Thanks Mark! Great question, and please give this response a thumbs up so others who are wondering the same thing will see the answer. I can give you a pretty good approximation. First, this is about a 1,200 sq. ft. apartment with 1 wall that is shared with another townhouse. We have 7 windows that leak air, and our structure is masonry, so it is poorly insulated to begin with. Winter gets down to single digits but rarely below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, hottest summer days are rarely over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We tend to shoot for keeping our place around 68 or 70 degrees inside. We also set the units to a lower setting while sleeping and while away from the house during work days. Based on that environment, here are the approximate costs: - Heating during the coldest winter month was about $80 - Cooling during the hottest summer month was about $40 - Spring and Fall cost next to nothing for AC, maybe $10-20/mo
EDIT: I should also add that I locked in my electricity rate at around 7¢ per kWh. Costs will fluctuate as rates change, but I try to be proactive in locking rates at a good time of year for the electric rates.
I have 3 mini splits in my house. 2 - 18K and one 9k. My largest electric bill in the last year and a half has been $138. This is a 4000 sq ft house. I have no other gas or oil usage. Everything is electric.
I dont have one, but predict for my personal case, maybe about $15-20 in the winter and maybe $10 in the summer. My garage is very comfortable in March - June, and also October/November and I never use a fan or heater during those months. The kitchen door stays open and I'm good. My normal bill runs about $100-110. I see myself only turning the unit on for a few minutes like I did in Thailand. Garage is insulated, but the ceiling may have an issue as it gets chilly in the winter. I used to have a honeywell heater fan that worked perfectly. Winter bill was about $125. This year was a disaster. Honeywell 360 heater upped the bill to $200 (possibly also raised rates this year). My original heater fan only stayed on about 20 mins, 3 times a day. The 360 heater fan is on for most of the day. The split will only need to be on 5-10 mins maybe twice a day because of how much air it treats in comparison to these tiny fans. I primarily need it for heat, but can definitely see it helping during summer as originally intended.
@@TheDukeOfZill the mini splits really thrive when you set them and leave them on they usually run at their lowest capable mode to maintain room temperature. If you are manually turning them on or off they will ramp up more and use more electric. If the room temperature is further away from set point the unit it will go to full speed to try and catch up to where it’s set at
Purchased: August 2023 - still works GREAT!I th-cam.com/users/postUgkxxsUnXhGsSJLim_XnMHyQK0u3XVaW-CGn live in a studio and during the summer it gets scorching hot - really old building with no ac units. I can’t express how EASY it was to install. This unit has been a life savior during the summer and some days during other seasons where it can still be a bit warm at night. In this small place is my friend, a husky, poodle mix and myself. We need AC - lolI don’t use the dehumidifier option - I’m not sure if it will leak in my house, since I did not install the small draining hose that came with it. May look into it late but I don’t worry about much humidity in the apartment. I don’t understand why the negative reviews since all things mentioned, I personally did not find issues with. Definitely worth it!
I've had mine for about two and half years. Over the Winter it stopped working very effectively, and started throwing a PO error code. I messed around with it for a while and couldn't get it to work, even after several various attempts at resetting things. It didn't really matter too much at the time as it was getting to be spring. In any case, June comes around and it's getting warmer so I start to think about calling someone to come look at it. Then I saw something online that said they came with a five year warranty or something. So I emailed them and told them the issue. They had me check a few things with my multimeter, and within two days they warrenteed it. Five days later, I have a completely new entire set (head unit and condenser) sitting in my driveway. They don't warranty labor, so I have to put it in myself. But all of the holes and whatnot are already there, so it's just a matter of hooking everything up. I'm very happy with how well they took care of me when it really counted
@@spark86 the Mr. Cool mini splits come with the lines pre charged with refrigerant. So there's no need for an installer. There's some electrical wiring that some people might need an electrician for, but otherwise, it's very simple to do yourself. Even the electrical stuff isn't complicated if you have a basic knowledge of wiring.
Los Angeles, California. 3 Story Condo. A/C on roof died worked great for 20 years. Normally my monthly bill is approx $600 a MONTH during the heatwave summer. I bought a 24K Mr Cool 3rd Gen DIY model from CostCo $1,800 for only my 2nd floor. I paid someone to install it. It is 110 outside and the entire 2nd floor is cold on low or medium setting. It has low, medium, high, TURBO. My monthly bill is now $200 per MONTH with the unit on almost all the time. I bought another unit for my bedroom which faces the SUN. I have both units on 24/7 $250 per month eletricity, includes 2 fridges, 4 computers always on, 3 tvs always on, 1 dedicated rack mount server 24/7, and lights. LADWP which they are expensive. $250 per month damn cheap compared to before.
I purchased a 36,000 btu five years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did! I live in a four season climate, very hot/humid summers and cold/snowy winters.... This gem has performed without fail! Nice and toasty in the winter and perfectly cool and dry in the humid summers. A great advantage is when power goes out in a 'blip' when power returns the system restarts and continues at the setting you had it without you having to restart/reset it. Cleaning the filters is very easy and I blow out the aluminum fins to get dust off about once a year. I only paid $1,200 for this five years ago and they have gone up a bit but I would buy another in a second if needed! Very cost effective!
Your unit isn't miscalibrated. The temperature it is sensing is what goes inside the unit. It's going to be hotter since it is taking in air that is higher in the room. A better alternative is to use the follow me function of the remote. Then it will use its thermometer instead of the one inside the unit. In any case what shows on the unit itself should be the set point, not the room temp. Also, your app might be able to turn off the beeping since the remote doesn't. If not, open the indoor unit and look at the circuit board for the buzzer. Cover it up with electrical tape to quiet it down.
Totally agree! Technically, Mini splits do have an internal thermostat that reads room temperature. But, they do not have a wall thermostat like other heating systems. Instead, mini splits are usually controlled using an LCD remote. Some models offer optional wall thermostat's kits.
@@alberto-somossen6626 It's weird that you'd just copy-paste that from a website. The remote can operate as the thermostat. Mount it on the wall, enable the follow me function, and it's your thermostat.
I concur with JST. I am quite happy overall with the MrCool package except two things: 1) The inside unit's temperature sensing is woeful - it shows a temperature way over what it is in the room; sometimes a 2nd head's temperature is shown to be 78 when the room is at 60 because presumably the sensor is close to the lineset and another head is heating? Really poor temperature sensing design. 2) The inside units are louder than I'd hoped and have some vibration. The outdoor unit is incredibly quiet compared to an old outdoor heatpump condenser.
Initially I noticed a difference between the set temperature and actual temperature the room. the temperature sensor is on the unit, 7 ft or so off the ground. of course the air is warmer up there. Using follow me helps maintain better temperature where you want it
I purchased mine through air purifier depot and have had Mr Cool send me a 50 ft communication wire since I originally had 2 25ft connected together and had an issue and now they are sending me a new motor since one of my units has started making a hissing noise. They have been great to work with so far.
I don't about you, but I love mine. It only takes 475 watts to start and 1/3 of that to run. It's a heat pump and a dehumidifier, and you can run it mostly on solar.
Well, if you're mini split runs on approx 150 Watts, then you are a very lucky person, and should keep it a secret. As it must be one of those special research models, that they keep for themselves! :)
ok ... no mention of cleaning the unit screen filters ? Your wall mount , the removes the battery cover every time you remove it , simply Dremel or file off the plastic lip at the 12 o'clock of the mounting face plate.Or grind off the battery cover lip ? You are the owner , you can adapt the battery equipment you own likes and needs? 15 min. or less fix ?
Maintenance Indoor: you should vacuum clean the dust filter once a month to keep up the efficiency. Outdoor: You should visually inspect regularly and vacuum for spiders web when needed. Free airflow is VERY important.
I installed a 24K unit 3 years ago with no issues. For the cost, at this rate even if I had to replace it I would still be on top relative to a professionally installed brand such as Mitsubishi etc. it was super easy to instal and works flawlessly. As well as being extremely affordable as a DYI proposition. I hear comments occasionally about the struggle to find a technician to perform service to a Mr. Cool unit but I have not been confronted with that…yet. We’ll see. Even so, I have to imagine that if you were to have to replace certain components to resolve service issues, you would still be ahead of the game relative to a more costly household name brand. Mr. Cool is a good value and you really don’t give up any real features and functions that other manufacturers offer.
Good review. Never bothered to calibrate my temperature settings or the other features on the app (so lazy - I just "Alexa" voice control the minisplit these days). Learned something new. Thanks! I installed 8 units (3 zone multi-split, 5 singles) between 2018-2021. I noticed you left your control wires exposed outside. Since these should last you a number of years, I would recommend you cover up the control wires outside from being exposed to the elements by installing flexible Liquidtight conduit and fittings (like what your electrician did on the power cables). You might also want to look at raising the outside units on blocks so the leaves won't collect and rot behind them. An unfortunate thing about Mr.Cool DIY units is you need to figure out how to neatly coil/store the excess lineset length since you can't cut it without losing the pre-charged advantage. I went with the traditional lines so I could neatly run the lines to exact length (saved a bunch on the purchase price too). I also wall mounted all of my outside units (on heat pumps, you really can't call them condensers since they become evaporators on heat cycle). One thing you forgot to mention is cost. Compared to electric (resistive) baseboard heating, heat pumps will heat at approximately half the cost because they're not generating the heat, but simply moving it. In fact, it's currently only slightly more expensive than natural gas furnace heat. But you offset that by only heating/cooling the rooms you need, saving on unnecessary heating/cooling in rooms you're not using. Not sure about the noise level you were talking about though. Compared to traditional ducted AC and all other kinds of AC (including window AC), they are super quiet. Thanks again for the review!
"An unfortunate thing about Mr.Cool DIY units is you need to figure out how to neatly coil/store the excess line set length since you can't cut it without losing the pre-charged advantage" Curious, what happens when you take the caps off to attach them? I bought a Senville. I have to open a valve after the line set is in place after a pressure test and vacuum to release the refrigerant into the line set.
Getting a Mitsubishi unit installed next Tuesday for the new sunroom. Single duct in there can't keep up year round. This will help keep the room comfortable and the whole house furnace can catch a break. Super excited and salesman said it will use much less electricity than the electric radiator in there now. Have read about the super efficiency elsewhere.
TH-cam suggested this video because I'm investigating installing one of these in my garage in the Midwest for when I retire and make space for a woodworking shop. I had a Mitsubishi unit installed 10 years ago for a room addition when code required a professional installation. I went 10 years without having any maintenance work done--I was told they were reliable (just vacuum the filters regularly). When they came to give it its first checkup, they said it was all good. The inside unit is amazing quiet as is the outside unit. Often the only way to know the outside unit is on is to feel the air from fan. This unit doesn't have a wifi app which sounds like a great thing to have. I agree with you on how wonderful they are. I've recently heard of Mr Cool and the DIY install. That sounds appealing. I'll revisit these YT videos when the time comes for installing one in the garage. I hope you continue to enjoy your mini splits.
The mrcool is a cheap unit probably made in Korea or China they charge double the price just to get a pre vacuumed refrigerant line it's not worth it that Mitsubishi you have is top-notch you can pay an AC guy a hundred bucks to vacuum the line or just buy vacuum pump for less than that
I'm sure it's a good fit for most people. Study your seasons and attics. Your attic is a 'lung' of warmer air to moderate in warm weather, a barrier to be a layer of controlled air in winter. You won't know how little energy you can use to stay comfortable until your attic spaces are being properly regulated to accommodate the change of seasons.
