Anyone Using The Mitsubishi Mini Split To Keep a Room Cool??

tophatjohnny

We have a cape cod style home where the top floor is the master bedroom and it's been a task to heat and even more so to cool, We decided to take the plunge and are having one installed today . Also replacing the 26 year old main floor AC unit. Looking forward to saving enough money by replacing the dinosaur we have to help fund the mini-split, and even if the savings don't justify that, the comfort in the master bedroom (where I do all my listening) will be a welcome change. Anyone else here own the Mitsubishi??


For the main floor we went with Trane. I do have friends that have had great luck with that brand.

motorhead43026

That Trane is an excellent choice. I have always been curious how these Mitsubishi zone units perform.

tophatjohnny

motorhead43026 wrote: »

That Trane is an excellent choice. I have always been curious how these Mitsubishi zone units perform.

Yes, the Trane has to be less expensive to run than our 24 year old Lennox ( another great brand) and we too were curious...as the bedroom has more than 740 sq.ft. to cool! I'll report after it's up and running. Hope to hear from someone that owns it already!!

miner

Can those be used as a back-up unit to keep a room cool via generator in case of power issues?

tophatjohnny

Just asked the installer and he said yes, as long as your generator is hooked up to your circuit breaker box.....another thing I will do here soon. We have a pretty hefty generator in case of such, Knock on wood, no use for it in 4 years. I start it every so often to assure it will start when I need it! Hope that helps. ???

mhardy6647

We had one cooling our family room and "extra room" downstairs in the house in Harvard; we were very pleased with it.

It was quiet and capable.

DSC_7640 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

The air-handler is visible, if not obvious, to the right in the photo above, taken just a few days before we closed on the sale of the ol' house. The compressor unit was just outside that wall.

nguyendot

Many of my clients use Mitsubishi split minis to cool their server rooms.
They're all very quiet, and quite reliable. The efficiency is quite good too. I hear they're the #1 goto for split mini. I kind of want one for my upstairs master bedroom so we don't have to run the central AC when it's being used.

mhardy6647

heh -- found an photo of the outside unit, too (well, it's visible, at any rate).

tophatjohnny

mhardy6647 wrote: »

heh -- found an photo of the outside unit, too (well, it's visible, at any rate).

Looks like the same outside unit that I have now. The rain didn't stop these guys, but they sure made a mud pit in my yard. The install was quite neat and yes the Mitsubishi is very quiet. Cooled the master bedroom down in less than 10 minutes and that's great for a almost 750 sq. ft. room. The Trane unit is huge compared to the old Lennox and is so much quieter. The install went so smooth and both Lisa and I are very happy. I'll take a few pics tomorrow and add them to the thread....

rpf65

Mitsubishi makes the best mini-splits in the business. I've worked on them, Fujitsu, Goodman, and Samsung (Quiet Side version). Providing they are installed and charged correctly, they have virtually no problems.

Other than a couple of customers placing a large shelf under an inside unit, every issue was a result of bad installation, lightening strikes, or somebody trying to work on them that had no idea of what he was doing.

Not a big fan of Trane. Really dislike their 824 controller.

mhardy6647

Ours was completely trouble-free for the whole time we had it (ca. 10 years, if memory serves). We had installed a normal central A/C unit to cool the upstairs, and that Mitsubishi to cool, in essence the whole downstairs -- the bulk of the work it had to boiled down to the two rooms in the first photo -- the FR was like 26 x 14 and the extra room on the back was like 22 x 25. The two units kept the whole house extremely comfortable in the summer (albeit in MA, where we only got a couple-three weeks of REAL SUMMER) and were also very cost-effective to run.

Mikey081057

Had one in the old house .... they work great and are very efficient. Quiet and can also be bought with a heat pump option...Always better to order the right size as opposed to oversized as units a right sized unit with long runtimes is more efficient than a loarger unit that stops and starts alot.

