Tag: Ductless

4 Easy Steps to Clean a Mini-Split System

Spray Cleaning Indoor Ductless

Ductless mini-split systems are growing in popularity as homeowners and businesses alike value their benefits. Just like any other HVAC system, regular preventive maintenance and cleaning is key in order to keep this investment running effectively, and efficiently, for as long as possible.

HVAC contractors must be careful when cleaning to ensure that any cleaning solution is not spilled on walls or flooring. Just follow these simple maintenance and cleaning steps to easily service a ductless system.

Step 1: Protect the Cleaning Area

Use a mini-split cleaning bag indoors to prevent leakage, chemicals over-spray, and to keep a clean, mess-free work area. Reusable maintenance bags are designed specifically for HVAC contractors to clean wall-mounted mini-splits and ceiling cassette systems. Continue reading “4 Easy Steps to Clean a Mini-Split System”

Series: Pro Training – Non Disposable A/C Units

Pro Training Blog Series

I don’t know about you, but I can say comfortably that I do not find myself in the position of having thousands of dollars I want to dispose of. If you find yourself in a different position, please contact me and I will be happy to help you relieve yourself of those burdensome funds. I am using that statement because I know we can all never agree on the exact “average” cost of a Ductless AC installation, but I feel confident we can all agree that the number is over $1000. My point being that the price point means I am not interested in just “throwing it away” at the first sign of trouble. These machines or appliances are not disposable. They can be maintained, and they can be repaired. However, both of those concepts must begin with us doing something that many of us feel uncomfortable with … opening the machine up. 

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Series: Pro Training – Ductless Drain Safety Installation

Pro Training Blog Series

The United States market has come a long way on embracing ductless HVAC units. From 20 years ago when you would occasionally see a unit installed on a sunroom to present day when this technology is regularly used to combat discomfort in bonus rooms, additions, garages, and even whole home applications. Along the way code has had to change in order to adapt to the more widely used ductless technology. One of these areas of adaption is in the protection of a wall mounted indoor unit from condensation overflow. Unlike traditional installations where auxiliary drain pans are widely used, the standard wall mounted indoor unit only has the internal drain pan. This design leaves open the possibility of wall and/or flooring damage should the drain line become obstructed.

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Multi-Zone Systems: The Good, The Bad, and The Conflicted

Zoning. The concept makes perfect sense, different areas within a location usually have two different attributes:

1). The thermal gain or loss differs between areas inside the same building envelope.

2). The occupants of the space have different comfort levels.

Therefore, the ability to control heating and cooling independently is a very appealing concept. The devil however lies in the details. Traditional unitary systems are designed for generally larger areas. Zoning incorporates the ability to isolate areas of the duct system and control the flow of conditioned air to those areas. One main flaw with this is that while the areas requiring conditioned air may vary, the capacity of the system remains the same. This can become a major issue when you have a system producing 1000-cfm of conditioned air, and one zone requiring only 300-cfm of conditioned air is calling. What do we do?

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Tech Tips: Ductless Logic – What that Wall Mounted Unit is Really Thinking

Ductless units or mini splits – they are the bane of many HVAC technicians. The units themselves are quiet, super-efficient, and work very well. Often, technicians will say something like, “I install a lot of these units and they generally work great, but honestly I have no idea what’s really going on inside those things.” It’s a fair enough statement. Most technicians are accustomed to contactors, relays, capacitors, AC voltage motors, and simple I/O controls. There is nothing simple in appearance about the inner workings of a ductless unit.

For starters, we have the board which is located next to a 2nd board which is then located above a 3rd board. There are no contactors or relays. The only capacitors are built into the control boards. Controls? Yes, we have controls, but not the traditional I/O kind we usually think about. Nope, these things talk back and forth. What are they saying? Who knows!

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Daikin Launches Updated SkyAir Single Zone System Products

Daikin has recently announced the launch of their updated SkyAir single-zone system products.  It consists of new RZR cooling-only models and RZQ heat pump outdoor models (where the 18k, 24k, 30k and 36k heat pumps provide 100% heating capacity at -4°F), new FAQ, FCQ and FTQ indoor units along with the addition of 4-ton systems for FTQ, FCQ and FBQ.

Daikin SkyAir is a 2-wire light commercial and residential family of cooling only and heat pump single-zone systems, consisting of a variety of ducted and non-ducted indoor units, ranging from 1.5-4 tons with lineset lengths up to 230’ while backed with a standard 10-year parts limited warranty.

Details About the New FTQ Multi-Purpose Air Handler

This new air handler provides a traditional ducted solution with the benefits of an inverter, variable-speed compressor in a side-discharge outdoor unit.

The FTQ is capable of upflow, downflow, horizontal left and horizontal right installation configurations and is designed for ZERO clearance on three sides and only 24” clearance on the front for service. It also has a smaller footprint compared with previous models, with a depth of 21”, width of 17.5-21” and a height of 45-53.4”.  The smaller size provides easier attic and mechanical closet installations.  It also comes standard with a factory installed disconnect switch and efficiencies of up to 16.0 SEER, 12.5 EER and 10.4HSPF (heat pump only).

For further SkyAir information, please click here or contact your local ECMD branch or associated ECMD sales rep.

 

Stay Always In Control With The Daikin Comfort Control App

Image from https://daikincomfort.com/products/thermostats-controls/daikin-comfort-control-app
Image from https://daikincomfort.com/products/thermostats-controls/daikin-comfort-control-app

The Daikin Comfort Control App allows users to control their Daikin systems with a compatible phone or tablet from anywhere they have a data or wireless connection.  This is purchased as a kit and is field installed to operate most Daikin single and multi-zone systems while also providing a much more cost-effective alternative to a wi/fi wall controller.

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