MRCOOL performance test and cost to run - 18k DIY mini split
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
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Blog post - www.howtomotorcyclerepair.com/mrcoolminisplitinstall
I live in Phoenix and when it is 115 outside it will stay at 73 inside my garage that I have installed insulation in my walls and ceiling. I love my Pioneer mini split 12,000 BTU cost me around $1100 total with line set cover, vacuum pump, and flaring tool for my line set. Now all my friends are borrowing my tools to put splits in their garages.
What’s your sq ft?
@@OneManTrail 400
Doing the same thing out here in Southern Nevada! Love the Pioneer 18k
My garage is now a usable shop. Before it was 106° now it's in the low 70's. Oh and it was 110°F today.
Definitely insulate better !
Insulated my ceiling with blown in insulation and walls (much cheaper). Insulated my garage door with foam board from HD.
WHAT A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE !
Keep up the great video's cause I learned a lot from you (especially carburetor tuning ) 👍
Yes, I'll wait until fall with cooler temps. I have the insulation, just need time LOL.
sounds like a good way time to find a few buddies, clear out the garage, insulate with 2 inch foam boards tape and seal. then organize everything back together :D
In the U.S., the nominal voltage in single phase systems used in most residential services is 240 volts, despite it being colloquially called "220". So your cost was actually about 9% higher.
I think you should measure the current every hour to get a more accurate estimation. I believe when the room is cool enough. The amperage is lower. The amperage shouldn’t be always the same since, the unit works less when the room is cooler (:
Dude.. ! BEST video yet! Please, be sure to check out video(s) on how to 'properly' seal up those rafters and get place baffles in your attic space. MY concern, would be the 'sweating' of the concrete block and anywhere wood contacts different surfaces. Mold build up basically, anywhere there is not 'enough' air flow. i.e. behind work bench or tool box etc. The insulation issue is a big deal. Especially, considering you did the right thing with 'upsizing' the unit for the designated space. My opinion. Thanks for showing us, all the math and websites and power consumption meter readings.. AWESOMENESS!
Makes me kinda feel better about my Pioneer. I have a 594 sq ft garage and I put in a 12k btu 21.5 seer Pioneer. It works, but it takes a long time to cool off. I kinda have to leave it on all day if I'll be going out there. I want to upgrade mine to a 24k btu so if I pull in a car it will pull back down. On my garage, we have blown in insulation, R11 garage door, cement block on two sides. It does take a while to cool down especially once the block has heated up later in the day. Sometimes it will only get down to 78, but when it 90 outside and very humid, it feels good. I just wanted it to be like low 70's in there lol.
I have moved the tstat to eye level and can maintain 74° in really hot weather if I turn it on in the morning. Just the lower humidity and no bugs make all the difference. Good enough for me and if I wear sandals my toes get cold LOL.
Nice neat install on that unit. I have a 24x24 wood frame garage with insulation and drywall. I have a 10,000 btu window unit that someone put out for trash and it will get the garage as cool as I want. Yesterday was 92 degrees outside and inside was 70 and almost felt chilly. I was considering a split system but I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got.
The advantage for a mini split is that it is more efficient and quieter.
Cant heat the garage with an AC unit, if you needed to. If you only need to cool and noise is not a concern, Window AC is a better choice
Iam trying to make a decision between Mr cool split system and a window ac/heater for my man cave/ 3 car garage . I already have a window there
Getting rid of humidity makes a huuuuuuge difference in comfort. I worked at a large plant and it didn't have AC when I started, but later they installed giant dehumidifiers and it made a world of difference. Still warm, but pleasant.
Yes, in just one hour it was a huge difference.