Nice video you covered just about everything. The one thing on the pros that you forgot to mention was the fact that they are incredibly quiet units and you hardly even know that they’re running to me that would be very important to know.
That’s a good word. Thanks! I agree, since I switched from window AC to these, the noise level is drastically lower for the inside units. Higher fan speeds are pretty audible, but you don’t have to listen to the condenser humming quite like you do for a window AC unit. In one of my cons I do mention the volume of the exterior condenser unit. Occasionally I’ll hear that all the way on the 3rd floor, which isn’t my preference, but perhaps it is just due to the construction of the home. Thanks again for the comment!
That’s a mixed blessing, imo. They’re so quiet that when you sleep, you hear too many noises from the house, and sometimes from outside if anything loud happens there. Thankfully, mine has a noise reduction button. With that turned on, it’s very very quiet, which is great for most purposes, but at night I prefer a little of that white noise to help me sleep and so I switch the quiet mode off.
Of course you can't use heat and cool at the same time with only one condenser. Therefore, it's not really an issue! Change all your thermostats at the same time, what you have is zoning capability, great feature. You can add comfortably and depending on how you like temperatures, money saving too. My battery cover falls off, scotch tape. Maintenance for this unit, you shouldn't forget to clean filters inside, dirty filter = inefficiency. Mechanical mechanisms are not broken, etc. The electronics should be fine. Perhaps after a few years see if gas is ok. I would say 8 to 10 years of motor and compressor life. If not junk it! Clean the outside units too! If you get 10 years out of it then it's a great unit. Of course the biggest plus, to me, are no ducts and zoning. If you go for a higher SEER rating then you'll have to make your house more efficient. The way you analyze these things, I hope you had the dealer get all pertinent information for sizing your system, usually that's where the big issues come in. I'm electrical engineer but a mechanical should be able to check your home for sizing. I don't mean to be harsh to the dealers of these systems but it's more complex then asking square footage number of doors, window, etc.
That is a great question actually. I don’t have the ability to at this moment, but I CAN tell you that we mounted them on top of cinder blocks (check out the installation video we did) and we had to angle the tapcons to hit the block because it was slightly too big for the blocks due to the positioning of the feet and the holes in the feet.
I hope to be getting a MrCool within the next month or two. All the cons you mentioned are no big deal for me. I see no real problems. Thank you for posting.
I have a DIY Mr Cool system (two zone) which worked fine for about 9 months and then began freezing the coil. I tried for months to talk to customer service without success. No one answers the phone so the only thing you can do is leave a message. I never got a return call from anyone. Don't waste your money.
@@tonylee7105 I appreciate your reply. I finally went with a Daikin system. I have had it for about 8 or 9 months with no problems what so ever. It is a 2 zone and works perfect....so far.
on the mitsubishi mini splits they go through a power on self test and do a full sweep of the louvers to know the exact position. even if you bump the louvers slightly you can throw off its positional awareness.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing! We had a cleaning done after 2 years and there was a buildup on 2 out of the 7 heads. The rest were free of any buildup of bacteria or mold
Thanks for the tip about multi zone with one compressor only being able to cool or heat at one time, I didnt think of that while researching these mini splits. I'll just by 3 separate units with their own condenser for my home. Thanks again.
All of them can cool or heat, it's just that you can't have one room cool while the others heat. You can have all of them cool at the same time though.
@@borutkrivec2325 yes it can. The compressor is always heating and cooling at the same time. It's always heating one coil system and cooling the other. When you air condition your house you heat the outside and cool the inside, when you heat the house you cool the outside and heat the inside. But some of the systems let you switch the valves to not even use the outside coils and just cool remember one while heating room number two. That's actually a thing.
I believe the controls have a thermostat build in, and at 11:49 you have 2 controllers from 2 units next to each other. They are suppose to be in the room with their wall unit.
Thanks for the comment! I’ve had limited success with the built in thermostat, although it does function better than the temp sensor in the air handler itself. The reason for the two remotes side by side is due to both wall units being in fairly close proximity in the same room. The location of these remotes actually works brilliantly 👍
Thank you so much for doing this! Ive converted a detached 150 sqr ft shed into a fully insulated office (as I work from home now). We are on southern Ontario, Canada. The summer can have some very hot days, and winter can have some very cold ones. This looks like it will be an excellent option.
One this to note for northern areas is you'll want to mount the outdoor you on a raised platform for snow so it can still work in the winter with out damaging the condenser. Also you may want to install the added low ambient kit for colder weather.
When would you ever want to a/c cool a room but Heat others? One would assume its hot outside if you're cooling or cold outside when your heating? And yeah the outdoor unit compressor has to be moving in the direction needed for heating or cooling. So naturally its all cooling or all heating, also keep in mind I would assume if all 4 units are running, the outdoor unit capacity is split between them.
Thanks for the comment! Sorry for the miscommunication! I intended to communicate that sometimes because the modes don’t match it causes a couple of the units to cease working. You could have one set to auto and one set to cool, and one will stop working until they both match modes. Even if the one on auto is set to a lower temperature than the room is (so it would be essentially cooling), it will prevent one of the two units from functioning until they are both set to the same thing. There should be a way to have one remote control the whole house so you don’t have to go from room to room trying to find out which unit is set to a different mode.
Bought the Mr Cool 3rd gen 22 SEER 12,000 BTU mini-split .. handyman says he can install July 11th.. it’s mid June in concord ,Ca so I know we will likely have to put up with at least 4-6 days of 100 degrees by then but it will be worth it .. so excited .. I even bought the pad and the cover guards 🙏
Hi there, we installed 4 Mini Splits in our house... We are having problems with the remote... For instance, one unit has the Blue tooth showing and the others do not.. Why and how do you get it off bluetooth... the book is not really helpful... Also, do you have a video of how to operate the system efficiently.. Like going through the steps to do each function... Would love to see it..
About the mold, it actually is common to have mold grow on the blower wheel and around the blower wheel in minisplit head units. I’m a hvac tech and have witnessed this personally and done maintence jobs to clean the mold out. They sell little uv lights for mini split head units.
Love the added perspective! Thanks for commenting. So far we still haven’t come across any mold in the units after coming up on 18 months now. Will keep an eye out
I’m also a HVAC tech. Honestly, if the unit was sized right for the space then it wouldn’t have mold growing on the blower wheel. The reason it has mold growing on the blower wheel is because it’s not dehumidifying properly, so it’s likely oversized for the space
We’ve had some mold as well in our rental single head, but it sounds like it’s more to do with user issues (turning unit off & on, instead of setting temp and leaving at that temp)
@@jaynook4980 yes inverter mini splits are made to run constantly. They are actually more efficient when ran that way and also dehumidify. Also, at least in Mitsubishi manuals, it says when you plan to turn off for extended periods you are supposed to run fan only for an extended duration (a hour or so) to completely dry everything out so as to prevent growth.
1. Is your room too cold in winter or too warm in summer? The room with the brick wall I mean. If you ever decide to upgrade your home some, a 1-inch insulation+vapor barrier on that brick wall would help keep temperatures more stable in that room. 2. You may want to call an AC technician to trim down the excess pipes to the condensers, this is just a minor thing and will look much nicer, plus shorter lines improve gas flow. 3. Isn't the beeping turned off when you turn the display/light off also? 4. The vent should open like a slit when the heater is on as it warms the gas in the condenser, as soon as the fan starts the vent should open like normal. You didn't mention if that happened during winter or summer. 5. There's one piece of maintenance you do need to do once a month / two months, open the head unit and clean the screens. Keep up the good videos, very nice review overall. 😺 👍
Thanks Steve for the helpful comment and encouragement! 1. Mr Cool, and this seems to be true of most minisplits, work very well at cooling in the summer, but the heat pumps tend to be not as strong as the AC. We sometimes have really cold winter days that the heat pump struggles to keep up with. Thanks for the tip. 2. I’ll definitely be doing that! 3. The beeping stops if we turn the display off, but then if you change the temperature of the room it turns back on. 4. It seems to open the same amount regardless of whether the fan is on. 5. We do try to keep them clean, I’ll make sure to check on that regularly.
@@TheRenoBros about your first point: This is common situation but is location dependent and has nothing to do with MrCool or minisplits, and has to do with how much heating vs cooling you need. The temperature delta in winter (~60-68F inside vs. ~0-30F outside => 30-68 degree delta) is much higher than what it is in summer (~68-75F inside vs ~80-100F outside despite the higher humidity => ~5-32 degree delta)
@@TheRenoBros use the follow me function then it will read the temp of the room in the remote controller... Then you can check calibration. Warm air rises. See my comment I wrote.
@@arvindgopu186I agree it’s the temperature difference. I was just at an open house another day and the big living room has both a mini split and a pellet stove for heating and I asked why the pellet stove is still needed and was told that the mini split doesn’t work very well in very cold days.
Does water condense inside the air handler on the coils? Does it then drip into a pan that has a drain? I'm asking because pooled water can be a mold breeding ground and, like you, my wife is mold sensitive So I though perhaps you thought about this.
Indeed it does! The condensation gets drained out through a separate drain line that runs out along with the coolant tubes. You always have to keep a slight downward slope when running the line set for this reason. Great question! 👍
Unit has a setting (besides the drained pan) that when enabled runs the fan for a few minutes after cooling shuts down to dry fan & pan out. Users say it does the trick. I always turn off my car AC when I am about 3-4minutes out and turn it to lowest temp fan on high, compressor off. Keeps the aromas down when you turn it on next time.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, I’ve noticed that at times with the Mr Cool as well. Again, our house is very poorly insulated, and garages tend to be the same. I would assume both the Mitsubishi and Mr Cool would fair much better in a home that has average to above average insulation.
The unit reads it's return air temperature from the ceiling where warm air rises. So when you are calibrating it calibrate what it is near the ceiling where the unit is or it will run for too long. Also they usually have a built in3c offset to allow the heating cycle to run for longer to account for stratification of warm air. Try to move the sensor inside the unit outside the casing as if another room is in heating still and 1 room goes off then the sensor will be affected by the warm gas that continues to circulate so the room that is waiting for the temp to drop will get a false reading.
Thanks for the question! Yes, you can turn any off and still run the remaining units. Also, I recommend this setup if you intend to install it yourself as a DIYer. If you are having a professional installation done, then I would do research on NON-DIY brands and compare. The DIY space for mini split AC units is relatively new.
I have electric heat with a 3 bedroom raised ranch. It's just me so I'd like one in living room kitchen area, bedroom and downstairs. First off do I need a furnace? Secondly I can I shut off downstairs unit? You said if you keep it on cool it shuts off, does it stay off?
Great question! A mini split system is capable of heating and cooling. No need for a furnace. And yes, you can absolutely shut off the downstairs unit. What I intended to communicate was that if you have the upstairs units set to heat, the downstairs unit would not be allowed to cool since they are all connected to the same exterior condenser unit. All 3 would have to be set to heat if you want them all to be on at the same time. You can turn on as many of the units as you want to be operating. I will often just turn the bedroom unit on at night and leave the rest of the units off. Hope that helps!
I did a whole house LG install and it has been a nightmare since day one. Most of the problems have been install related but there have been several component failures, issues with the units going offline, the app not working, and the heat pump is very LOUD and will scare the crap out of you in the middle of the night. Of the six internal units, at least one has been down since installation so they have never all worked at the same time. This install cost me $16k and was about the average price of all the bids I got.