Polkie2009

Passed on the Trane, (yes,yes, I know, "it's hard to stop a Trane" geez..) went with another Ruud unit, last one lasted about 26 years here in Texas heat.

rpf65

Polkie2009 wrote: »

Passed on the Trane, (yes,yes, I know, "it's hard to stop a Trane" geez..) went with another Ruud unit, last one lasted about 26 years here in Texas heat.

Good call. Rheem/Ruud are built like tanks. Don't really see many issues with them. Maybe a defrost control board once every other year on their heat pumps, but that's about it.

tophatjohnny

The Trane pictured is a tank. Made a huge difference on the main floor and the Mitsubishi is unbelievable in the bedroom. Great move and can't believe it took this long to do it!

mrbiron

Current owner of the project I'm on bought 346 Haiers. Biggest POS on the market. Stick with the Mits.
I like the idea of the minisplit...cant get past the box on the wall.

mhardy6647

Ours was in a "bonus room" of sorts as opposed to "formal" living space; we didn't find it unobtrusive at all -- but it could've been a different matter in another room of the house.

jflail2

Trane was a great choice. I got the XR16 back in May when my 30 year old Trane unit crapped the bed, and am super pleased with its performance so far.

nguyendot

Mikey081057 wrote: »

Had one in the old house .... they work great and are very efficient. Quiet and can also be bought with a heat pump option...Always better to order the right size as opposed to oversized as units a right sized unit with long runtimes is more efficient than a loarger unit that stops and starts alot.

Not just that, but if it doesn't run long enough it will not dehumidify enough.

mhardy6647

Ours had a dehumidify (only) setting, actually (and FWIW).

tophatjohnny

Had the best night sleep in a long time with this baby running. I think the box on the wall is cool looking.......plus my wife loves it and that's a huge plus! Man it's whisper quite. 12 year warranty was a huge plus.! @jflail2 we have that same Trane now and what a difference it has made already. We are happy with the new units!

Polkie2009

jflail2 wrote: »

Trane was a great choice. I got the XR16 back in May when my 30 year old Trane unit crapped the bed, and am super pleased with its performance so far.

Hey J, 30 years on the unit is fantastic! what part of the country are you in?

mrbigbluelight

Rpf65, have you had experience with Daiken units ?
The concept is great. 5 years ago we had a new green building construct that used a large nunber of Daiken units. Large energy saving due to the use of Daikens that allowed that use of a much smaller central chillers.
The problem ? When they run, Daikens run great. But when they don't run, 99% of the time it's the controller board. Replacement boards take 3 to 5 weeks. From China.

Interesting to hear about the Mitsubishi quality. I assume they cost more, but going cheap almost never pays out long term. (Prime example: Taco Pumps).

rpf65

The company I work for will not install Daiken, or their sisters Goodman and Amana. Not reliable enough. I'm on central Texas, so the emphasis is on cooling. A few will get plus 10 years, but the vast majority will be the 10 to 12 year range.

For a residential air/heat pump system I would recommend the following; Carrier/Bryant, Rheem/Ruud, Lennox, or American Standard /Trane. I really dislike the last choice, because their a pain to work on, and are generally more expensive.

Carrier/Bryant have a condenser that uses inverter technology. This is what makes mini-splits so efficient. The compressor actually varies is speed. It isn't due to no ducting, as home improvement shows tell people. The Carrier/Bryant has 7 speeds in the compressor. They also have the best electronics packages out there. Want to go green, for 15k plus this is your system. Best buy for energy savings is single stage Carrier Infinity/Bryant Evolution systems. That will run 8500 or so.

The others are listed as cost/ longevity. If your looking for basic heating/cooling I would recommend the least expensive of the listed manufacturers. You want top of the line, with humidity control, go with Carrier/Bryant.

Incidentally, I listed the brand/brand like this because they are the exact same systems. May be a difference cosmetically, but internally they are the same.

Daiken /Goodman has recently become one company, a year or so, so my experience is more toward the Goodman/Amana side. Will say that about 10 years ago Goodman bought Amana, and Amana suddenly became less reliable. Maybe Daiken will reverse the trend.