One thing you have to consider is that EVERYTHING in your garage is HOT and HUMID, not just the air. All of the wood in the joists, the cement block walls, capets, fabrics, foam items, etc. hold lots of heat and humidity. Living here in Central Florida, we are hot and humid most of the year with average temps in the low 80s to mid 90s during the summer and always 75-95% humidity. I learned from personal experience that it's better to set your AC at something like 78 degrees and just leave it there and running all the time. Once EVERYTHING in the shop has been cooled down to that temp and the excess humidity has been removed, your unit will run much less and cost you less to run. Also, when you open the garage door to bring a car in or out, if you close the door quickly, the AC can quickly recover the heat, and cool the air down again because EVERYTHING ELSE in the garage is already cool. Most folks never think about that, they are only trying to measure the air temp which is a very small component of total climate and comfort in your shop. As you mentioned, keeping the humidity lower, in the 45 % range is ideal, and will not only feel good at warmer temps, but it will also help prevent all of your tools and other items from rusting, I think you will find over time if you just leave the AC turned on and running all the time while set at one temperature that is most comfortable for you, the AC will settle down and run at a much lower power setting while keeping the shop nice and cool and dry. It's also much better for the AC equipment to run at a lower demand for longer periods of time because it's easier on the hardware, and will not only extend the life of your equipment, but should also do a better job of removing humidity out of the air. Hope this insight from a central Florida perspective helps. Thanks for sharing your video, I enjoyed it.
Great update/review. Wish you did the spreadsheet with Mr. Cool temps at ground level instead of outside vs. attic temps.
Yeah, the data from the Ecobee probe is poor because that air up there isn't getting circulated at all by the air handler.
"84 degrees... its hot out there man... " LOL!! That's cute! That's nice weather in TX :D
Fuck no, anything over 70 is garbage.
I'm thinking the same thing. Hot as balls here in San Antonio
@@johnnywoods6666 I absolutely cannot wait to move up to the mid northwest, maybe like Montana or something.
I honestly don't know how these lower areas ever got populated, it's just entirely too hot
Nice video.. In the 90's...being nasty? We live with 102+ @ 60% humidity on average. Just as a suggestion: You can buy R10 or better reflective (roll 3/8" thick) or R Max foam 4x8 panels to glue to those walls. I used the roll type under my new metal roof and cut my cooling cost in half. Shortly afterwards, the utility company came and changed my meter. I laughed.
Nice video, your video timing coming up on my feel was interesting. Working on my 16 Honda VFR1200X today and considering a cooling option for my place, anyway thank you for the helpful info!
An interesting video. I am not sure that your electricity cost estimates are accurate, however it does seem to be very economical.
By comparison, I live in AZ which has low humidity but the temperature at night, without the sun, is somewhere around 95 degrees F. I just had a Trane 18 seer, 5-ton split-system AC (with gas furnace) installed professionally - my house is 1850 SF. It has two stages. We measured the power draw when it is running on the 2nd stage at full capacity and it was drawing around 19 amps. I have not measured the lower stage power draw, but Trane says that is drops to 70%, which means it would be drawing approximately 13.3 AMPs. Trane also states it is the equivalent of running a 3.5 ton unit. During September, the temperature got up over a 100 degrees nearly every day and most of the time the highs were around 104 degrees. During that time, the unit ran at the first stage the entire time except for once when I let the house heat up to around 83 degrees. But even then, it kicked down into 1st stage (low capacity). The big difference is that my house is insulated pretty well. My monthly energy bill for September was just over $100.00, which I was thrilled with. It cost me about $3.33 a day to cool my house 24 hours a day. If I was working away from home, this cost would have gone down.
Here in AZ we have intense heat, but very low humidity. In the Chicago area, the higher humidity makes the temperature feel higher. Once you install insulation, your cooling costs will go down significantly. What you are fighting right now is a high heat gain because of a lack of AC.
You did a great job. Enjoy your new system. I think it will serve you perfectly for your garage area.
Thanks for the testing and info.
If you buy a hybrid hot water heater that alone will cool your garage with no insulation
We hit 105f the other day our house stayed around 74 in the two rooms with head units.
Got this Mr cool 1 1/2 year ago I had problem loading it into my cellphone it saying can't find my internet connection and my internet is working figure you might know the problem. Great video though 👌
Paint the brick with some of the roof paint to help with the heat on the walls.