I think noting that the cons are something like a beep, but excluding commentary on efficiency or what kind of temps you've noticed it can work well in versus where it starts to struggle, etc or not the obvious priorities. I am really struggling in my decision with this because they are not used in my location so that I can ask people their experience, even though people and even colder location reports success with them.
Why would you open the windows in the summer? I have window units in my windows and a Woodstock for the winter. The blackouts here in texas happen more in the winter months, so a Woodstock made more sense for the winter..
Ive had nothing but problems with Mr Cool products and their customer service. My Evap Coil went out after less than a year of use and i cant get them to respond. I hope you have a better experience than i did.
Haha, thanks! I appreciate the comment! Yeah a number of people mentioned the dremel idea. Definitely something that the manufacturer should change their design of, simple fix though.
Very informative! Although we don’t have many power outages ours went out for 4 days during an ice storm earlier this year. Is there a way to set it up to still have heat or cool air during these extreme weather situations?
I wonder what part of the country you live in. I love the idea of using a mini split system for heating, but I’m not sure if a whole house arrangement like yours would be adequate to keep my home warm on cold winter days in northern Illinois. Do you use your old forced air system as a backup (assuming you still have it)?
We never had forced air, and I’d anticipate a forced air system being better at both heating and cooling than a mini split system. We were upgrading from window ac units. There was no heat in this house when we purchased it, so we had to do something. Decided to go with mini splits because it was much more affordable than running duct work inside.
@@bradleyclark5936 Thanks for the comment! If you’re upstate NY, I would think as long as your home is well insulated these units would do just fine. Cooling is more powerful on most split systems than heating, so you may notice that a bit more if your home isn’t well insulated. Our home is brick and has terrible insulation. In the winter on the coldest days it struggles to keep up, but in the summer on the hottest days we have no issues at all keeping the place as cool as we want.
No issues: Whenever bending the copper tubes I used my hand as a guide on the inside of the bend to prevent it from kinking. You don't want too tight of a bend otherwise it may kink the copper tubing.
I have purchased a gas furnace from Ingrams and I also had a very good experience with them. Thanks for this review as I am interested in the Mr Cool units.
Curious about heating function. Does he ever say where this installation is? Seems geographic location would make a major difference with both heating and cooling functions. People often say they are "freezing" in Florida when it is 40F.
Good question! You’ll also want to make sure to check out our newest video which is a 2-year review of the Mr Cool. In that I break down a lot more details like electrical costs. I don’t have any personal experience with the difference between central air and mini split energy costs, but a quick google search shows that central air tends to draw about 50% more watts per hour compared to a mini split. According to what I read, many mini splits are around 2000 watts per hour, and most central air units pull about 3000-3500 watts per hour. That also means it will cool a lot faster, but a minisplit is much cheaper to run.
As a HVAC tech owner ,I suggest get it local ,if u have a problem u don't want to wait months on end for a part, and ck the comments on warranty's also.
If the "locals" would crank down the profit margins a bit and work reasonably with DIYers...Take note that most Minis use major parts from the same few Asian mfrs, Gree compressors for example.
Okay. What I'm about to tell you is not meant to offend, just correct. What you have is actually refered to as a mini split heat pump. Although air handler would be a correct term, considering it has the ability to heat and cool at the same time. Unfortunately you do not have four air handlers, you have one. This is because the flow of refrigerant is based on what the compressor tells it to do in the outdoor condenser, thus you have your heating or cooling. The "head unit," not the "air handler" is just an evaporator coil. It allows the high or low pressure refrigerant to either flash or sneak on by, thus resulting in your heating or cooling. What you are asking from them, is to create a system that can both heat and cool at the same time. Well this invention was created by Mitsubishi and Trane, and it's been out for 15-20 years now. It's called a VRF, which stands for variable refrigerant flow. These are state of the art, highly technical, and overly expensive. So the equipment you reference does actually exist . Also mold build up is usually related to hydronic systems. Meaning wether a boiler or vav is used. Ductwork only recirculates air in the said environment, so if you sense mold floating around, it's time to be a big boy and start cleaning up.
If I have installed this diy system and I need to move to another mobile home, would I need to vacuum and recharge the system or it is just plug and play at the new location?
Thanks for the video. About that beeping. Does the app also do the same. We’ve got a dog that goes into hiding with beeping devices. Thanks again. Could not get the links working for some reason.
Thanks for watching and for the question! I've never had the app beep on me before in the last 14 months, so I think it's safe to say you won't have to worry about that.
I just subscribed. How do you get Mr. Cool serviced? My local town HVAC in rural Iowa says they will not service or repair Mr Cool? I saw you 25’ lines behind your condensers and I wish they sold shorter ones. I only need about 12’.
They have two different lengths, 16’ and 25’ I believe. Depends on what kind of service you need. Many HVAC techs will do minor service like minisplit cleaning, checking for leaks and filling the system if it’s low on refrigerant. But if you buy a DIY unit you’re pretty much locked into the DIY lifestyle for the system in terms of major repairs. There’s plenty of resources out there to DIY it successfully, and you’ll save significant cash doing it this way, but if you’re looking for zero involvement in repairs and maintenance, don’t buy a DIY model.
I had mine for less than then two years the condenser started making noise it got louder and louder until it completely stopped working. I submitted a warranty claim and they wanted 460 dollars for shipping a new condenser. That’s a lot of money for shipping! The code was PO which is electrical issue
Absolutely! It still isn’t an accurate reading if you’re using the head unit as the thermostat. And the calibration seems to not stay where you set it. I’ve started just using the follow me mode for everything instead and using the remotes as the thermostat. Uses more battery but that’s not a huge deal.
So the remote for the mini split doesn't have a temperature gauge(thermostat)in it? Wouldn't putting a(thermostat)temp gauge in the remote solve all these problems? Also ......is there a smart thermostat that works with this mini split?
Yes, in my opinion that should be standard and not a special mode. However, there’s a button called “Follow Me” that uses the remote as the thermostat. Smart thermostats can’t be used with this specific model, but Mr Cool does have models that can be.
Thanks for commenting! What we’ve found is sometimes leaving it in the sleeve doesn’t work because it isn’t pointed in the direction of the receiver. If it made sense for us to mount the remote closer to the unit, we wouldn’t have that issue. But for us that wasn’t an option.
So me and my wife have a ifferent preference for the temperature. I like it to be 80ﾟF she wants it to be 65ﾟF.. So we're constantly changing the temperature. And we don't move tremove from its holster . I'm surprised the batteries haven't died yet.
I am trying to figure out how well they do in a house as a whole. Older homes have less open floor plans and I wonder how these types of units do in that situation. Like a bathroom…is it super hot in the summer or super cold in the winter if you had the bathroom door closed for 45 minutes taking s bath for example? How do you figure your sizing and spacing and location(s) to install the heads. Will one head cool the living/dining/kitchen and then one in each bedroom or what is best?
We have them in our house as a whole. 4 head units even though we have 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a long hallway in our entryway. The units do a good job keeping the place a comfortable temperature, and I haven’t noticed a big difference when a bathroom door has been closed for a bath or anything like that. I will say that heat pumps on minisplits tend to be weaker than the AC cooling, so in the more frigid winter days it will struggle to keep up if you have bad insulation (like we do). You can fix this by adding an alternative heat source such as a space heater or something like that. We use 1 head in the kitchen, 1 in the living room, and 1 in each of the two bigger bedrooms. The smaller bedroom has a baseboard heater. We’ve managed pretty well here in our area. Local temps get down to just a couple degrees below zero on the coldest days and rarely do we see temps above 100 in the summer.
I wish a company would make mini-split mini wall wall unit for smaller rooms. My bedrooms are too small for those huge wall units, and the ceiling cassettes are large too.
We have 4 units total in that unit. One in living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and guest bedroom. We did not install one in our office/small bedroom, but it rarely gets too hot or cold in that room. We just supplement with window AC and baseboard electric in that room if it ever needs it.
Great question! I’ve since learned that there’s a thermostat in both. There’s a setting called “Follow Me” on the remote that activates the remote thermostat. Anytime the unit is turned off and back on, that setting needs to be turned back on (which I think is a design flaw).
Its not a thermostat. Its just a temperature sensor that the unit uses when it samples the air to let the unit know if it should run or not based on the input you gave it when you set the temp on the remote. This sensor is located on the top of the unit which is the return side. This sensor being there makes the unit sense the temp of the incoming air which makes them work so much better in keeping you comfortable
Thanks for sharing this video. I am thinking of doing a garage with living space above and wanted to Mr. Cool units since HVAC company's seem to add a huge markup. I have had a Mr.Cool 12k diy for almost 1.5 years now. I would like to say that if you use either Samsung Smarthings or Google Home app, you can group units to the same room to ensure all your headsets are heating or cooling since you mentioned that all units on the same condenser have to be operating the same. But they Mr Cool app should have an indication or grouping of all the units on the same condenser. But I agree that the the software on the headset should run its own calibration. I have a few small thermometers in my building and an echo plus that has a builtin gauage I use to verify the temp in the room when not in the room/building. I will also say that this remote is a better design and less convoluted then the Trane remotes on the gen prior to wifi.... I gave the remote to my dad after installing his 18k unit and he was able to use it w/o issue; the Trane unit they had done in '13, you need a manual to figure out how to use a/c and to know what the heck a tree means!!! Thanks for all the info!!
If you’re going to make the investment, it’s a good idea to put one in each bedroom and if you have any large rooms in the living area, put one in each of those. We have poor insulation in our house and a fairly large kitchen and living room, so we opted to put one unit in each of those rooms. We have a small office room that we decided to just use a window AC for. If you have excellent insulation, you could probably get away with having fewer units.
I've heard about these units. A little pricey but hey! That's the price of admission, right? So we are buying a property in Missouri that has 2 cabins on it all set up for an AirBnB. They both have wood burning stoves and I want to add a coupla of these bouncing Betty's. I was wondering how big a space is your unit successfully operating in? Good video..thanks for your time..
Sounds like a beautiful property! Thanks for reaching out! Our home is about 2,200 sq ft between the two apartments. Total we have 7 heads. 3 heads to one condenser and 4 heads to the other condenser. Here’s a good BTU calculator you can use to determine what size units you’ll need, regardless of the brand: www.calculator.net/btu-calculator.html
We've got a 1400 sq ft two bedroom, two bath condo and our only source of heat and cooling is one Mitsubishi 12K BTU mini-split. Our climate varies from 25 deg F up to occasional trips to 96-98 deg F. Yes, in cold weather, the back bedroom gets cold if the door is closed, but leave the door open and it's just fine. Our windows and insulation are in good shape in the stick-frame / wood siding one-story building. Kitchen & Dining and Living room are one large open area. We've been amazed how well the heated / cooled air disperses when we just leave the unit to run and do its thing. Very seldom gets noisy enough to hear the indoor unit's fan.
What about the noise level of the inside unit? We are currently living in an RV and when the a/c comes on you can't watch TV or carry on a conversation. We are building a small apartment (450 square feet) inside a garage and I plan to install split air unit(s), but I don't want to have the same issue.
Hardly any noise at all. If you have the fan set to high, you can hear the movement of the air, but these are so much quieter than a window ac. Most of the time, mine operates at a low fan speed and I can’t hear it at all. Does just fine at keeping our place cool in the summer with a low or medium fan speed.
