - sorry!

No problem, that's why I posted.


PS: Mind if I ask where you bought from?

http://www.uk-airconditioning.co.uk/millennium.htm

--
Grunff

On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 13:07:40 +0000 (UTC), Paul Boakes wrote:

How noisy is the unit? Would you be able to sleep with it on? I'm
looking at a similar project for a loft conversion, so the noise
factor is important, as the room will be a bedroom.

Ceiling fans on slow speed are near enough totaly silent and make
rooms very comfortable it doesn't take much air movement for this.
Though I appreciate that getting a 4' dia ceiling fan into a loft
conversion might be a bit problematical...

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article ,
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:

Ceiling fans on slow speed are near enough totaly silent and make
rooms very comfortable

No they don't. They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer. Have you considered planting geraniums outside? These will produce
a 15 degree drop in inside temperature - or so it is claimed. Apparently
theu also drop humidity by 40 per cent.

Simon Gardner wrote:

No they don't. They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer. Have you considered planting geraniums outside? These will produce
a 15 degree drop in inside temperature - or so it is claimed. Apparently
theu also drop humidity by 40 per cent.

Really? 15 degrees? I wish someone had told me that before I
spent all that money on the aircon...

--
Grunff

In article ,
Grunff wrote:

Simon Gardner wrote:

No they don't. They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer. Have you considered planting geraniums outside? These will produce
a 15 degree drop in inside temperature - or so it is claimed. Apparently
theu also drop humidity by 40 per cent.

Really? 15 degrees? I wish someone had told me that before I
spent all that money on the aircon...

Yeah. You and me both. I've got 6KW of it cooling my ground floor for 4-6
months a year. The geranium trick is a real ****er, eh?

In message , Grunff
writes
Simon Gardner wrote:

No they don't. They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer. Have you considered planting geraniums outside? These will produce
a 15 degree drop in inside temperature - or so it is claimed. Apparently
theu also drop humidity by 40 per cent.

Really? 15 degrees? I wish someone had told me that before I spent all
that money on the aircon...

Yes, but the number of geraniums required would probably cost more than
the air conditioning
--
geoff

On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 22:46:25 +0000, Simon Gardner wrote:

Ceiling fans on slow speed are near enough totaly silent and make
rooms very comfortable

No they don't.

Well they do in Thailand and Malaysia, BTDTGTTS... Cheap accomodation
doesn't run to aircon, it was unbearable inside your without the
ceiling fan on.

They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer.

Whilst they don't cool the air they make it move, this movement keeps
you cool naturally. There is a big difference between a slow 4'
ceiling fan and an ordinary stand or table fan. The ceiling fan sets
up a gentle (or not so gentle on high...) whole room circulation, the
table fan just blows a little bit of air about.

Even this years summer was not as hot as the above places and the
humidity was nothing like it either.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
. 1...
On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 22:46:25 +0000, Simon Gardner wrote:

Ceiling fans on slow speed are near enough totaly silent and make
rooms very comfortable

No they don't.

Well they do in Thailand and Malaysia, BTDTGTTS... Cheap accomodation
doesn't run to aircon, it was unbearable inside your without the
ceiling fan on.

They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer.

Whilst they don't cool the air they make it move, this movement keeps
you cool naturally. There is a big difference between a slow 4'
ceiling fan and an ordinary stand or table fan. The ceiling fan sets
up a gentle (or not so gentle on high...) whole room circulation, the
table fan just blows a little bit of air about.

Even this years summer was not as hot as the above places and the
humidity was nothing like it either.

Some of them here haven't been around.


---
--

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In article ,
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:

On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 22:46:25 +0000, Simon Gardner wrote:

Ceiling fans on slow speed are near enough totaly silent and make
rooms very comfortable

No they don't.

Well they do in Thailand and Malaysia

I'm sure they don't there either.

, BTDTGTTS... Cheap accomodation
doesn't run to aircon, it was unbearable inside your without the
ceiling fan on.

It's unbearable inside without the aircon on.

They don't cool and are totally inadequate for most of the
summer.

