Air Conditioning - Mini-split brand quality...?

:coffee:I am looking to buy mini splits for 8 small cabins (2 rooms each 700 sq ft total - and 1 with 3 rooms, 1000 sq ft).

Want heating and cooling (heat pumps) and cabins are located in mild climate (Southern California).

I am an electrician and have enough AC experience to install them.

I am especially interested in hearing about the quality of the different brands out there (Fujitsu, Sanyo, Pace-Air, Mitsubishi, etc., etc......)

I'm sure there are only a few companies making the compressors but so many brands out there make it difficult to decide what to buy.....any advice (on brands, specific suppliers or other related topics appreciated. tnx

well, saw one thread that has problems with Fujitsu...
http://forum.doityourself.com/air-conditioning/277401-ductless-trouble.html

but this one thread says Fujitsu good and also Sanyo and Mitsubishi are the best...
http://forum.doityourself.com/air-conditioning/323148-mini-split-brands.html

Kind of surprised no one gave an opinion on the quality of mini-split ACs...I'll pick (with little info) and let you all know how they turn out.

FYI, my Trane units are darn-near trouble free. Only problem was when the condensate drain got clogged up.

If you ask for opinions on manufacturer quality on anything you will get a confusing mess of ideas and end up with a headache. There is not a nickels worth of difference between the manufacturers, the only thing that tells the tale is the price. There is a reason goodman for instance charges less than trane. (Thicker copper, heavier duty motors, etc.) The real difference is the installation. If properly installed any equipment will end up giving you what you need.

Explore hydronic ground source heat pumps. run all the cabins from one big heat pump and ground loop zoned for each cabin and get heat and cool and free hot water and save a bundle on electrical costs. IGSHPA | What is geothermal? (http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/geothermal/geothermal.htm)

Buy made in America GSHP's

http://www.geo4va.vt.edu/A3/GHP-cooling.gif

Heat Pumps (http://www.geo4va.vt.edu/A3/A3.htm)

you could check out the Climatemaster brand. the company i work for used to sell these all the time and had very good luck with them. we no longer seel them due to differences between our new owner and the manufacturer, but i had not had many problems with them that i can recall off hand.

speed

the best brand out there for ductless mini splits is for sure mitsubishi. all the other brands have very little distribution, have many issues with fujitsu and sanyo with being able to get part for the units. they have been doing these type of units for much longer and they are the leaders in the indutry everyone is at least 6 to 8 months behind in technology the also have the highest efficiency rating with a 23 seer unit and a what they call I SENSOR , you can see these units at goductless.com check them out

23 SEER ASHP
Frigidaire Heating & Cooling - Air Conditioners (http://www.frigidaire.net/splitsystemiQ.asp)
23 SEER ASHP
Central ACs (http://www.maytaghvac.com/M1200acfurn23.asp)
Please buy Made in America


Here is a tutorial on GSHP
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooli...
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooli...
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooli...
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/space_heating_cooli...

Geothermal Heat Pumps technical info
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24782.pdf
http://www.alliantenergygeothermal.com/stellent2/groups/public/docu...
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/heatpumps.html
http://www.nyserda.org/programs/geothermal/default.asp

Geothermal Heat Pumps testimonial info
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3593
http://www.canren.gc.ca/prod_serv/index.asp?CaId=150&PgId=769


Ground source heat pumps accredited installer in the area
http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/directory/directory.asp


Made in New York ground source heat pump manufacturer
http://www.coldpointcorp.com/
Have a pretty good coefficient of performance COP
http://www.coldpointcorp.com/pdf/1-2008%20WS%20PDF/VI%20SPEC%2012-0...
Now don't know if they have hydronic water to water models.

Made in the US ground source heat pumps manufacturer
http://www.climatemaster.com/index/index
http://www.econar.com/index.htmhttp://www.econar.com/index.htm
http://www.carriergeo.com/index.htm
http://www.geoexcel.com/GeoExcel.htm
http://www.geocomfort.com/calculator
http://www.fhp-mfg.com/residential.htm
http://www.waterfurnace.com/comfort_systems.aspx
http://www.heatcontroller.com/category.php?prod=ca&c=32

According to US DOA, On average, a geothermal heat pump system costs about $2,500 per ton of capacity, or roughly $7,500 for a 3-ton unit (a typical residential size). A system using horizontal ground loops will generally cost less than a system with vertical loops. In comparison, other systems would cost about $4,000 with air conditioning. And with a 30% $2000 federal tax credit, GSHP are well worth considering. http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/incentive2.cfm?Incentive_C...