Hello everybody, I am in the very beginning stages of my house design and I keep bouncing between using mini splits vs Air-water heat pumps and fan coils and possibly a radiant slab.
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I intend to insulate my house very well, basically ICF construction with rigid foam above the roof sheathing and cellulose loose fill making up the rest of my roof insulation. Trying for somewhere around R-60.
The house will be set up with an open concept living dining and kitchen with vaulted ceilings taking up approximately half of the sqft the other half will be a master suite and a second bed and bath. Above the bedroom area we were planning on doing room in attic trusses to create a bonus room, possibly to be a third bedroom and storage area.
We were planning on doing a slab on grade so naturally my first thought was to include radiant heat but I would like to be all electric, a pv solar array is likely in the future. The mini splits are an attractive option because of their low price and proven track record but I have concerns with humidity control and even temperature throughout the house. I live in Climate zone 4a and we tend to have hot humid summers.
The air-water heat pump is the more expensive option but there is no limit of fan coil units that can be installed as long as maximum output of the unit is not exceeded and it would work with the radiant heating. I have looked into the chiltrix system and it can be purchased with a separate humidity control system. It seems like a good product just have no experience with these types of units.
So basically I&#;m wondering if the added comfort is worth the extra expense? How much of that warm foot feeling that is so popular with radiant am I missing out on? Also being a smaller house am I correct to assume I would need two &#;centrally&#; located fan coil units using the mini split heat pump? Sorry I know that was a lot of questions. Thanks in advance for an responses.
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Sound immissions and space requirements play a significant role when it comes to air source heat pumps. Split heat pumps are among the heating systems that not only take both factors into account, but also implement them optimally in practice.
A split heat pump consists of an indoor and an outdoor unit, whereby all components that can cause noise are installed in the outdoor unit. These include the fan, the evaporator and the compressor.
Accordingly, the indoor unit is compact and can be set up very flexibly in the home. Only the condenser, the circulation pump and the control and safety technology are located indoors. It is also extremely quiet, which is not only due to the split design, but to the coordinated components and a carefully considered, noise-optimised design.
During operation, the fan installed in the outdoor unit actively draws in outdoor air and channels it to the evaporator (heat exchanger). A refrigerant circulates inside the evaporator, which heats up at low temperature. Once the physical state of the refrigerant has changed, it flows as warm steam to the electrically powered compressor. This compresses the steam and thus raises its temperature to the level required.
The hot steam is then transferred via thin refrigerant pipes to the condenser, which is installed in the indoor unit. There, the hot steam transfers its thermal energy to the heating system and gradually cools down. Since it is still under high pressure, it must first pass through an expansion valve that restores its initial state. Once this step is complete, the process can start again.
Split heat pumps are characterised by their separation into a quiet indoor unit and an air handling outdoor unit.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Split Air To Water Heat Pump.