Thanks for the question! The line set covers I purchased from Amazon are made by Rectorseal (get the 4.5” kit if installing a Mr Cool DIY, link below). Mr Cool makes their own, but I find them a bit pricy. The set I purchased came with the wall brackets, and you’d just need to provide your own screws. Since I was attaching the cover to brick, I used a masonry bit and Tapcons. The line set cover I purchased is here: www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-4-5-WALL-DUCT-White/dp/B008JFIN02/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=13P2EWF8AZ9SQ&keywords=rectorseal+4.5&qid=1647402609&sprefix=rectorseal+4.5%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-3
@@TheRenoBros Haha i just ordered them via Amazon!! 20 minutes ago here you are. Found an energetic installer so finely install coming. I also bought the 20' water lines it's Florida..ty
I should also add, if you have several line sets that need to travel quite a distance, there are better bulk solutions than the Rectorseal sets. Some people use pvc pipes, some use downspout materials. I would expect a reputable local HVAC contractor would make a good recommendation on line set covers.
I wish I could! When we purchased the house in 2020 the gas radiators had been removed. The property was being sold as is without any heat. We installed these minisplit units first thing to get ready for the winter, so we don't have a before and after of gas vs electric. However, I do have another property (same sq ft, same electric supplier and rate) just a couple blocks away that uses natural gas for heating. Energy bill is nearly twice as much there as it is in this place.
I have central air. Upstairs it's hotter than downstairs. When we turn the thermostat up, it gets very cold in living room and comfortable upstairs. Can we install one of these units in a bedroom upstairs and close the vent of the central air for that bedroom upstairs? I asked someone and he said it'll mess up the central air thermostat I don't know what to do, it's hot upstairs and my son doesn't sleep well at night
I would call a couple different reputable HVAC companies and specifically explain your issue. They may want to come out to see the way your HVAC setup and vent positioning looks.
The problem is that you don't have air returns upstairs, or if you do they are being blocked (by a closed bedroom door for example). Your best bet is to add a mini-split system like this to each bedroom (or window units), or if you have returns in the hallways you can keep the doors open.
I had a 4 room 2 1/2 ton carrier minisplit installed for 12 grand. All 4 inside units needed cleaning yearly to eliminate mold and mildew. The top of the lineset has to be carefully fully insulated or they will sweat causing damage and mold at the end inside the wall. My lineset was inside the opposite closet, that's how I could inspect it. It runs very cold but heat was mediocre when Temps dropped below around 20° F. I went with minisplit because my duct work was badly designed. I hope this information is helpful.
I just want to chime in on the fact that you say you can’t have 3 heads calling for heat and one calling for cooling. Think about a furnace(let’s say it’s natural gas)that’s set up with an evaporator and condenser, you cant have the burner firing off and the condenser running at the same time because the cooling and heating aspect of it would cancel each other out(and due to deeper knowledge of how the electrical side of it works) either way I don’t believe that to be a con to a split system. In an Easier way to understand why you can’t have one zone calling for heat and another calling for ac is because there’s a reversing valve in the condenser that essentially turns the condenser into an evaporator during heating and turns the condenser back to a condenser during cooling, it just reverses the flow of refrigerant, therefore all heads must be doing the same thing either cooling or heating. That’s universal across the board for all manufacturers of split systems.
Thanks for the comment! Yes exactly! The con isn’t that the units cannot cool and heat at the same time, the con is that it can be confusing because some of the units will not work unless you can determine which ones are set to a different mode. I’d prefer the ability to adjust all the units with one remote. When one changes mode, they all change.
Thanks for the comment! That’s definitely a factor. I also just think it’s not that accurate at reading, which is why you have the ability to calibrate the system and tell if what temperature it is inside
Filters for us get slightly dirty after about 6 months. We paid an HVAC tech to inspect for mold growth after a year and a half. There was bacterial growth on two of the units, but not the other 5. So we had him clean those 2. They removed the entire cover and carefully sprayed a specialized cleaner to remove any growth and debris. There are likely some helpful videos on TH-cam about cleaning minisplits.
The only yearly maintenance they need is to clean the condenser outside and clean the evaporator inside. The condenser outside is not filtered air so that can get dirty but the evaporator on the inside is filtered as long as those filters remain in place and are cleaned once a year that protects the evaporator. So I guess essentially the only maintenance is keeping the condenser clean outside the motors are all permanently lubricated the charge in the system should never change if it does that means you have a leak
The Reno Bros you said you didn't do any maintenance on the ac yet. It is recommended that you get a AC tech once a year to clean the inside and outside coils to keep the dirt/dust/trash out of it so it can transfer heat to keep the compressor from working harder to get it cooler/hotter. The more trash in the coils the harder the compressor has to putting more strain on the motor and making it lost years of life. The take away, pay an ac tech once a year to clean your coils. With the mini split units they will have to put a bag over the inside unit to catch the water from them washing the coils.
This house didn’t have a heat source or cooling source before we bought the place. However, we’ve lived in houses very close by with a number of different combinations of heating and cooling types, and mini splits are one of the cheapest. A very noticeable difference on the electric bills if you’re used to electric baseboard heaters and window ac units. I’d expect a 50% drop in energy costs if that’s what you’re coming from.
@@number1pappy You’re welcome! It’s worth noting that obviously heating and cooling make up only a portion of your electric bill, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see a $300 bill go down to $150 switching from electric baseboards and window ac units to a mini split, but I would expect a significant savings that will be felt. Some people have commented that Mr Cool isn’t easy to deal with for repairs or replacement parts. So far I haven’t experienced any issues, but definitely worth doing your due diligence before choosing a specific manufacturer. I’ve heard good things about Daikin and Mitsubishi as well.
I'm surprised that Mr.Cool doesn't uniformity controls, so that you could manage all or some of the units. Central Air doesn't usually offer individual room settings, unless you have control over the individual room vents and even then its not like you can heat or cool as needed
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I’d be interested in learning if anyone has figured out how to accomplish that. There’s some value in the separate control of each room, but it would be nice to have the uniformity control as an option. We had a guest in our home recently who wanted to heat the room on a cold night, but our room was too warm for us, so we just turned off the unit and cracked a window overnight.
@@TheRenoBros On central air units that have zoning controls, there is often a setting that determines how long the system will run in a particular mode before switching to the opposite mode if the other zone wants something else. For example if one zone is cooling but another zone wants heat, the zone panel could to have a 20 or 30 minute switchover timeout. Some higher end mini split system do allow heat and cool at the same time by some kind of freon management between the head units.
Thanks for the question! The interior unit is very quiet. The exterior unit occasionally gets fairly loud when the fan spins at a high speed, especially in the coldest or hottest months. That can sometimes impact sleep, but we also have a brick home and whoever installed the windows didn’t do a fantastic job. So automatically we have less insulation due to the construction of our home. Take that into consideration.
Someone else asked if they could go in a basement with proper venting. I'm not sure the answer to that but I'd assume if you could achieve proper venting then you could theoretically put the condenser in a basement. But I have yet to see someone do this. It's just simpler to put it outside.
What’s the monthly cost to run them? Great video thanks!
Thanks Mark! Great question, and please give this response a thumbs up so others who are wondering the same thing will see the answer. I can give you a pretty good approximation.
First, this is about a 1,200 sq. ft. apartment with 1 wall that is shared with another townhouse. We have 7 windows that leak air, and our structure is masonry, so it is poorly insulated to begin with. Winter gets down to single digits but rarely below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, hottest summer days are rarely over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We tend to shoot for keeping our place around 68 or 70 degrees inside. We also set the units to a lower setting while sleeping and while away from the house during work days.
Based on that environment, here are the approximate costs:
- Heating during the coldest winter month was about $80
- Cooling during the hottest summer month was about $40
- Spring and Fall cost next to nothing for AC, maybe $10-20/mo
EDIT: I should also add that I locked in my electricity rate at around 7¢ per kWh. Costs will fluctuate as rates change, but I try to be proactive in locking rates at a good time of year for the electric rates.
I have 3 mini splits in my house. 2 - 18K and one 9k. My largest electric bill in the last year and a half has been $138. This is a 4000 sq ft house. I have no other gas or oil usage. Everything is electric.
I dont have one, but predict for my personal case, maybe about $15-20 in the winter and maybe $10 in the summer. My garage is very comfortable in March - June, and also October/November and I never use a fan or heater during those months. The kitchen door stays open and I'm good.
My normal bill runs about $100-110. I see myself only turning the unit on for a few minutes like I did in Thailand. Garage is insulated, but the ceiling may have an issue as it gets chilly in the winter. I used to have a honeywell heater fan that worked perfectly. Winter bill was about $125. This year was a disaster. Honeywell 360 heater upped the bill to $200 (possibly also raised rates this year).
My original heater fan only stayed on about 20 mins, 3 times a day. The 360 heater fan is on for most of the day. The split will only need to be on 5-10 mins maybe twice a day because of how much air it treats in comparison to these tiny fans.
I primarily need it for heat, but can definitely see it helping during summer as originally intended.
@@TheDukeOfZill the mini splits really thrive when you set them and leave them on they usually run at their lowest capable mode to maintain room temperature. If you are manually turning them on or off they will ramp up more and use more electric. If the room temperature is further away from set point the unit it will go to full speed to try and catch up to where it’s set at
Purchased: August 2023 - still works GREAT!I th-cam.com/users/postUgkxxsUnXhGsSJLim_XnMHyQK0u3XVaW-CGn live in a studio and during the summer it gets scorching hot - really old building with no ac units. I can’t express how EASY it was to install. This unit has been a life savior during the summer and some days during other seasons where it can still be a bit warm at night. In this small place is my friend, a husky, poodle mix and myself. We need AC - lolI don’t use the dehumidifier option - I’m not sure if it will leak in my house, since I did not install the small draining hose that came with it. May look into it late but I don’t worry about much humidity in the apartment. I don’t understand why the negative reviews since all things mentioned, I personally did not find issues with. Definitely worth it!
I've had mine for about two and half years. Over the Winter it stopped working very effectively, and started throwing a PO error code. I messed around with it for a while and couldn't get it to work, even after several various attempts at resetting things. It didn't really matter too much at the time as it was getting to be spring. In any case, June comes around and it's getting warmer so I start to think about calling someone to come look at it. Then I saw something online that said they came with a five year warranty or something. So I emailed them and told them the issue. They had me check a few things with my multimeter, and within two days they warrenteed it. Five days later, I have a completely new entire set (head unit and condenser) sitting in my driveway. They don't warranty labor, so I have to put it in myself. But all of the holes and whatnot are already there, so it's just a matter of hooking everything up. I'm very happy with how well they took care of me when it really counted
What a great example of customer service! I wonder what was causing that issue for you. Did they determine what went bad?
It's good to get a home warranty so you won't have to put out the big bucks$$$ when they come to fix it
With a home warranty they take care of any appliances in your home
Don't you need a permit to install split A/C at home?
@@spark86 the Mr. Cool mini splits come with the lines pre charged with refrigerant. So there's no need for an installer. There's some electrical wiring that some people might need an electrician for, but otherwise, it's very simple to do yourself. Even the electrical stuff isn't complicated if you have a basic knowledge of wiring.