You MUST add up all the wattage of what is in use in the garage then x that number by 4 and that’s the amount of btu you need for the area
Thanks for your video. I can't get my mrcool to load on my phone. I load the App but not communicating with my internet box
Pump the brakes here. I'm not a certified sparky, but if your compressor runs off 220v, you need to add the amperage together from both legs of the AC and use the combined total of that with 120vac to get the actual kwh consumption.. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I'm calculating my HVAC costs...
Only one leg is supposed to be measured: www.contractortalk.com/f5/measuring-240v-current-clamp-meter-132088/
Also, the inside unit is powered from the outside unit.
No dude thats day 1 electrician stuff Watts = amps x volts. Every tradesman should carry that goofy folding conversion table card.
Any idea what power usage is on heat mode?
You should have checked outlet air temps. If the Unit was pumping out 70 degree air vs 90+ outside I’d be a little more intrigued in this brand
I was right, just left a comment on your install vid, you have to install a 36K mini split or you're waisting your time. The 18 to 24K units cannot keep up. By the way, as an idea run your mini split all night in your garage, when it gets cooler outside the mini split will really get some nice cool air and cool everything in your garage so later it's harder to heat that garage up. Anyway, great video and finally someone with data to show. But once again people, INSTALL A 36K OR DON'T BOTHER when installing in a garage or large shop.
its only 400 square feet even without a ceiling, that should be a small enough area to be cooled with 18k unit even on a very hot day . you should be able to get to 70 degrees . this guy in this video has huge air leaks somewhere
expert autodetail with this guys situation he has cinderblock walls they hold an insane amount of heat. Yes 18k should do that but you’re not taking account of a heat load calculation. Sizing a Air conditioner is more than square feet. We’re also taking into account that every thing In the garage is hot and that ac has to cool those objects down too. If he were to leave it on at 83 or 84 it would be a lot easier to cool down the garage when he wants to work in there. And it would probably easily get down In the 70s
Biggest thing I would like you to focus is REMOVING Heat with clear paths for the heat to travel from the eves to the ridge vent or whatever your garage roof uses to vent heat out. I observe your temp sensor readings took too long to lower the temps sufficiently. Ventilation paths for the heat to rise out is very important. You mentioned a a good ceiling fan. That should help a lot to keep air moving. But you are working on cars with use of a few VOC's and carbon monoxide risks. A gable fan is recommended ICW radiant barrier that easily staples from the eves to the ridge. Next biggest humidity problem comes from drainage around your house and garage. Water carries heat away when it has a clear drain path....AWAY from the footer at minimum 3'; recommend 15'. Please consider this BEFORE wasting your labor time on expensive INSULATION. INSULATION is good; but AFTER you take the steps above. INSULATION is bad dangerous if it traps the moisture then mold . Again, removing heat and water are fundament infrastructure pre-requisites that are supposed to be taught in Air Conditioning school. Oh my, what are the little baby termites gonna do now without a source of subterranean water ? Thanks for considering these little suggestions....
Probably doesn't matter as much in a garage, but you don't want to use insulation with vapor barrier on the roof. A house has a vented roof at least and you want that moisture to pass through to vent out. Even if it were a floor the vapor barrier goes up against the floor above you, not down.
I know it is not ideal, but I have not had any issues.
@@HTMR yeah it's not massive. I just learned about it fairly recently in a home inspection. WA thinking it may help dissipate the heat if some of it can escape through the roof. Well once like you mentioned you pop some insulation on the walls
I dont think he has a ventilated roof considering its not clised off
The amps must rise with turbo mode? In New England we are paying around twice per kilowatt hour as you.
I didn't check that. I would assume so.
A better test would be to have the unit hit your comfort temp, say 78F at 4AM and see how it's able to maintain that temp. Shutting down thermostatically controlled ACs and forcing them to contend with cooling down a hot room is not efficient at all. A better idea is a programmed system to set the temp higher when not occupied and have it do a pre-cool down before you occupy the space ending up at you preferred occupied setting. It's not a light bulb, just saying. Good video though.
Mr cool 18 cents a hour?4.32 a day?Have set temperature 24 hrs a day.Will I be paying for 24 hrs or say only actually running say couple of hrs a day?What should I expect for a month bill?
