Thinking about a mini split, looking for help$$

[Bifmalibu]

I'm considering a mini split to help with the coming heat. We are planning to sell this house eventually, but it will help keep us cool until then and should be a selling feature, especially if trying to sell during the heat this summer.

I'm looking at the Senville units and it seems they come pre-charged ready to rock. I know an electrician is needed to hook up the power, but what role does an HVAC guy play in this? From what I can tell it's just turning wrenches, but it says professional installation required. I'm a trade guy and very capable.

Anybody looking for a bit of cash work in Nanaimo?

 

[Foxsea]

I'm considering a mini split to help with the coming heat. We are planning to sell this house eventually, but it will help keep us cool until then and should be a selling feature, especially if trying to sell during the heat this summer.

I'm looking at the Senville units and it seems they come pre-charged ready to rock. I know an electrician is needed to hook up the power, but what role does an HVAC guy play in this? From what I can tell it's just turning wrenches, but it says professional installation required. I'm a trade guy and very capable.

Anybody looking for a bit of cash work in Nanaimo?

How timely!
I just installed a Senville mini in our cottage. I bought a vacuum pump and the guages - both necessary. The entire installation took about 6 hours and I'm old and slow. Flipped the power on and it runs! About 3 months later and it's been flawless. Very quiet, too.

If your a tradesman, it's a no- brainer!
I can provide the vac pump, etc. at a good discount. I can't do much (health issue) but I'd be delighted to come down from Courtenay to provide some guidance.

Tip on sizing: do not go too small. If it's a house, get the additional heads you need and ensure the line sets don't run more than about 16 feet. (Check the manual) Otherwise it may need more Freon or whatever. Electrical is a 220 v. circuit to an exterior disconnect.

 

[bryce]

You can buy mini splits and pre charged line sets that don’t really require anything besides an electrician to install quite simple a to b hook up for line sets

 

[Claymaker]

pre charged systems are junk long term but if you are going to sell and dont care , otherwise long term get hvac tech come pump down and pressure test properly , depending how long the run you might have to add Freon to the unit. it will still run with less Freon but not as efficient and wont last long term.
Senville is junk and not selling feature as there tough to get parts for and just cheap crap. Samsung, Daikin,Fujitsu would be top 3 id go with

 

[doug78]

I have a pricey daikin unit and love it. Had it installed by a pro and was able to collect grant funding through hydro.

I've considered add one to our basement myself but wouldn't do so unless I can find a vacuum pump pull a vacuum before charging. Important to get all.the moisture out of the system with the vacuum pump.

I believe even some of the daikins are pre-charged as long use the line set doesn't exceed the refrigerant capacity they should be all good.

 

[fish brain]

I am also looking to put mini split in my cabin. I have been warned away from the Senville ones.
I am considering a Mitsubishi or a Forestair. Any thoughts on these models?

 

[Foxsea]

GD Midea is the leading manufacturing partner for many major brands labeled as Toshiba, Samsung, LG and others. They also manufacture the Senville line.

Daiken also manufactures units under labels such as Goodman and Amana.

Mitsubishi and Trane are amalgamated companies.

 

[SpringVelocity]

I have a Fujitsu. Been good so far. My only thing on these is don't go too small.

Primarily use it for cooling in summer in top floor of house.

We had a local outfit do it and electrician. Totally worth it.

 

[Sea Chaser]

Pre charged unit are not a new thing . Never heard of senville brand mind you I don’t do a lot of residential hvac. If the line sets aren’t pre charged you will need to pull a vacuum on them with a vacuum pump that was mentioned earlier . And the flares can be a pain sometimes so could be a good leak potential. It’s definitely not rocket science but would recommend an hvac guy to come and help out . You can place the units and hang the heads but leave the piping and electrical hook ups to the hvac tech . Just my 2 cents . Future service calls of equipment that potentially not installed correctly will add up in a hurry $$$

 

[wolf]

I have the seville works fine for us I installed it but had to get someone in to take out the fuel tank in the crawl space gross job and the hvac guy to come do the vac thing etc and then charge it up and check for leaks like he said most of them are all built in china so who cares!! we needed those 2 guys casue we applied for the grant, as you have to submit the sign off papers.It almost covered 90% of the cost so well worth it oh and best part when heat dome hit house was at 17 c happy wife happy life!!!!!!!!!!.You might want to check in on BC hydro site what grants yo can get.

 

[Rain City]

Pre charged unit are not a new thing . Never heard of senville brand mind you I don’t do a lot of residential hvac. If the line sets aren’t pre charged you will need to pull a vacuum on them with a vacuum pump that was mentioned earlier . And the flares can be a pain sometimes so could be a good leak potential. It’s definitely not rocket science but would recommend an hvac guy to come and help out . You can place the units and hang the heads but leave the piping and electrical hook ups to the hvac tech . Just my 2 cents . Future service calls of equipment that potentially not installed correctly will add up in a hurry $$$

That's how I did mine. Bought it, mounted it on the roof, ran the line sets and electrical. Had certified guys come and hook it up. And then I did the patching and paint.

 

[Salmon Seeker]

Home - DIY HEAT PUMPS

Ductless mini split and central heat pumps that you can install yourself without specialist tools or training. Watch our install videos and order online.

diyheatpumps.ca

I bought my system from these guys. they are on the island. its a DIY setup so i got an electrician to run a wire from the breaker to a shutoff near the unit but I did the rest of the install myself. Its not rocket science. For My house I got a 36k condenser and 4 head units inside. It was fantastic providing cooling last summer, but i didnt find its heating function to be sufficient over the winter.

edit: this was $7000

 

[Bill 310]

We just had two Samsung mini Splits installed. Our house had the infloor heat in the basement, hot water rads main floor, electric baseboard top floor. We have a gas boiler

One Mini Split was installed on main floor second floor had a smaller unit in our bedroom.