Los Angeles, California. 3 Story Condo. A/C on roof died worked great for 20 years. Normally my monthly bill is approx $600 a MONTH during the heatwave summer. I bought a 24K Mr Cool 3rd Gen DIY model from CostCo $1,800 for only my 2nd floor. I paid someone to install it. It is 110 outside and the entire 2nd floor is cold on low or medium setting. It has low, medium, high, TURBO. My monthly bill is now $200 per MONTH with the unit on almost all the time. I bought another unit for my bedroom which faces the SUN. I have both units on 24/7 $250 per month eletricity, includes 2 fridges, 4 computers always on, 3 tvs always on, 1 dedicated rack mount server 24/7, and lights. LADWP which they are expensive. $250 per month damn cheap compared to before.
Been hearing good things. Have to install an hvac and this may be easier and cheaper than a central ac
I purchased a 36,000 btu five years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did! I live in a four season climate, very hot/humid summers
and cold/snowy winters.... This gem has performed without fail! Nice and toasty in the winter and perfectly cool and dry in the humid summers.
A great advantage is when power goes out in a 'blip' when power returns the system restarts and continues at the setting you had it without
you having to restart/reset it. Cleaning the filters is very easy and I blow out the aluminum fins to get dust off about once a year. I only paid
$1,200 for this five years ago and they have gone up a bit but I would buy another in a second if needed! Very cost effective!
Season five with my two, a 1 ton and a 2 ton - absolutely fantastic. Keeps the house comfy and cool, and you never hear it.
Thanks for commenting! Glad you’ve enjoyed your units!
What's the square footage of your home
@@jaketrujillo2200 1650. I have since added a 900btu unit for the back bedrooms with a room to room Infinity fan.
Your unit isn't miscalibrated. The temperature it is sensing is what goes inside the unit. It's going to be hotter since it is taking in air that is higher in the room. A better alternative is to use the follow me function of the remote. Then it will use its thermometer instead of the one inside the unit. In any case what shows on the unit itself should be the set point, not the room temp.
Also, your app might be able to turn off the beeping since the remote doesn't. If not, open the indoor unit and look at the circuit board for the buzzer. Cover it up with electrical tape to quiet it down.
Totally agree!
Technically, Mini splits do have an internal thermostat that reads room temperature. But, they do not have a wall thermostat like other heating systems. Instead, mini splits are usually controlled using an LCD remote.
Some models offer optional wall thermostat's kits.
Yes your unit is higher up than u are. Heat rises so up there about 8 feet it prob is 75
@@alberto-somossen6626 It's weird that you'd just copy-paste that from a website. The remote can operate as the thermostat. Mount it on the wall, enable the follow me function, and it's your thermostat.
I concur with JST. I am quite happy overall with the MrCool package except two things: 1) The inside unit's temperature sensing is woeful - it shows a temperature way over what it is in the room; sometimes a 2nd head's temperature is shown to be 78 when the room is at 60 because presumably the sensor is close to the lineset and another head is heating? Really poor temperature sensing design. 2) The inside units are louder than I'd hoped and have some vibration. The outdoor unit is incredibly quiet compared to an old outdoor heatpump condenser.
A app, for your AC. Geeze, I hope for a EMP to shut the electronic world up. A app that of course you have not mastered. Sigh........😒
Initially I noticed a difference between the set temperature and actual temperature the room. the temperature sensor is on the unit, 7 ft or so off the ground. of course the air is warmer up there. Using follow me helps maintain better temperature where you want it
I purchased mine through air purifier depot and have had Mr Cool send me a 50 ft communication wire since I originally had 2 25ft connected together and had an issue and now they are sending me a new motor since one of my units has started making a hissing noise. They have been great to work with so far.
I don't about you, but I love mine. It only takes 475 watts to start and 1/3 of that to run. It's a heat pump and a dehumidifier, and you can run it mostly on solar.
no way
Well, if you're mini split runs on approx 150 Watts, then you are a very lucky person, and should keep it a secret. As it must be one of those special research models, that they keep for themselves! :)
which one do u have? I have an old home no ac 😩 looking into getting one
ok ... no mention of cleaning the unit screen filters ? Your wall mount , the removes the battery cover every time you remove it , simply Dremel or file off the plastic lip at the 12 o'clock of the mounting face plate.Or grind off the battery cover lip ? You are the owner , you can adapt the battery equipment you own likes and needs? 15 min. or less fix ?
Maintenance
Indoor: you should vacuum clean the dust filter once a month to keep up the efficiency.
Outdoor: You should visually inspect regularly and vacuum for spiders web when needed.
Free airflow is VERY important.
Thanks for the information! So far we’ve kept up with making sure they are clean 👍
@@TheRenoBros Super, you just did not mention it in your video.😉
I installed a 24K unit 3 years ago with no issues. For the cost, at this rate even if I had to replace it I would still be on top relative to a professionally installed brand such as Mitsubishi etc.
it was super easy to instal and works flawlessly. As well as being extremely affordable as a DYI proposition.
I hear comments occasionally about the struggle to find a technician to perform service to a Mr. Cool unit but I have not been confronted with that…yet. We’ll see. Even so, I have to imagine that if you were to have to replace certain components to resolve service issues, you would still be ahead of the game relative to a more costly household name brand. Mr. Cool is a good value and you really don’t give up any real features and functions that other manufacturers offer.
Thanks for the insight!
Exactly, even if I have to replace it with a new one, still cheaper than other options
Easy with 220v?
Sounds way too good to be real. This is exactly what I needed and I'm buying. 😀
I agree, it's just that I need to find the best mini split that's out there and get some reviews , with less problems,
Good review. Never bothered to calibrate my temperature settings or the other features on the app (so lazy - I just "Alexa" voice control the minisplit these days). Learned something new. Thanks! I installed 8 units (3 zone multi-split, 5 singles) between 2018-2021. I noticed you left your control wires exposed outside. Since these should last you a number of years, I would recommend you cover up the control wires outside from being exposed to the elements by installing flexible Liquidtight conduit and fittings (like what your electrician did on the power cables). You might also want to look at raising the outside units on blocks so the leaves won't collect and rot behind them. An unfortunate thing about Mr.Cool DIY units is you need to figure out how to neatly coil/store the excess lineset length since you can't cut it without losing the pre-charged advantage. I went with the traditional lines so I could neatly run the lines to exact length (saved a bunch on the purchase price too). I also wall mounted all of my outside units (on heat pumps, you really can't call them condensers since they become evaporators on heat cycle). One thing you forgot to mention is cost. Compared to electric (resistive) baseboard heating, heat pumps will heat at approximately half the cost because they're not generating the heat, but simply moving it. In fact, it's currently only slightly more expensive than natural gas furnace heat. But you offset that by only heating/cooling the rooms you need, saving on unnecessary heating/cooling in rooms you're not using. Not sure about the noise level you were talking about though. Compared to traditional ducted AC and all other kinds of AC (including window AC), they are super quiet. Thanks again for the review!
Thanks for the more specialized information and the tip for the control wires. I'll try to get those protected better from the weather!
Use the follow me function of the remote instead - it's not because the unit is miscalibrated, but because that's the temp of the air up high.
@@sprockkets Will try this. Though I've noticed that the temperature reading is inaccurate at the ceiling as well.
@@TheRenoBros That would make sense. Just make sure it was a thermometer on the intake, and not using infrared :)
"An unfortunate thing about Mr.Cool DIY units is you need to figure out how to neatly coil/store the excess line set length since you can't cut it without losing the pre-charged advantage"
Curious, what happens when you take the caps off to attach them? I bought a Senville. I have to open a valve after the line set is in place after a pressure test and vacuum to release the refrigerant into the line set.
Getting a Mitsubishi unit installed next Tuesday for the new sunroom. Single duct in there can't keep up year round. This will help keep the room comfortable and the whole house furnace can catch a break. Super excited and salesman said it will use much less electricity than the electric radiator in there now. Have read about the super efficiency elsewhere.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!!
TH-cam suggested this video because I'm investigating installing one of these in my garage in the Midwest for when I retire and make space for a woodworking shop. I had a Mitsubishi unit installed 10 years ago for a room addition when code required a professional installation. I went 10 years without having any maintenance work done--I was told they were reliable (just vacuum the filters regularly). When they came to give it its first checkup, they said it was all good. The inside unit is amazing quiet as is the outside unit. Often the only way to know the outside unit is on is to feel the air from fan. This unit doesn't have a wifi app which sounds like a great thing to have. I agree with you on how wonderful they are. I've recently heard of Mr Cool and the DIY install. That sounds appealing. I'll revisit these YT videos when the time comes for installing one in the garage. I hope you continue to enjoy your mini splits.
The mrcool is a cheap unit probably made in Korea or China they charge double the price just to get a pre vacuumed refrigerant line it's not worth it that Mitsubishi you have is top-notch you can pay an AC guy a hundred bucks to vacuum the line or just buy vacuum pump for less than that
I'm sure it's a good fit for most people. Study your seasons and attics. Your attic is a 'lung' of warmer air to moderate in warm weather, a barrier to be a layer of controlled air in winter. You won't know how little energy you can use to stay comfortable until your attic spaces are being properly regulated to accommodate the change of seasons.
So true!
i ve had a 36,000 btu unit for 5 years no major complaints, did have to add r-22 last year, the 4th year. I just purchased another 36,000 btu unit.
Nice video you covered just about everything. The one thing on the pros that you forgot to mention was the fact that they are incredibly quiet units and you hardly even know that they’re running to me that would be very important to know.
That’s a good word. Thanks! I agree, since I switched from window AC to these, the noise level is drastically lower for the inside units. Higher fan speeds are pretty audible, but you don’t have to listen to the condenser humming quite like you do for a window AC unit. In one of my cons I do mention the volume of the exterior condenser unit. Occasionally I’ll hear that all the way on the 3rd floor, which isn’t my preference, but perhaps it is just due to the construction of the home. Thanks again for the comment!
That’s a mixed blessing, imo. They’re so quiet that when you sleep, you hear too many noises from the house, and sometimes from outside if anything loud happens there. Thankfully, mine has a noise reduction button. With that turned on, it’s very very quiet, which is great for most purposes, but at night I prefer a little of that white noise to help me sleep and so I switch the quiet mode off.
@@robsemail yes, I like white noise also so I actually have a little small sound maker they call it “sound sleeper” it produces white noise.
Of course you can't use heat and cool at the same time with only one condenser. Therefore, it's not really an issue!
Change all your thermostats at the same time, what you have is zoning capability, great feature. You can add comfortably and depending on how you like temperatures, money saving too.
My battery cover falls off, scotch tape.
Maintenance for this unit, you shouldn't forget to clean filters inside, dirty filter = inefficiency. Mechanical mechanisms are not broken, etc. The electronics should be fine. Perhaps after a few years see if gas is ok. I would say 8 to 10 years of motor and compressor life. If not junk it!
Clean the outside units too!
If you get 10 years out of it then it's a great unit.
Of course the biggest plus, to me, are no ducts and zoning.
If you go for a higher SEER rating then you'll have to make your house more efficient. The way you analyze these things, I hope you had the dealer get all pertinent information for sizing your system, usually that's where the big issues come in. I'm electrical engineer but a mechanical should be able to check your home for sizing. I don't mean to be harsh to the dealers of these systems but it's more complex then asking square footage number of doors, window, etc.
Haha! Thanks for all the info! Some poorly worded stuff on my end, check out my new video review of the Mr Cool for the update after 2 years!
Nice video! Can you tell me the measurement between the front and back holes in the feet of the condenser?
That is a great question actually. I don’t have the ability to at this moment, but I CAN tell you that we mounted them on top of cinder blocks (check out the installation video we did) and we had to angle the tapcons to hit the block because it was slightly too big for the blocks due to the positioning of the feet and the holes in the feet.
