Mini split ceiling cassette in garage?

[minute_basset]

We'll be spray foam insulating our 30x40 garage; R-22 walls, R-49 roof. We've been considering different heating options including Mitsubishi Hyperheat mini splits in both the garage and the apartment space overhead. We're in VT.

There's a stairwell perpendicular to the long wall partially dividing the garage so it's somewhat "L" shaped so it may be a challenge positioning a wall unit for good heat distribution. We were thinking a ceiling cassette might be a good option since it distributes air in 4 directions. The ceiling height is 10' so my only concern is that we'll just be heating the top couple of feet of the garage. Has anyone heating with a mini split used a ceiling mounted head? How has it worked for you?

The apartment space will be an open plan studio so we're thinking of using a floor mounted unit which we can place in the center of the space and should work well.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I don't think you'll be happy with a cassette at that height. They have terrible air distribution.

Personally, I don't like cassettes at all. they **** to service, they tend to drip and only seem to evenly cool/heat smaller spaces.

Tommy

 

[Ohmthis]

I agree with Tommy. I’ve used a couple cassettes and even though they were sized correctly, they just didn’t provide enough comfort. They cab extremely difficult to clean and depending where they are (think humid area) drip condensation like crazy. With open areas the wall units do a good job (as long as they are sized correctly) of providing comfort. They are also very efficient.

 

[justinjoyal]

^^ Tommy and Ohmthis are right. I dont like cassettes either, for the same reasons.

 

[dcg9381]

I have not used a cassette, but I'm heating a large room with standard wall units mounted at above 8'. Our eves are 16' and total building height is probably 19'. The Daikin units can direct airflow, but the net is the the building will heat up just fine, you just won't get the benefit of more direct airflow.

 

[minute_basset]

Thanks for the input - greatly appreciated and helpful!

 

[fitter30]

Couple of ceiling fans should help with both moving the heat around keeping off the ceiling.

 

[chinboys]

Ceiling cassettes have a place and function as I wanted to have a cleaner look in my bedrooms when compared to the wall-mounted units. But I notice they are slower to cool due to the airflow through the internal channels and evaporators. Also having a built-in condensate pump makes it more complex relative to the wall units where gravity applies to the condensate removal.

It seems the less complex plus how much better the air flows from a squirrel cage fan as opposed to a pancake fan makes wall units better in speed in cooling.

Plus, the ceiling cassettes seem to be more expensive in purchase too.