I am actually looking into the same exact thing right now. I'm adding a room about 25x22 as a gameroom/media area and another room above it about 14x18 and i'm trying to figure out what mini split heat pumps to use.

Please move to off topic forum

I use the Mitsubishi version in mine and we love it. I think mine is a one ton unit for a 22 x 11 room. Keepes people cool with a 42 inchh tv, stereo, and all the pins going at once. It really didn't add much to my utility bill...20 or 30 a month in the summer...

I recently had one installed in my house Daikin brand. We really like it it dropped our heating and cooling bills a lot! They are very efficient and one head keep our 1200sf house comfortable. Ours is an 18,000btu if memory serves. One thing to remember is that these things are NOT silent. People may tell you that they are, but don't listen. They are not super loud, but ours is distracting when watching TV.

Cool; looking into getting a ductless heat pump for my gameroom garage... I will have to try to get an extra quiet one.

I'm not so sure 9000btus of AC is going to be enough in a 384 sqft room. If you were using it a supplemental it would be plenty, but alone it probably won't be enough. Hopefully someone with more AC knowledge than myself can chime in.

I use a quiet side splitless duct system to supplement my great room that has tons of windows and is around 800 sqft. It does a pretty good job.

Also, I'm not a big fan of how the air is distributed but there aren't really many options with them. And they aren't that quiet either. Not loud, but don't expect silence like a central air duct. As far as bills, I haven't noticed anything significant yet.

i had the mitsu mr. slim's installed throughout my house (110 years old, plaster over brick, virtually no insulation) a couple years ago... i am very glad i did...

my electric bills were cut by 2/3rds in the summer months vs. when i was using window shakers... and while the units aren't quite as quiet as a "true" central air system, they sound like a mouse compared to the window shakers... and they actually cool the entire house, unlike the old beasts...

if you don't have ductwork (or like me, have no room to run ductwork), the "splits" are a very good option...

The Mitsu Mr. Slim is the favorite of my a/c guy (also a great friend of mine). The only downside to this option is cost. The unit is about ten times the orig cost (Accordingly - also ten times the replacement cost) of a "window shaker". Otherwise, though, if money is not the number one issue (ie. You have already dumped 30k in pins and 30k in a gameroom) then by all means consider this a great solution, as ccotenj has suggested above.

Honorable mention goes to the old fashioned $250 "window shaker". Very cheap to install, very cheap to replace, and, just like when you had you first clunker car in high school - you can just turn up the volume on the pins/stereo to drown out the unwanted noise.

What's a window shaker? A window unit AC?

yea...

yea, they were not cheap... $13.5k installed for 4 inside and 2 outside units... not quite 10 times the cost though, at least in my case, i was looking at about $3k to replace my 5 window shakers with "appropriately sized" units... given the "savings" in electricity (not to mention how much better they work), i think (think, not "sure") i'll come out ahead... plus i'm hoping it is a "value add" if i actually sell the house before i die... but as you point out, the initial investment is significantly more than window units...

your last sentence is what pushed me over the edge to do this, honestly... after spending heaven knows how much time, effort and money on a "good" listening/viewing environment, it was driving me nuts to have the constant (and loud) drone of the window units... plus i couldn't really find a high enough btu unit for the theater that would actually fit in the window (damn replacement windows have a much "smaller" opening than what was originally there)... it takes a lot of btu's to overcome the heat generated by the pj/other stuff... the unit that was in here would run constantly, and during the summer, it would still be 85 degrees inside... so i got all of the downsides (noise, rattling,etc.) with no upside (still was hot)... with the mitsu, i can turn it into an igloo, if i so desired...

plus now i have 5 "spare" (well, actually 3 now, since i've already re-located 2 of them) 20 amp dedicated circuits to play with... i had those circuits run specifically for the window units when i had my house completely re-wired 15 years ago (another "not inexpensive" project )... that was a nice little "bonus"...

that being said, if someone is just trying to do one room, doesn't really care about the noise, and will not be using it all the time, a window unit would be a better solution from an economic standpoint... like everything else, it depends on your end goal...

the other thing i'd add is "ensure you are properly btu'd"... ties back to my earlier theater comment... while you definitely don't want to "oversize", "just barely enough" btu's rarely works out... it would be the same with pins in an enclosed room... stick 4 or 5 (or more) pins in an enclosed room, and those puppies are going to make it darn warm in there... nothing in life is more frustrating (to me, anyway) than spending money and not getting a "good" solution in the end...

edit: side note... if i had room for ductwork, i would have gone with the "central air" solution... the cost would have been essentially the same (once you factor in the expense of ducting), and the central is a "better" solution than the split...