@@TheRenoBros Probably a 16” block?
@@oldcaliforniakid Yes that sounds about right 😊
I hope to be getting a MrCool within the next month or two. All the cons you mentioned are no big deal for me. I see no real problems. Thank you for posting.
Indeed! I think you’ll like it!
I have a DIY Mr Cool system (two zone) which worked fine for about 9 months and then began freezing the coil. I tried for months to talk to customer service without success. No one answers the phone so the only thing you can do is leave a message. I never got a return call from anyone. Don't waste your money.
@@tonylee7105 I appreciate your reply. I finally went with a Daikin system. I have had it for about 8 or 9 months with no problems what so ever. It is a 2 zone and works perfect....so far.
on the mitsubishi mini splits they go through a power on self test and do a full sweep of the louvers to know the exact position. even if you bump the louvers slightly you can throw off its positional awareness.
My Mitsubishi floor mount had a bit of mold accumulation. I cleaned what I could reach. I haven't seen mold on the wall mounts.
Good to know! Thanks for sharing! We had a cleaning done after 2 years and there was a buildup on 2 out of the 7 heads. The rest were free of any buildup of bacteria or mold
Thanks for the tip about multi zone with one compressor only being able to cool or heat at one time, I didnt think of that while researching these mini splits. I'll just by 3 separate units with their own condenser for my home. Thanks again.
All of them can cool or heat, it's just that you can't have one room cool while the others heat. You can have all of them cool at the same time though.
Compresor cant do 2 things at the same time, its only cooling or heating, not both.
@@borutkrivec2325 yes it can. The compressor is always heating and cooling at the same time. It's always heating one coil system and cooling the other. When you air condition your house you heat the outside and cool the inside, when you heat the house you cool the outside and heat the inside. But some of the systems let you switch the valves to not even use the outside coils and just cool remember one while heating room number two. That's actually a thing.
@@pilotavery yep, vrf or vrv allows simultaneous heating and cooling.
I believe the controls have a thermostat build in, and at 11:49 you have 2 controllers from 2 units next to each other. They are suppose to be in the room with their wall unit.
Thanks for the comment! I’ve had limited success with the built in thermostat, although it does function better than the temp sensor in the air handler itself. The reason for the two remotes side by side is due to both wall units being in fairly close proximity in the same room. The location of these remotes actually works brilliantly 👍
Thank you so much for doing this! Ive converted a detached 150 sqr ft shed into a fully insulated office (as I work from home now). We are on southern Ontario, Canada. The summer can have some very hot days, and winter can have some very cold ones. This looks like it will be an excellent option.
You’re welcome!! Yes indeed, this sounds like a good solution for that application!
One this to note for northern areas is you'll want to mount the outdoor you on a raised platform for snow so it can still work in the winter with out damaging the condenser. Also you may want to install the added low ambient kit for colder weather.
@@andrewgilbreath1331 Thanks for adding that experienced insight!
When would you ever want to a/c cool a room but Heat others? One would assume its hot outside if you're cooling or cold outside when your heating? And yeah the outdoor unit compressor has to be moving in the direction needed for heating or cooling. So naturally its all cooling or all heating, also keep in mind I would assume if all 4 units are running, the outdoor unit capacity is split between them.
Thanks for the comment! Sorry for the miscommunication! I intended to communicate that sometimes because the modes don’t match it causes a couple of the units to cease working. You could have one set to auto and one set to cool, and one will stop working until they both match modes. Even if the one on auto is set to a lower temperature than the room is (so it would be essentially cooling), it will prevent one of the two units from functioning until they are both set to the same thing. There should be a way to have one remote control the whole house so you don’t have to go from room to room trying to find out which unit is set to a different mode.
@@TheRenoBros did you have to get permits to install these. Or just the electrical. What state are you in.
@@cranbers My locale only required permitting for the electrical work associated with the install. We’re in PA
Bought the Mr Cool 3rd gen 22 SEER 12,000 BTU mini-split .. handyman says he can install July 11th.. it’s mid June in concord ,Ca so I know we will likely have to put up with at least 4-6 days of 100 degrees by then but it will be worth it .. so excited .. I even bought the pad and the cover guards 🙏
Love it! Feel free to share pictures with me when it’s all done!
just curious since you live in concord, have you ever heard of the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle corps?
I just installed a Mr Cool and did the electrical myself. It was straight forward easy
Good job! 👏
I think that your temp is off because of where the unit is. It's warmer up there vs a barometer sitting on a coffee table
Hi there, we installed 4 Mini Splits in our house... We are having problems with the remote... For instance, one unit has the Blue tooth showing and the others do not.. Why and how do you get it off bluetooth... the book is not really helpful... Also, do you have a video of how to operate the system efficiently.. Like going through the steps to do each function... Would love to see it..
Your explanation is very clear and helpful!! ty
You’re very welcome! Glad it was helpful to you! And thanks for the comment!
About the mold, it actually is common to have mold grow on the blower wheel and around the blower wheel in minisplit head units. I’m a hvac tech and have witnessed this personally and done maintence jobs to clean the mold out. They sell little uv lights for mini split head units.
Love the added perspective! Thanks for commenting. So far we still haven’t come across any mold in the units after coming up on 18 months now. Will keep an eye out
I’m also a HVAC tech. Honestly, if the unit was sized right for the space then it wouldn’t have mold growing on the blower wheel. The reason it has mold growing on the blower wheel is because it’s not dehumidifying properly, so it’s likely oversized for the space
@@timrob0420 Thanks for adding that value to the discussion!
We’ve had some mold as well in our rental single head, but it sounds like it’s more to do with user issues (turning unit off & on, instead of setting temp and leaving at that temp)
@@jaynook4980 yes inverter mini splits are made to run constantly. They are actually more efficient when ran that way and also dehumidify. Also, at least in Mitsubishi manuals, it says when you plan to turn off for extended periods you are supposed to run fan only for an extended duration (a hour or so) to completely dry everything out so as to prevent growth.
1. Is your room too cold in winter or too warm in summer? The room with the brick wall I mean. If you ever decide to upgrade your home some, a 1-inch insulation+vapor barrier on that brick wall would help keep temperatures more stable in that room.
2. You may want to call an AC technician to trim down the excess pipes to the condensers, this is just a minor thing and will look much nicer, plus shorter lines improve gas flow.
3. Isn't the beeping turned off when you turn the display/light off also?
4. The vent should open like a slit when the heater is on as it warms the gas in the condenser, as soon as the fan starts the vent should open like normal. You didn't mention if that happened during winter or summer.
5. There's one piece of maintenance you do need to do once a month / two months, open the head unit and clean the screens.
Keep up the good videos, very nice review overall. 😺 👍
Thanks Steve for the helpful comment and encouragement!
1. Mr Cool, and this seems to be true of most minisplits, work very well at cooling in the summer, but the heat pumps tend to be not as strong as the AC. We sometimes have really cold winter days that the heat pump struggles to keep up with. Thanks for the tip.
2. I’ll definitely be doing that!
3. The beeping stops if we turn the display off, but then if you change the temperature of the room it turns back on.
4. It seems to open the same amount regardless of whether the fan is on.
5. We do try to keep them clean, I’ll make sure to check on that regularly.
@@TheRenoBros about your first point: This is common situation but is location dependent and has nothing to do with MrCool or minisplits, and has to do with how much heating vs cooling you need. The temperature delta in winter (~60-68F inside vs. ~0-30F outside => 30-68 degree delta) is much higher than what it is in summer (~68-75F inside vs ~80-100F outside despite the higher humidity => ~5-32 degree delta)
@@arvindgopu186 That makes a lot of sense! Thanks for the clarification on that!
@@TheRenoBros use the follow me function then it will read the temp of the room in the remote controller... Then you can check calibration. Warm air rises. See my comment I wrote.
@@arvindgopu186I agree it’s the temperature difference. I was just at an open house another day and the big living room has both a mini split and a pellet stove for heating and I asked why the pellet stove is still needed and was told that the mini split doesn’t work very well in very cold days.
Does water condense inside the air handler on the coils? Does it then drip into a pan that has a drain? I'm asking because pooled water can be a mold breeding ground and, like you, my wife is mold sensitive So I though perhaps you thought about this.
Indeed it does! The condensation gets drained out through a separate drain line that runs out along with the coolant tubes. You always have to keep a slight downward slope when running the line set for this reason. Great question! 👍
Unit has a setting (besides the drained pan) that when enabled runs the fan for a few minutes after cooling shuts down to dry fan & pan out. Users say it does the trick. I always turn off my car AC when I am about 3-4minutes out and turn it to lowest temp fan on high, compressor off. Keeps the aromas down when you turn it on next time.
This is a great video. Thanks. There are multi-zone mini split systems, but they are more expensive and require more space.
I have had Mitsubishi Mini Split in my attached garage for about 5 years. AC is great. When very cold outside the heat pump doesn't work as well
Thanks for commenting! Yes, I’ve noticed that at times with the Mr Cool as well. Again, our house is very poorly insulated, and garages tend to be the same. I would assume both the Mitsubishi and Mr Cool would fair much better in a home that has average to above average insulation.
Is the beep sound when you touch the remote, coming from the remote or the air handler?
Thanks for the comment! That’s a good question. It’s coming from the air handler.
12:20
I would sand down those little doodads on the remote battery door thing so they can't catch any more.
I’ve had a lot of people suggest that. I just wish it was designed better, but you’re right that’s a simple solution.
The unit reads it's return air temperature from the ceiling where warm air rises. So when you are calibrating it calibrate what it is near the ceiling where the unit is or it will run for too long. Also they usually have a built in3c offset to allow the heating cycle to run for longer to account for stratification of warm air. Try to move the sensor inside the unit outside the casing as if another room is in heating still and 1 room goes off then the sensor will be affected by the warm gas that continues to circulate so the room that is waiting for the temp to drop will get a false reading.
You pointed out some interesting things.
Thank you.
Love it! Thanks!
What deliver setting you can just move it by hand a little
Very true! Some people will need a ladder for that though. We have 9 foot ceilings here.
2 questions for you ..1 can u turn 1 off and run the others? And would you recommend me buying this setup?
Thanks for the question! Yes, you can turn any off and still run the remaining units. Also, I recommend this setup if you intend to install it yourself as a DIYer. If you are having a professional installation done, then I would do research on NON-DIY brands and compare. The DIY space for mini split AC units is relatively new.
A possible Solution to the Con "battery cover slipping off". Grind the top lip on the wall mount holder. It may help.
I have electric heat with a 3 bedroom raised ranch. It's just me so I'd like one in living room kitchen area, bedroom and downstairs.
First off do I need a furnace?
Secondly I can I shut off downstairs unit? You said if you keep it on cool it shuts off, does it stay off?
Great question! A mini split system is capable of heating and cooling. No need for a furnace. And yes, you can absolutely shut off the downstairs unit. What I intended to communicate was that if you have the upstairs units set to heat, the downstairs unit would not be allowed to cool since they are all connected to the same exterior condenser unit. All 3 would have to be set to heat if you want them all to be on at the same time. You can turn on as many of the units as you want to be operating. I will often just turn the bedroom unit on at night and leave the rest of the units off. Hope that helps!
I did a whole house LG install and it has been a nightmare since day one. Most of the problems have been install related but there have been several component failures, issues with the units going offline, the app not working, and the heat pump is very LOUD and will scare the crap out of you in the middle of the night. Of the six internal units, at least one has been down since installation so they have never all worked at the same time. This install cost me $16k and was about the average price of all the bids I got.