The system is exceeding expectations .

My wife was in charge of the whole process. She got three referrals from women in her book club who had had mini splits installed in the last year and got quotes from all three contracters on the same setup incuding the same sized heat pump.

The quotes were $14,000, $21,000, and $25,000 for the same project. My wife is very precise in her comparisons.

The low bidder did an excellent job.

Drywall repair and painting was extra in each case and we have a painter drywaller we use.

 

[Rain City]

I got a smaller unit for my laneway house, only two heads. The whole thing cost me 3k

 

[seahorse]

Cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap really rings a bell. We have a Mitsubishi Pumy for our 2500ft house that we upgraded from a York system, night and day, quiet and multi speed. We also installed a 2 head Mitsubishi mini split in my daughters house as a grad gift from vet school and she loves it. My 2 cents.

 

[Foxsea]

Cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap really rings a bell. We have a Mitsubishi Pumy for our 2500ft house that we upgraded from a York system, night and day, quiet and multi speed. We also installed a 2 head Mitsubishi mini split in my daughters house as a grad gift from vet school and she loves it. My 2 cents.

No doubt, Mitsubishi makes a good heat pump and a vast multitude of other products. The conversation around the good/cheap dichotomy is generally pointless, these days. It's like T.V.'s: go with your Sony but I bought a similar HiSense from Costco for about 1/3 the price. It's been great! I refuse to pay for branding and marketing. As for components, as is the case with flat screens, only 2 or 3 factories make them all. Do you notice some products now say, not made but "Assembled in the U.S.A." or Germany or Japan? We are trained to accept that as a proxy for quality.

If you check all the verified reviews, it provides some reassurance for the nervous types.

 

[Unreel]

pre charged systems are junk long term but if you are going to sell and dont care , otherwise long term get hvac tech come pump down and pressure test properly , depending how long the run you might have to add Freon to the unit. it will still run with less Freon but not as efficient and wont last long term.
Senville is junk and not selling feature as there tough to get parts for and just cheap crap. Samsung, Daikin,Fujitsu would be top 3 id go with

Sounds like a massive generalization that "all pre charged units are junk". You think the "name brand" units aren't either built in china or have all their parts from china? About 7-8 years ago when the senville units were still not well know, I bought a couple 2 ton units because the price couldn't be beat. I had my hvac guy come and pressure test and finish up the install. He had never heard of the senville brand at the time and remarked I doubt this will last. I also installed a Pre charged Danby unit at the same time. Not one single issue with the senville units or the Danby unit to this day. I recently had my hvac guy over to uninstall one of the senville units since i no longer needed it. He said its crazy how many of those units he's helped install the last 4-5 years and remarked he couldn't believe how few problems hes seen with them. Said he sees way more issues with some "name brand" units and that all the units are manufactured in china anyway. I also know guys in the cannabis industry that buy those senville units by the dozens, run them full blast for 12 hours a day, 365 and have had next to zero issues in the 4-5 years of running them.
Also the precharged ones have enough freon for a 25' lineset, so unless you have a longer run your don't need to add any extra.

 

[wolf]

Sounds like a massive generalization that "all pre charged units are junk". You think the "name brand" units aren't either built in china or have all their parts from china? About 7-8 years ago when the senville units were still not well know, I bought a couple 2 ton units because the price couldn't be beat. I had my hvac guy come and pressure test and finish up the install. He had never heard of the senville brand at the time and remarked I doubt this will last. I also installed a Pre charged Danby unit at the same time. Not one single issue with the senville units or the Danby unit to this day. I recently had my hvac guy over to uninstall one of the senville units since i no longer needed it. He said its crazy how many of those units he's helped install the last 4-5 years and remarked he couldn't believe how few problems hes seen with them. Said he sees way more issues with some "name brand" units and that all the units are manufactured in china anyway. I also know guys in the cannabis industry that buy those senville units by the dozens, run them full blast for 12 hours a day, 365 and have had next to zero issues in the 4-5 years of running them.
Also the precharged ones have enough freon for a 25' lineset, so unless you have a longer run your don't need to add any extra.

well that sums it up perfectly ive had mine for 5 years now and works great gets used alot especilly in summer trust me happy wife happy life!!!!

 

[Foxsea]

Cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap really rings a bell. We have a Mitsubishi Pumy for our 2500ft house that we upgraded from a York system, night and day, quiet and multi speed. We also installed a 2 head Mitsubishi mini split in my daughters house as a grad gift from vet school and she loves it. My 2 cents.

I think it's naieve to imagine there is much left in the market (junk?) that China doesn't have a hand in:

"In reality, Apple is now as much a Chinese company as it is American. Manufacturing is based in China. One fifth of its revenue comes from sales in China, and operating profits in greater China — Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the mainland — topped $31.2bn in 2022. That’s a hefty chunk of Apple’s earnings (though given the near impossibility of getting large sums out of China, those profits may not even be useful to Apple)."
- Financial Times, May 1, 2023

We started down this path over 30 years ago, when every politician told us how great globalization would be. That strategy just made the rich much richer and China became an oppressive, global super-power. Now we seemingly cannot go back.

 

[sly_karma]

I'm waiting for 1986 vintage AC unit to pack it in, then I'll replace with heat pump into the original duct work. Gas furnace will become a backup. Air source heat pump technology has come a long way, the cold climate units are something to behold. I have a couple of builds at Apex that used them, owners are very happy.