If the unit is to be on all the time, it will turn off when temp is satisfied. Too many factors to tell you how much it will cost: location, building type, insulatation etc...
U should/could make the ceiling Flat and that way the A.c. don't have to work as hard trying to cool all that extra Square footage Sqf
Definitely looks like you need a 2 ton ac in there
Good video! Mr Cool should like this video. 👍🏻
It should fluctuate watts as it cools down and the dc inverter slows the motor down
What was the seer rating of your unit?
Thank you
Wondering if you air sealed or if your attic is open/vented. Seems like 18k btu should cool that into the mid 70's
Hi,.. Is the line set directional?... That's to say.... R the connectors specific to the indoor /outdoor units? Mine came with no identifying marks to orient correctly.... Thanks.
Not a very fair review. Concrete block gives you thermal mass, not r value. The block is heated up and it will continue to radiate heat until it's cooled. Same if it's freezing, it will remain cold until warmed up. Changing thermal mass from hot to cold takes time. Even if you stand there in the ac, the block is radiating heat. To make an appreciable difference, you should have set the thermostat at a reasonable temperature like 78 degrees and let the unit run all night. At night, with cooler temperatures and Without the sun beating on the block, the ac unit would have had a chance to cool the block. The thermal mass then works for you, not against. I cool a similar concrete block space and we have higher temps and higher humidity with 10000 btu window ac and it's left on, and it's nice and cold. Saw your review of 12000 BTU minisplit, I think it will work for me.
Just saw these units today when reizing my central air unit needs to be replaced. Do you feel this is worth the price? One unit probably won't cool a whole 3 bedroom house, so 2 would be almost the price of a new central air unit and install. Not sure if it is worth what they ask, since you intall them yourself. Do you have to run the hose, wires through a hole in the wall? Can you run them out a window with a metal panel made to fit or be secure? Then you could bring the outside unit inside when it isn't hot to keep it from damage during the winter. Unless you are using this to also heat your home/area. Plus, I guess you would have to be careful to cage the outside unit to keep it from being stolen for whatever reasons.
Hey player if you already have thr duct work i would stick with the central unit
MrCool 3rd gen is variable fan speed, 2 fans. Variable compressor speed. Using any one time measurements on current will be wildly incorrect for watt hour measurements unless you are just balls to the wall all the time. Get a Drok meter off of ebay, it will give you a resettable register to count up your usage. Less than $20. Also you will discover that your garage and ALL OF THE STUFF IN IT REQUIRES A LOT OF ENERGY AND TIME TO GET IT DOWN TO TEMP. Having a timed cycle to cool the shop down EARLY in the AM when osa temp is low will make it all less painless. Having a WH meter will prove it to you. That BIG thermal flywheel is a bitch. Michael in Colorado.
I assumed that it was commanding full power since thermostat was not satisfied.
I think you'll need better insulation to achieve an environment that will make the purchase worthwhile.
So far you are spending money on a slim comfort margin.
I'll add more insulation and better sealing this fall.
Is this the Mr cool minisplit from Costco? If it is, I got recommended by someone online, however I been reading all kinds on mix reviews on this unit☹️ I have a 3 car garage/man cave with about 620sq ft with 8 ceiling night. I live in Clovis California with a 9b zone I think
Nice
Hey great video! I'm thinking of putting one of these units in my garage. Since its getting colder out I want to use it for heat. It would be great if you could give us some info on how well it heats. It would be really appreciated.
Well, I live in Chicago and need more than 18k btu to heat my space. I have a natual gas heater 60k (oversized but was free). However, I tested the mrcool on heat mode and it works fine. Would work perfect for those in a more mild climate.
@@HTMR I live in Michigan and I was going to buy the 23k to heat and cool my 625 sq ft garage. Its a detached garage and fully insulated, hopefully it does the job.
@@ryangibas3363 That won't be enough. I imagine you will need 40-60k to heat that space. I'm at 480 sq ft with poor insulation and 60k works great.