Did you install yourself or was this a contractor install?
@@TheRenoBros contractor, supposedly LG authorized with 10yr warranty on parts
@@durakis interesting. I’m not sure why that would be then if a pro installed it. I’d reach out for warranty issues most likely.
I think noting that the cons are something like a beep, but excluding commentary on efficiency or what kind of temps you've noticed it can work well in versus where it starts to struggle, etc or not the obvious priorities. I am really struggling in my decision with this because they are not used in my location so that I can ask people their experience, even though people and even colder location reports success with them.
Why would you open the windows in the summer? I have window units in my windows and a Woodstock for the winter. The blackouts here in texas happen more in the winter months, so a Woodstock made more sense for the winter..
Ive had nothing but problems with Mr Cool products and their customer service. My Evap Coil went out after less than a year of use and i cant get them to respond. I hope you have a better experience than i did.
Great review! That remote mount would drive me crazy also. I would use a Dremel tool or something similar to file that ledge down on the holder.
Oops! I see someone has already mentioned a Dremel.
Haha, thanks! I appreciate the comment! Yeah a number of people mentioned the dremel idea. Definitely something that the manufacturer should change their design of, simple fix though.
Mold can grow in the indoor coils and blower wheel and above the unit where the air goes in
Thanks for the comment! We’ll keep an eye on that!
Very informative! Although we don’t have many power outages ours went out for 4 days during an ice storm earlier this year. Is there a way to set it up to still have heat or cool air during these extreme weather situations?
genset with or without battery, if properly calculated and sized it can run a few days. for a single zone single room
I wonder what part of the country you live in. I love the idea of using a mini split system for heating, but I’m not sure if a whole house arrangement like yours would be adequate to keep my home warm on cold winter days in northern Illinois. Do you use your old forced air system as a backup (assuming you still have it)?
We never had forced air, and I’d anticipate a forced air system being better at both heating and cooling than a mini split system. We were upgrading from window ac units. There was no heat in this house when we purchased it, so we had to do something. Decided to go with mini splits because it was much more affordable than running duct work inside.
I’m in NY and have same questions
@@bradleyclark5936 Thanks for the comment! If you’re upstate NY, I would think as long as your home is well insulated these units would do just fine. Cooling is more powerful on most split systems than heating, so you may notice that a bit more if your home isn’t well insulated. Our home is brick and has terrible insulation. In the winter on the coldest days it struggles to keep up, but in the summer on the hottest days we have no issues at all keeping the place as cool as we want.
My compressor unit arrived today. Did you have any issues bending the copper tubes? Any tips? I will go watch your video from a year ago.
No issues: Whenever bending the copper tubes I used my hand as a guide on the inside of the bend to prevent it from kinking. You don't want too tight of a bend otherwise it may kink the copper tubing.
I have purchased a gas furnace from Ingrams and I also had a very good experience with them. Thanks for this review as I am interested in the Mr Cool units.
Thanks Dennis! Glad you found the review useful!
The condenser cons don't really count for a con. Almost every condenser is loud and blows air. Whether it's a mini split or central air
Thanks for the feedback! The Mr Cool condenser in our opinion isn’t the quietest on the market. Hence the reason we mentioned it as a con
Curious about heating function. Does he ever say where this installation is? Seems geographic location would make a major difference with both heating and cooling functions. People often say they are "freezing" in Florida when it is 40F.
Hey Tim! Thanks for commenting! This install was in Southern PA, where it occasionally gets to single digits in the winter.
when you buy a 4 zone do you have to have each one turn on all at once or can you turn on each one at diff times?
I just wanna know how much it cost compared to using a central air. Usage electrical wise.
Good question! You’ll also want to make sure to check out our newest video which is a 2-year review of the Mr Cool. In that I break down a lot more details like electrical costs. I don’t have any personal experience with the difference between central air and mini split energy costs, but a quick google search shows that central air tends to draw about 50% more watts per hour compared to a mini split. According to what I read, many mini splits are around 2000 watts per hour, and most central air units pull about 3000-3500 watts per hour. That also means it will cool a lot faster, but a minisplit is much cheaper to run.
As a HVAC tech owner ,I suggest get it local ,if u have a problem u don't want to wait months on end for a part, and ck the comments on warranty's also.
If the "locals" would crank down the profit margins a bit and work reasonably with DIYers...Take note that most Minis use major parts from the same few Asian mfrs, Gree compressors for example.
@@replyhere590 Agree. Everyone should be able to make a decent profit. But the price gouging on pro minisplit is just insane.
Okay. What I'm about to tell you is not meant to offend, just correct. What you have is actually refered to as a mini split heat pump. Although air handler would be a correct term, considering it has the ability to heat and cool at the same time. Unfortunately you do not have four air handlers, you have one. This is because the flow of refrigerant is based on what the compressor tells it to do in the outdoor condenser, thus you have your heating or cooling. The "head unit," not the "air handler" is just an evaporator coil. It allows the high or low pressure refrigerant to either flash or sneak on by, thus resulting in your heating or cooling. What you are asking from them, is to create a system that can both heat and cool at the same time. Well this invention was created by Mitsubishi and Trane, and it's been out for 15-20 years now. It's called a VRF, which stands for variable refrigerant flow. These are state of the art, highly technical, and overly expensive. So the equipment you reference does actually exist . Also mold build up is usually related to hydronic systems. Meaning wether a boiler or vav is used. Ductwork only recirculates air in the said environment, so if you sense mold floating around, it's time to be a big boy and start cleaning up.
If I have installed this diy system and I need to move to another mobile home, would I need to vacuum and recharge the system or it is just plug and play at the new location?
Good question! Anyone with more experience chime in! I would assume that it will need vacuumed and recharged.
Thanks for the video. About that beeping. Does the app also do the same. We’ve got a dog that goes into hiding with beeping devices. Thanks again. Could not get the links working for some reason.
Thanks for watching and for the question! I've never had the app beep on me before in the last 14 months, so I think it's safe to say you won't have to worry about that.
I just subscribed. How do you get Mr. Cool serviced? My local town HVAC in rural Iowa says they will not service or repair Mr Cool? I saw you 25’ lines behind your condensers and I wish they sold shorter ones. I only need about 12’.
They have two different lengths, 16’ and 25’ I believe. Depends on what kind of service you need. Many HVAC techs will do minor service like minisplit cleaning, checking for leaks and filling the system if it’s low on refrigerant. But if you buy a DIY unit you’re pretty much locked into the DIY lifestyle for the system in terms of major repairs. There’s plenty of resources out there to DIY it successfully, and you’ll save significant cash doing it this way, but if you’re looking for zero involvement in repairs and maintenance, don’t buy a DIY model.
And Thanks for subscribing! We’re soon putting up another update on our Mr Cool system that you’ll be able to check out!
I had mine for less than then two years the condenser started making noise it got louder and louder until it completely stopped working. I submitted a warranty claim and they wanted 460 dollars for shipping a new condenser. That’s a lot of money for shipping! The code was PO which is electrical issue
For the issue of the highly removeable battery cap, why not sand down the lip on the provided container? Make that one change, and you're good.
Good vid. Temp is always warmer higher in the room.
Absolutely! It still isn’t an accurate reading if you’re using the head unit as the thermostat. And the calibration seems to not stay where you set it. I’ve started just using the follow me mode for everything instead and using the remotes as the thermostat. Uses more battery but that’s not a huge deal.
So the remote for the mini split doesn't have a temperature gauge(thermostat)in it? Wouldn't putting a(thermostat)temp gauge in the remote solve all these problems? Also ......is there a smart thermostat that works with this mini split?
Yes, in my opinion that should be standard and not a special mode. However, there’s a button called “Follow Me” that uses the remote as the thermostat. Smart thermostats can’t be used with this specific model, but Mr Cool does have models that can be.
I haven't had that problem with the battery cover coming off.. I can't say that I have a reason to remove it from this holster either so.
Thanks for commenting! What we’ve found is sometimes leaving it in the sleeve doesn’t work because it isn’t pointed in the direction of the receiver. If it made sense for us to mount the remote closer to the unit, we wouldn’t have that issue. But for us that wasn’t an option.
Take a Dremmel and remove the bump on cover and/or notch the wall bracket
So me and my wife have a ifferent preference for the temperature. I like it to be 80ﾟF she wants it to be 65ﾟF.. So we're constantly changing the temperature. And we don't move tremove from its holster . I'm surprised the batteries haven't died yet.
So if it gets really cold does this stop working?
I am trying to figure out how well they do in a house as a whole. Older homes have less open floor plans and I wonder how these types of units do in that situation. Like a bathroom…is it super hot in the summer or super cold in the winter if you had the bathroom door closed for 45 minutes taking s bath for example? How do you figure your sizing and spacing and location(s) to install the heads. Will one head cool the living/dining/kitchen and then one in each bedroom or what is best?
We have them in our house as a whole. 4 head units even though we have 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a long hallway in our entryway. The units do a good job keeping the place a comfortable temperature, and I haven’t noticed a big difference when a bathroom door has been closed for a bath or anything like that. I will say that heat pumps on minisplits tend to be weaker than the AC cooling, so in the more frigid winter days it will struggle to keep up if you have bad insulation (like we do). You can fix this by adding an alternative heat source such as a space heater or something like that. We use 1 head in the kitchen, 1 in the living room, and 1 in each of the two bigger bedrooms. The smaller bedroom has a baseboard heater. We’ve managed pretty well here in our area. Local temps get down to just a couple degrees below zero on the coldest days and rarely do we see temps above 100 in the summer.
Got a question I live in a tiny house 377sqft what size would I need?
I wish a company would make mini-split mini wall wall unit for smaller rooms. My bedrooms are too small for those huge wall units, and the ceiling cassettes are large too.
Mitsubishi makes a 6k btu mini split. The unit is the same size as a standard mini split though.
@@user-ln7of9gs4s they also sell a floor mounted unit
I’ve seen smaller ones for sure. But definitely not cheaper to buy those
Interesting!
Floor mounted? What is that?
Great video thank you, how many units do you have in your 1200 sq ft townhouse? 1 per room?
We have 4 units total in that unit. One in living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and guest bedroom. We did not install one in our office/small bedroom, but it rarely gets too hot or cold in that room. We just supplement with window AC and baseboard electric in that room if it ever needs it.
Interesting video. Is the thermostat for the temperature in the head unit, or in the remote?
Great question! I’ve since learned that there’s a thermostat in both. There’s a setting called “Follow Me” on the remote that activates the remote thermostat. Anytime the unit is turned off and back on, that setting needs to be turned back on (which I think is a design flaw).
Its not a thermostat. Its just a temperature sensor that the unit uses when it samples the air to let the unit know if it should run or not based on the input you gave it when you set the temp on the remote. This sensor is located on the top of the unit which is the return side. This sensor being there makes the unit sense the temp of the incoming air which makes them work so much better in keeping you comfortable
Thanks for sharing this video. I am thinking of doing a garage with living space above and wanted to Mr. Cool units since HVAC company's seem to add a huge markup. I have had a Mr.Cool 12k diy for almost 1.5 years now. I would like to say that if you use either Samsung Smarthings or Google Home app, you can group units to the same room to ensure all your headsets are heating or cooling since you mentioned that all units on the same condenser have to be operating the same. But they Mr Cool app should have an indication or grouping of all the units on the same condenser. But I agree that the the software on the headset should run its own calibration. I have a few small thermometers in my building and an echo plus that has a builtin gauage I use to verify the temp in the room when not in the room/building. I will also say that this remote is a better design and less convoluted then the Trane remotes on the gen prior to wifi.... I gave the remote to my dad after installing his 18k unit and he was able to use it w/o issue; the Trane unit they had done in '13, you need a manual to figure out how to use a/c and to know what the heck a tree means!!! Thanks for all the info!!