Whilst they don't cool the air they make it move,

That's right. No bloody use at all.

this movement keeps
you cool naturally.

It keeps you very slightly less hot. It certainly deson't keep you cool.
For that you need aircon.

There is a big difference between a slow 4'
ceiling fan and an ordinary stand or table fan. The ceiling fan sets
up a gentle (or not so gentle on high...) whole room circulation, the
table fan just blows a little bit of air about.

Even this years summer was not as hot as the above places and the
humidity was nothing like it either.

And yet still far too unpleasant for a ceiling fan to be any use at all.

"Paul Boakes" wrote in message
...
Grunff wrote:

After the many discussions we had over the summer about aircon, I
decided to go ahead and install one, in readiness for next summer.

The room is a very modest home office, 3.5x4.5m, with lots of PCs and
two people in it most of the time.

I went for a split unit for obvious reasons and I wanted about 2.5-3kW.
After talking to a supplier, they managed to convince me that I ought to
go for a cheaper generic Chinese unit rather than the Fujitsu which I
initially wanted.

Given that the Fujitsu was about £950, and the unit they recommended was
only £550 all in, and that it would only be used for say 2 months of the
year, I decided to go for the cheaper one. I may end up regretting that,
I may not - I don't know.

snip

How noisy is the unit? Would you be able to sleep with it on? I'm
looking at a similar project for a loft conversion, so the noise factor
is important, as the room will be a bedroom.

Also, what are the power requirements? Did you need a seperate feed
from your consumer unit, or is it a relatively low consumption?

Finally, the outside unit: I'd be looking to place this reasonably high
up on the wall, out of the way: how big and how heavy (ie: easy for one
man on a ladder, or bloomin' difficult will do!) is that part?

So many questions - sorry!

Regards
Paul

PS: Mind if I ask where you bought from?

Simple, heavy insulation and a fan ventilating the place (over the computer
equipment is probably best) is what you need. While converting the loft
install the extra insulation and ventilation which will be probably a lot
less than £550.


---
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IMM wrote:

Simple, heavy insulation and a fan ventilating the place (over the computer
equipment is probably best) is what you need. While converting the loft
install the extra insulation and ventilation which will be probably a lot
less than £550.

You're missing the point - when it's hot, moving air is all well
and good, but high humidity means your sweat doesn't evaporate
very easily. Aircon will bring the humidity in the room down to
a nice low level, making it much more comfortable.

I've worked in both air conditioned and fan cooled environments,
and aircon wins hands down.

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
IMM wrote:

Simple, heavy insulation and a fan ventilating the place (over the
computer
equipment is probably best) is what you need. While converting the loft
install the extra insulation and ventilation which will be probably a
lot
less than £550.

You're missing the point - when it's hot, moving air is all well
and good, but high humidity means your sweat doesn't evaporate
very easily. Aircon will bring the humidity in the room down to
a nice low level, making it much more comfortable.

I've worked in both air conditioned and fan cooled environments,
and aircon wins hands down.

A properly design fan cooled office beats air con any day. It requires
heavy insulation and correct design of ducting and fans.


---
--

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In article , IMM
writes

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
IMM wrote:

Simple, heavy insulation and a fan ventilating the place (over the
computer
equipment is probably best) is what you need. While converting the loft
install the extra insulation and ventilation which will be probably a
lot
less than £550.

You're missing the point - when it's hot, moving air is all well
and good, but high humidity means your sweat doesn't evaporate
very easily. Aircon will bring the humidity in the room down to
a nice low level, making it much more comfortable.

I've worked in both air conditioned and fan cooled environments,
and aircon wins hands down.


In yer dreams M8!...

A properly design fan cooled office beats air con any day. It requires
heavy insulation and correct design of ducting and fans.


---
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--
Tony Sayer

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
After the many discussions we had over the summer about aircon,
I decided to go ahead and install one, in readiness for next summer.


Does it heat as well?
If so have you tried it?
mikej

mike.james wrote:

Does it heat as well?
If so have you tried it?

Good question. I specified a non-heat pump model when I ordered
it, but the remote control has several heat functions. But I
haven't tried it.

But given that we have CH, I don't think I'll be using it to heat.