Hey I have a question is their a website I can see that shows parts of a Kawasaki kx250f 2004. I have this bike but it hasn’t been used in many years. It hasn’t Been used a lot I don’t know why it won’t start. I’m am trying to fix it but I don’t know what parts I need or what there called. Can you give me some advice?
How do you think this would do in a 12x12 shed office? I'm a bit worried about the running costs. I'd need it running 24/7 in the summer to keep the office cool. For the computer systems etc. The office is insulated and sheet rocked like a typical home. Im in NC and we get some hot Temps in the mid 9ps in the summer.
Sure why not.
Matthew is the unit in garage a inverter?
I have a 3 car garage man cave of 660sq ft with 8 ceiling ft high. Its fully insulated even the garage doors too. I live in Clovis California in zone 9b I think.
I been looking at the DuctlessAire 12000-BTU 230-Volt 22 SEER 600-sq Smart Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioner and Heater with 25-ft Installation Kit for $1052
My garage is fully insulated even the garage doors. WIll this work even though it says only for 600sq ft? Or should I get the 18000-BTU 230-Volt 21 SEER 900-sq Smart Ductless Mini Split Air Conditioner and Heater with 25-ft Installation Kit?
This one is for 900sq ft but I was reading that if I get an overzsize minisplit it won't work that good?? This one is $1500.
Thank u
Bigger is better in a garage.....been there. I would get the 24k.
your amerage is like 3x of that of other 18k Mrcool systems ..now that maybe because you are starting it in 90deg weather with very little insulation ? but average should 3amp or less
Can you show me info on that 3A? I don't see how it can be that low. Maybe because I had it on high and it had to put in some work.
How’d it do this winter? Curious how it does with midwest winters. I’ve heard they have trouble keeping up as the temp drops low.
I don't use it for heat. 18k not enough. I have a 60k natural gas heater. NG is way cheaper also.
@@HTMR that’s what I was worried about. I unfortunately have propane which is pricey so I was looking for a good solution to keep the temp at a decent point.
Sweet review. What lights are those?
Free fixtures from a school, loaded with LED Hyperikons: czcams.com/video/2uUJ2nNLKdY/video.html
Does it only oscillate up and down? I have the MrCool and where the installer put it, it blows ice cubes right on me. Ty
If you haven't already looked there may be manually adjustable fins just inside the unit. We don't have a MrCool but ours do have the fins as well as the automatically controlled front door. Automatic door controls the up/down air flow the manual ones control the left/right air flow.
You can adjust the position of the louvers on the remote and in the app. Fixed or auto.
I wish you would've just got a bunch of thermometers from the dollar store than relying on a website to measure outside temp and a single wall thermometer for internal temp. Might as well give a plus/minus 5 degrees or more on anything you're trying to measure. So many variables....
Can you embed this link in your first video’s description please?
Huh?
@@HTMR sorry. Great video. Very helpful. I was trying to find this follow up video and scrolling through the whole video for the pop up was tedious. So, can you add it to the description?
@@maceo2012 Done.
trying to cool a garage is almost futile(unless you have sealed your garage like your house). not to mention you have your thermometer in the attic. serious waste of cash on electric. Better off to buy a portable swamp cooler for a garage and a big industrial fan. also keep the garage door cracked open. And never try and start cooling mid day.
Any idea what energy cost is when using as heat?
Haven't tested that yet. I don't plan on using this for heat as I have a 60k natural gas heater. However, the heat pump would run in reverse, so I would guess that energy consumption would be similar.
do you work on chevelles
Only my personal chevelle.
so would you recommend the unit for cooling your garage in illinois
.. if it's 85 outside what can I expect the temp to be inside with 22x22 garage 9ft ceiling
@@deon0816deon Is your ceiling drywalled? Good insulation? If so, it will cool it fine. My feet would get cold wearing sandals LOL.
So basically my in window A/C is better at cooling and just as costly? Without even a single tool necessary to install? Hmmm...
Yeah well this thing sips energy and is super quiet. Oh and it can heat also.
For 130 bucks a month I wouldn’t shut it off 😂
4 degrees less in 4hours sound like mr. crap !