Thanks for the comment Mike! That’s some helpful information!
Very helpful, thank you for the video
You’re welcome!
You havev4 units. Do need 4 for a 1200 sq ft apartment? Thanks for the great information 👍
If you’re going to make the investment, it’s a good idea to put one in each bedroom and if you have any large rooms in the living area, put one in each of those. We have poor insulation in our house and a fairly large kitchen and living room, so we opted to put one unit in each of those rooms. We have a small office room that we decided to just use a window AC for. If you have excellent insulation, you could probably get away with having fewer units.
@@TheRenoBros Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Thanks 👍
@@ricos4700 you’re welcome! Thanks for commenting!
I've heard about these units. A little pricey but hey! That's the price of admission, right? So we are buying a property in Missouri that has 2 cabins on it all set up for an AirBnB. They both have wood burning stoves and I want to add a coupla of these bouncing Betty's. I was wondering how big a space is your unit successfully operating in? Good video..thanks for your time..
Sounds like a beautiful property! Thanks for reaching out! Our home is about 2,200 sq ft between the two apartments. Total we have 7 heads. 3 heads to one condenser and 4 heads to the other condenser. Here’s a good BTU calculator you can use to determine what size units you’ll need, regardless of the brand: www.calculator.net/btu-calculator.html
@@TheRenoBros Thanks man, I'll check it out..
@@guysolis5843 You’re welcome!
We've got a 1400 sq ft two bedroom, two bath condo and our only source of heat and cooling is one Mitsubishi 12K BTU mini-split. Our climate varies from 25 deg F up to occasional trips to 96-98 deg F. Yes, in cold weather, the back bedroom gets cold if the door is closed, but leave the door open and it's just fine. Our windows and insulation are in good shape in the stick-frame / wood siding one-story building. Kitchen & Dining and Living room are one large open area. We've been amazed how well the heated / cooled air disperses when we just leave the unit to run and do its thing. Very seldom gets noisy enough to hear the indoor unit's fan.
What about the noise level of the inside unit? We are currently living in an RV and when the a/c comes on you can't watch TV or carry on a conversation. We are building a small apartment (450 square feet) inside a garage and I plan to install split air unit(s), but I don't want to have the same issue.
Hardly any noise at all. If you have the fan set to high, you can hear the movement of the air, but these are so much quieter than a window ac. Most of the time, mine operates at a low fan speed and I can’t hear it at all. Does just fine at keeping our place cool in the summer with a low or medium fan speed.
Hello ty for the video🌴. Where do i buy line covers and the outside wall brackets?
Thanks for the question! The line set covers I purchased from Amazon are made by Rectorseal (get the 4.5” kit if installing a Mr Cool DIY, link below). Mr Cool makes their own, but I find them a bit pricy. The set I purchased came with the wall brackets, and you’d just need to provide your own screws. Since I was attaching the cover to brick, I used a masonry bit and Tapcons. The line set cover I purchased is here: www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-4-5-WALL-DUCT-White/dp/B008JFIN02/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=13P2EWF8AZ9SQ&keywords=rectorseal+4.5&qid=1647402609&sprefix=rectorseal+4.5%2Caps%2C80&sr=8-3
@@TheRenoBros Haha i just ordered them via Amazon!! 20 minutes ago here you are. Found an energetic installer so finely install coming. I also bought the 20' water lines it's Florida..ty
@@ellismckinney4888 I hope the installer does a nice job for you! =) Sounds like a worthy upgrade!
I should also add, if you have several line sets that need to travel quite a distance, there are better bulk solutions than the Rectorseal sets. Some people use pvc pipes, some use downspout materials. I would expect a reputable local HVAC contractor would make a good recommendation on line set covers.
why not do a before and after from your electric provider on 12 month energy use " adjusted for heating and cooling degree days ?
I wish I could! When we purchased the house in 2020 the gas radiators had been removed. The property was being sold as is without any heat. We installed these minisplit units first thing to get ready for the winter, so we don't have a before and after of gas vs electric. However, I do have another property (same sq ft, same electric supplier and rate) just a couple blocks away that uses natural gas for heating. Energy bill is nearly twice as much there as it is in this place.
I have central air. Upstairs it's hotter than downstairs. When we turn the thermostat up, it gets very cold in living room and comfortable upstairs. Can we install one of these units in a bedroom upstairs and close the vent of the central air for that bedroom upstairs?
I asked someone and he said it'll mess up the central air thermostat
I don't know what to do, it's hot upstairs and my son doesn't sleep well at night
I would call a couple different reputable HVAC companies and specifically explain your issue. They may want to come out to see the way your HVAC setup and vent positioning looks.
The problem is that you don't have air returns upstairs, or if you do they are being blocked (by a closed bedroom door for example). Your best bet is to add a mini-split system like this to each bedroom (or window units), or if you have returns in the hallways you can keep the doors open.
@@dylanlindeberg1958 Thanks for speaking into this situation! I appreciate learning from your perspective!
I had a 4 room 2 1/2 ton carrier minisplit installed for 12 grand. All 4 inside units needed cleaning yearly to eliminate mold and mildew. The top of the lineset has to be carefully fully insulated or they will sweat causing damage and mold at the end inside the wall. My lineset was inside the opposite closet, that's how I could inspect it. It runs very cold but heat was mediocre when Temps dropped below around 20° F. I went with minisplit because my duct work was badly designed. I hope this information is helpful.
Thanks for commenting and sharing your information with the rest of us! So helpful!
My goodness, 2.5 tons for four rooms is quite high. That's what you would normally use for a 1500-1600 sqft home
I just want to chime in on the fact that you say you can’t have 3 heads calling for heat and one calling for cooling. Think about a furnace(let’s say it’s natural gas)that’s set up with an evaporator and condenser, you cant have the burner firing off and the condenser running at the same time because the cooling and heating aspect of it would cancel each other out(and due to deeper knowledge of how the electrical side of it works) either way I don’t believe that to be a con to a split system. In an Easier way to understand why you can’t have one zone calling for heat and another calling for ac is because there’s a reversing valve in the condenser that essentially turns the condenser into an evaporator during heating and turns the condenser back to a condenser during cooling, it just reverses the flow of refrigerant, therefore all heads must be doing the same thing either cooling or heating. That’s universal across the board for all manufacturers of split systems.
Thanks for the comment! Yes exactly! The con isn’t that the units cannot cool and heat at the same time, the con is that it can be confusing because some of the units will not work unless you can determine which ones are set to a different mode. I’d prefer the ability to adjust all the units with one remote. When one changes mode, they all change.
exactly. reversing valve.
I figured since the unit is high up so it reading the temp closer to the ceiling. While the temp at 5 ft will be lower.
Thanks for the comment! That’s definitely a factor. I also just think it’s not that accurate at reading, which is why you have the ability to calibrate the system and tell if what temperature it is inside
What about mold buildup inside the unit? How do you clean yours and how often?
Filters for us get slightly dirty after about 6 months. We paid an HVAC tech to inspect for mold growth after a year and a half. There was bacterial growth on two of the units, but not the other 5. So we had him clean those 2. They removed the entire cover and carefully sprayed a specialized cleaner to remove any growth and debris. There are likely some helpful videos on TH-cam about cleaning minisplits.
Can you run the dehumidifier by itself?
Great question! And the answer is yes! Mr Cool can be set to “Dry” mode which will dehumidify without pumping cold air into the house.
How do you get the application on my phone..
The only yearly maintenance they need is to clean the condenser outside and clean the evaporator inside. The condenser outside is not filtered air so that can get dirty but the evaporator on the inside is filtered as long as those filters remain in place and are cleaned once a year that protects the evaporator. So I guess essentially the only maintenance is keeping the condenser clean outside the motors are all permanently lubricated the charge in the system should never change if it does that means you have a leak
Thanks for the info!
The Reno Bros you said you didn't do any maintenance on the ac yet. It is recommended that you get a AC tech once a year to clean the inside and outside coils to keep the dirt/dust/trash out of it so it can transfer heat to keep the compressor from working harder to get it cooler/hotter. The more trash in the coils the harder the compressor has to putting more strain on the motor and making it lost years of life.
The take away, pay an ac tech once a year to clean your coils. With the mini split units they will have to put a bag over the inside unit to catch the water from them washing the coils.
What is your thought on ceiling Cassett?
Thanks for asking! We actually don’t have any experience with that kind of unit! I’m sure you can find some great resources on TH-cam regarding that.
Thanks Sr, for your help
Thanks for commenting!
Have you noticed a savings in your electric bill after installing the mini splits from your old system??
This house didn’t have a heat source or cooling source before we bought the place. However, we’ve lived in houses very close by with a number of different combinations of heating and cooling types, and mini splits are one of the cheapest. A very noticeable difference on the electric bills if you’re used to electric baseboard heaters and window ac units. I’d expect a 50% drop in energy costs if that’s what you’re coming from.
@@TheRenoBros thank you so much!
@@number1pappy You’re welcome! It’s worth noting that obviously heating and cooling make up only a portion of your electric bill, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see a $300 bill go down to $150 switching from electric baseboards and window ac units to a mini split, but I would expect a significant savings that will be felt. Some people have commented that Mr Cool isn’t easy to deal with for repairs or replacement parts. So far I haven’t experienced any issues, but definitely worth doing your due diligence before choosing a specific manufacturer. I’ve heard good things about Daikin and Mitsubishi as well.
I'm surprised that Mr.Cool doesn't uniformity controls, so that you could manage all or some of the units. Central Air doesn't usually offer individual room settings, unless you have control over the individual room vents and even then its not like you can heat or cool as needed
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, I’d be interested in learning if anyone has figured out how to accomplish that. There’s some value in the separate control of each room, but it would be nice to have the uniformity control as an option. We had a guest in our home recently who wanted to heat the room on a cold night, but our room was too warm for us, so we just turned off the unit and cracked a window overnight.
@@TheRenoBros On central air units that have zoning controls, there is often a setting that determines how long the system will run in a particular mode before switching to the opposite mode if the other zone wants something else. For example if one zone is cooling but another zone wants heat, the zone panel could to have a 20 or 30 minute switchover timeout. Some higher end mini split system do allow heat and cool at the same time by some kind of freon management between the head units.
@@rodhoutx That’s interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Is it loud in the room unit is in? Will it keep you up at night?
Thanks for the question! The interior unit is very quiet. The exterior unit occasionally gets fairly loud when the fan spins at a high speed, especially in the coldest or hottest months. That can sometimes impact sleep, but we also have a brick home and whoever installed the windows didn’t do a fantastic job. So automatically we have less insulation due to the construction of our home. Take that into consideration.
I am not using an app. Does it have it's own self-contained remote?
Does the condenser have to go outside? Thanks.
Someone else asked if they could go in a basement with proper venting. I'm not sure the answer to that but I'd assume if you could achieve proper venting then you could theoretically put the condenser in a basement. But I have yet to see someone do this. It's just simpler to put it outside.
How much is your electric bill? Is it cheaper than central air?