Personally my next system will be either Carrier/Bryant or Rheem/Ruud. Which ever I can get a better buy on.

Last piece of advise, it's worth a few hundred extra dollars to get a system installed correctly. It will add years to its life. No joke here. A builders grade system, installed correctly, will probably last twice as long as top of the line, if the builders grade is installed correctly, and the other isn't.

P.S. Buy the extended warranty. Trust me, the labor and misc materials will cover the costs most of the time, if ever used. About 40% of people will have a major repair in the first 10 years.

tophatjohnny

We did look at Carrier and I liked the presentation. One of my neighbors has a Carrier a little smaller than my Trane and it is louder, plus 3 years into owning his Carrier he told me he had issues with the second stage and it was a repair that wasn't covered. The same neighbor that told me he wished he would have gone the Trane route, so that was part of the push that helped in our decision. Sure Carrier was a little less expensive, but I liked the look of the Trane better as well. The big names are all good, and yes..having then installed by a professional is key!

WLDock

Those Mitsu units are nice. The Fam took a vaca to San Pedro Belize this Spring and the resort, Ramone's Village had them in the cabanas. The quietness and cooling ability was amazing given the heat and humidity. I just LOVED the remote control and the air vane simulated breeze feature.....my oh my is it calming and relaxing. Would love one of these in the master.

tophatjohnny

WLDock wrote: »

Those Mitsu units are nice. The Fam took a vaca to San Pedro Belize this Spring and the resort, Ramone's Village had them in the cabanas. The quietness and cooling ability was amazing given the heat and humidity. I just LOVED the remote control and the air vane simulated breeze feature.....my oh my is it calming and relaxing. Would love one of these in the master.

Yes, and you will love it once it is installed up and running. Catch to the 12 year warranty is having a certified Diamond Dealer do the install...so I was told.? Night number 2 was another amazing sleep night. Just love this thing!!

jflail2

Polkie2009 wrote: »

jflail2 wrote: »

Trane was a great choice. I got the XR16 back in May when my 30 year old Trane unit crapped the bed, and am super pleased with its performance so far.

Hey J, 30 years on the unit is fantastic! what part of the country are you in?

I'm in central VA, so I guess the unit got all 4 seasons, but none of them toooo harsh. The summers here are what kill units, but this one hasn't been terrible. I think we've had maybe 3 weeks total where it was brutally hot.

For perspective, the unit was from when the house was constructed back in 85. I purchased the home warranty when I bought the house, but didn't renew it after the first year, and ended up paying the piper. Either way, I'm super happy with the new unit!

jflail2

tophatjohnny wrote: »

Had the best night sleep in a long time with this baby running. I think the box on the wall is cool looking.......plus my wife loves it and that's a huge plus! Man it's whisper quite. 12 year warranty was a huge plus.! @jflail2 we have that same Trane now and what a difference it has made already. We are happy with the new units!

Nice man! Which thermostat did you guys go with? I did the XL624. Was gonna go with the 824 for the weather report and remote access and all that, but it just didn't seem worth the extra $$ to me. But then again, I was still reeling from sticker shock between the unit and the air handler........

SCompRacer

Earlier this year we upgraded our furnace to a Trane variable speed with Reme Halo air cleaner. Also added an in duct humidistat control. Nice upgrade.

rpf65

tophatjohnny wrote: »

We did look at Carrier and I liked the presentation. One of my neighbors has a Carrier a little smaller than my Trane and it is louder, plus 3 years into owning his Carrier he told me he had issues with the second stage and it was a repair that wasn't covered. The same neighbor that told me he wished he would have gone the Trane route, so that was part of the push that helped in our decision. Sure Carrier was a little less expensive, but I liked the look of the Trane better as well. The big names are all good, and yes..having then installed by a professional is key!

Three year old Carrier had a manufacturers part warranty, blanket coverage. Everything in the cabinets is covered. Second stage cooling, probably a capacitor. Long drive to the parts house, could have been cheaper to buy a new part.