--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:

But given that we have CH, I don't think I'll be using it to heat.

I wonder how the "recovered" heat works out cost wise compared to the CH
since the heat recovery is supposed to be more than 100% efficent... if
it is cheap enough (and you have a TRV on the radiator) it might be
worth using.

--
Cheers,

John.

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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:

I wonder how the "recovered" heat works out cost wise compared to the CH
since the heat recovery is supposed to be more than 100% efficent... if
it is cheap enough (and you have a TRV on the radiator) it might be
worth using.

I'm a little dubious...

First off, I'm happy to put up with fan noise in the summer for
the sake of cooling, but if I can have quiet heating then I'd
rather have that.

Second, the room is effectively already electrically heated by
the PCs - the CH is just backup :-)

Third, I'm on oil, which is really, really cheap.

But I'd be interested in any heat efficiency figures, just from
a curiosity point of view.

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
John Rumm wrote:

I wonder how the "recovered" heat works out cost wise compared to the CH
since the heat recovery is supposed to be more than 100% efficent... if
it is cheap enough (and you have a TRV on the radiator) it might be
worth using.

I'm a little dubious...

But I'd be interested in any heat efficiency figures, just from
a curiosity point of view.


The delongi unit from the same supplier quotes - 2.4Kw heat output for 760W
electricity used.
The millennium is less clear on its spec but seems to say 2.65KW output but
doesn't quote input.
mikej

John Rumm wrote:

Grunff wrote:

But given that we have CH, I don't think I'll be using it to heat.


I wonder how the "recovered" heat works out cost wise compared to the CH
since the heat recovery is supposed to be more than 100% efficent... if
it is cheap enough (and you have a TRV on the radiator) it might be
worth using.



Its very efficient. I can;t remember details, but heat pumps are - even
with teh cost of electricity to pump the heat - reckoned to be overall
better than burning the oil.

One can envisage a huge underground heat or cool bank, that heats the
ground in summer, and freezes it rock solid in winter, being used to
heat and cool a house.

I would love to give it a try one day.

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

Its very efficient. I can;t remember details, but heat pumps are - even
with teh cost of electricity to pump the heat - reckoned to be overall
better than burning the oil.

This depends on the efficiency of the heat pump. The are rated by their
COP.

One can envisage a huge underground heat or cool bank, that heats the
ground in summer, and freezes it rock solid in winter, being used to
heat and cool a house.

I would love to give it a try one day.

A US university did this. They heated a building during the winter by
extracting heat from the ground. This turned to near permafrost by the heat
pump(s). They then cooled the building during the summer by extracting the
coolth from the permafrost they created.

The a/c in question is an air-to-air heat exchanger, which generally is the
most inefficient. Ground or water sourced, tend to be the most efficient
setups. With an air to water heat pump, when the outside temps are around
freezing they usually only supply warmish water.

The cost of running them is slightly more than a good natural gas condensing
boiler, but the problem is the "very" high capital cost of installation, the
main reason they have not been taken up, except in special conditions.
Enthusiasts tend to install heat pumps. The government does not promote
them as they use electricity which is very efficient from burnt fuel in the
power station to point of use. If heat pumps were taken up en-mass the
greenhouse gasses would rocket. The government is attempting to get people
to use high efficiency, low emission, natural gas burning at point of use.
They also have faith in the new MicroGen Stirling boiler electricity/heat
boiler. Much more efficient all around burning gas at point of use. Unless
we adopt the Swedish method of local combined heat and power, power
stations. This is unlikely as the UK centralised power generation after
WW2, and is investing heavily in wind power.




---
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In article , The Natural Philosopher wrote:

One can envisage a huge underground heat or cool bank, that heats the
ground in summer, and freezes it rock solid in winter, being used to
heat and cool a house.

We are in the process of working with architects to design a new learning
resource centre (library ). One plan put forward is a huge amount of
concrete below ground to use as heat store. During the day hot air will
blow through it and during the night this heat will be removed.

Sound fun (might be perfectly standard these days I guess). Will be
interesting to see how well it copes with 1000 PCs...

Darren