Mini Splits

[Bamafan1550]

I am considering trashing my duct work unit in my upstairs living area. It is not sufficient and I am tired of my wife fussing about how hot it gets. I'm looking at the mini splits. I will need a 4 head unit to handle the entire upstairs. My problem is I have 5' kick walls to the angle of the roof (10/12 pitch) to the flat ceiling which is at 8 ' high. I am being told the head units need at least 6' floor clearance and 6" ceiling clearance. And will not operate correctly.
Why is this and will it work if I place it 6" off the floor?

 

[DHCrocks]

the intake for a mini split is usually on the top of the unit so you need the clearance so air can get to it. As far as putting it close to the floor I don't think that would work to well, cold air sinks so only the cool air would be getting to the unit and the floor would be cold but not the air in the room. You need to get the hot air from the ceiling into the unit and blow the cold air up high and it will sink and evenly cool the room which is why it should be mounted up high.

 

[justinjoyal]

You might be interested in console units.

Look for console mini-split or floor mount mini-split on Google.

 

[Ohmthis]

How much area is being conditioned, what's the lay out? The smallest heads that I know of are 6k but, so four of them is 2tons of total cooling enough for 1000-1500 sqft depending on certain factors.

 

[Jackfre]

I have used Tjernlund Airshares in projects to assist moving air without having to have an evaporator in each room. I generally run them off a switched outlet. Simple, quiet, effective, efficient. Panasonic, Broan and others make transfer fans, but I've sold a few thousand of the Tjernlund's in multi-family projects and they are bullet-proof. Definitely worth a look!

 

[bzinsky]

I am considering trashing my duct work unit in my upstairs living area. It is not sufficient and I am tired of my wife fussing about how hot it gets. I'm looking at the mini splits. I will need a 4 head unit to handle the entire upstairs. My problem is I have 5' kick walls to the angle of the roof (10/12 pitch) to the flat ceiling which is at 8 ' high. I am being told the head units need at least 6' floor clearance and 6" ceiling clearance. And will not operate correctly.
Why is this and will it work if I place it 6" off the floor?

6" off the floor and the AC will be sucking in cold air. It also blows downwards.

Just mount the unit high, then run the linesets and drain through the wall, and then outside. It isn't mandatory that the linesets go right outside where the head is mounted.

 

[miketyler]

I put a ceiling cassette in the middle of a long vaulted loft space annd its working great. More complicated install but cleaner look and gave me more options in locating the AC source in middle of the space