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Domestic Air Conditioning

Domestic Air Conditioning

Old Jan 16th 2009, 10:35 pm
  #1  
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Default Domestic Air Conditioning

Hi all,

I don't want to sound stupid and call the air conditioning company that fitted our system and say I'm not sure its working well if it is (I actually called them when we first had it installed and they checked it for me).

We have a 4 x 2, wood floors and a lot of rooms that get sunlight (no eaves (sp) or shading).

We had reversed cycled aircon put in just over 18 months ago and this is the only house we have been in for the past two summers. When I looked into the systems we didn't go for a cheap one. Supposed to be one of the best domestic ones.

Well the thing is our house still feels hot on the very hot days and I don't know what is normal. The guys did tell me that most domestic air con units are not designed to blast out to all zones (we have 4) at any one time so we don't do that, we also leave it on rather than turning on and off on the extreme days. We've worked out that if we shut off our sun baked games room it does make a bit of a difference and the system works better. The problem comes in the evening. If I say have it on the living space for the afternoon but then want to switch to the bedrooms ready for the kids to go down their bedrooms take ages to cool down (may as well open the windows and put the kids to bed at 9pm which is what happened last night) and the living area heats up pretty quick.

We have thought about tinting some of our windows to help with the heat in the afternoon as it drops. I've been to my sister in laws house who has tints and air con and it's a lot cooler.

Also when we first had the unit we also realised we had to shut the toilet doors because the air would start sucking from the ceiling fans thus taking all the hot air out of the roof. The other solution was to just turn the fan on so they were drawing up instead. I've noticed that this doesn't happen anymore. Perhaps because the fans are stiffer after being used for 18 months or a little clogged up with dust or the air con return vent isn't drawing the air back.

I'd appreciate any tips with these units. Sorry for the long winded post.

Poppet

p.s I was thinking these guys would just suggest a service but I didn't want to that if our system is working normally and its more of a case of the way we need to run it. i.e one zone on a very hot day etc. Thanks for listening to the waffle

Last edited by PoppetUK; Jan 16th 2009 at 10:42 pm.
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Old Jan 17th 2009, 12:10 am
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Default Re: Domestic Air Conditioning

Also when we first had the unit we also realised we had to shut the toilet doors because the air would start sucking from the ceiling fans thus taking all the hot air out of the roof. The other solution was to just turn the fan on so they were drawing up instead. I've noticed that this doesn't happen anymore. Perhaps because the fans are stiffer after being used for 18 months or a little clogged up with dust or the air con return vent isn't drawing the air back.

Are these ceiling exhaust fans in the toilet? If so ,hot air rises why did it drag hot air down?

First and foremost get sunblock curtains, far cheaper than tinting.
You have to stop the sun entering or your going to have a massive power bill.

Restrict your cooling to one area by shutting all other doors, difficult in an open plan granted!
Is your ceiling insulated completely. I ask this as we had to add extra to our house (didn't notice untill after purchase)
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Old Jan 17th 2009, 4:37 am
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Default Re: Domestic Air Conditioning

Hello All,

You have the same conditions we have, it doesn't matter how many zones you have, but how many outlets, if you are cooling all four beds and only two are used then you are wasting the air flow,close all your blinds before the sun hits your room, this will keep it cooler for a start. tinting is good, heat reflective is better, full insulated your roof space and have roof extraction.
to begin with when you first put your air con on, have it running in your family room only and close all other doors and windows, once the sun is down open the windows on the cool side of the house to vent the heat, then 2 hours before the room needs to be used put on the zone but leave the doors open, this will increase the temp in the main room slightly but it should cool down the other rooms quickly, don't forget to close the windows again. Don't cool anything that isn't need and if necessary have the company come back in and re zone, now you know how your house runs. Clean your filters regulary this will ensure that you are making the most of your air con, service timing is roughly two years if you keep the filters clean. i do this for a living, and trying to do the house in one go will take around 4 hours for 4 degrees on a very hot day

Regards

kevin
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Old Jan 17th 2009, 4:54 am
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Default Re: Domestic Air Conditioning

It's not working properly. How often do you clean the return air filter...? If you haven't done so yet, do so straight away. What brand is it...? (just me being nosey ) If you turn the temperature down as far as it will go and just have one zone on is the air coming out really cold...?
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Old Jan 17th 2009, 8:21 am
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Default Re: Domestic Air Conditioning

Originally Posted by PoppetUK
Hi all,

I don't want to sound stupid and call the air conditioning company that fitted our system and say I'm not sure its working well if it is (I actually called them when we first had it installed and they checked it for me).

We have a 4 x 2, wood floors and a lot of rooms that get sunlight (no eaves (sp) or shading).

We had reversed cycled aircon put in just over 18 months ago and this is the only house we have been in for the past two summers. When I looked into the systems we didn't go for a cheap one. Supposed to be one of the best domestic ones.

Well the thing is our house still feels hot on the very hot days and I don't know what is normal. The guys did tell me that most domestic air con units are not designed to blast out to all zones (we have 4) at any one time so we don't do that, we also leave it on rather than turning on and off on the extreme days. We've worked out that if we shut off our sun baked games room it does make a bit of a difference and the system works better. The problem comes in the evening. If I say have it on the living space for the afternoon but then want to switch to the bedrooms ready for the kids to go down their bedrooms take ages to cool down (may as well open the windows and put the kids to bed at 9pm which is what happened last night) and the living area heats up pretty quick.

We have thought about tinting some of our windows to help with the heat in the afternoon as it drops. I've been to my sister in laws house who has tints and air con and it's a lot cooler.

Also when we first had the unit we also realised we had to shut the toilet doors because the air would start sucking from the ceiling fans thus taking all the hot air out of the roof. The other solution was to just turn the fan on so they were drawing up instead. I've noticed that this doesn't happen anymore. Perhaps because the fans are stiffer after being used for 18 months or a little clogged up with dust or the air con return vent isn't drawing the air back.

I'd appreciate any tips with these units. Sorry for the long winded post.

Poppet

p.s I was thinking these guys would just suggest a service but I didn't want to that if our system is working normally and its more of a case of the way we need to run it. i.e one zone on a very hot day etc. Thanks for listening to the waffle
how large are your rooms , is the system ducted [ ie the internal unit in the loft , are the majority of the windows south facing , what is the model of the unit , how many kilowatts is the system , has the system always been poor on the cooling side .
first thing to do is clean your filters , once clean turn the system on and set it to cool , give the system 5 mins to start up , now go outside to the condensing unit , the air coming off the fan on the unit should be approx 12 to 14 degrees warmer than the outside ambient temperature , also pull back the insulation on the larger of the two pipes and feel it with your hand it should be fairly cold also there will be condensation on the pipe . if all these factors are correct i would possibly say that the unit could be undersized , you need to check how many killowatts of cooling the unit is capable of .
as a rough guide 1 killowatt of cooling is approx 10 cubic meters , so if it is a 12 killowatt system is will cool a room of 120 cubic meters and so on , you need to measure your rooms and calculate the duty , personally i would be dissapointed if the system didnt pull the rooms down to the desired temperature within 30 mins , i hope this is of some help , regards.
karl.

Last edited by 571090; Jan 17th 2009 at 8:39 am.
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