I have a LG one in my sunporch/game room and I would recommend avoiding this brand.
I've had to replace 4 thermistors in the 2 years I've owned it... every season I have to replace one.

Wow! I paid $1200 installed for my unit. I guess my AC guy likes me.

We have one in our game room. It's a really great addition, man! Go for it. As far as it's specifications... I have no idea.

Mitsubishi and Daikin is very reliable brand, definitely go for it. Split air conditioning would be best for your gameroom/home as they could be installed anywhere in the room unlike window AC's. Though it's beneficial that you contact some air conditioning repair technicians as they provide the information needed to select the proper AC system that will best fit your home. Visit the following website for more useful information: http://www.amtekair.com/

they are the best - go on ebay and buy them there - way cheaper - I had them done for my game room - under 2k if you have a plumber who doesn't rip you off. they work great - sadly I am taking mine out this year and getting the ones that do both heat and ac.

I had just the ac ones installed - changing to both heat and ac. the heat works up to about 25 degrees outside - after that they don't work, but it will do for nov and dec. also march and april. at least in normal winters - if it was last winter it might never had been on. wait did I say last winter - current forecast shows 30 degrees for next week at night.

thanks ed

I've heated while it was below zero outside (-5F, IIRC). Heated fine. I opted for 4 units, 9000 btu units in each bedroom, and 18000 unit for main area of house. 1 of the 9k units runs all winter as it is in my 3 year old's room and he likes it toasty (72). The other two 9k units do not heat very often and are used more for A/C. The 18k unit does both heat and cooling and does a great job with both and we have a ton of windows. I did not notice the electric bill going up by a lot, I'm on a time of use electric plan and try to use them mainly at night. I have LG units, the plus about doing the 4 separate units is that if one breaks I can rob parts from the others since some are used more for heating while the others are more cooling. The one 9k unit had alot of water dripping on it last year and ended up a block of ice that broke the fan blade, I thawed it out and borrowed the fan blade from one of the units that run more in the summer while I ordered a new part (still under warranty). Running the separate units was also easier with running the A\C lines as the compressor is just outside the room that has the unit (plus I don't have a basement to run the lines from below).

This is not correct, these work in -5 degree weather and colder I heated my outside detached garage with poor door and insulation, never had trouble heating this winter
As you know I'm on Long Island and it was cold, my fish pond just thawed a week ago
You can only order them with heat nowadays Iam installing concealed units in my own house. I will use a four zone unit . Three concealed units in the attic and a wall hung in the basement
2000 gets you a single zone a/c unit about five years ago. Now it's about three grand from a licensed and insured contractor, but you will get heat for that price.

It had ice because
Either your filter or coil is clogged
Or your low on refrigerant
Which means you most likely have a leak.
Also could be a fan motor going bad.?

you might be correct - I am just going by what my plumber tells me - thanks ed

I have the Mr Slim heat pump for my 3rd floor, no way to run a regular line set let alone room for an air handler or ductwork.

I installed single zone 14K btu. It works great. I had to opt for the 50' line set as the distance from the interior of my wall unit to the ground was 36'.

Heated fine many days where the high temps were 5 degrees or less.

Necro'ing this thread. I'm going to convert my garage into a full time workspace for restorations. In doing so, I need to maintain a conditioned space. I see there were recommendations on brands but they are 2-3 years old. My hvac guy is insistent on using lg. I have had bad luck on other lg products. Amazon pimps a pioneer brand. My guy says I need at least 1.5 ton 18,000 btu minimum for 550 sf of insulated garage space. He's quoting $1,900 on equipment and $2,900 total nut on everything including electrical hookup. The amazon model is only $900.00. Anyone out there have any recommendations?

I am ready to do this. Anyone recommend a contractor in North Jersey?

We really like our Daikin unit. Our space is closer to 1000 sq ft so the model number might not be the right one for you. We got a nice rebate and the outdoor unit is really, really quiet.

​​Daikin Split System Console Unit, 2 Ton, 24000 BTU
​​RXS246VJU Outdoor Unit
​​FTXS24LVJU Indoor Unit

sorry i should have said the efficiency goes down - but yes they still work - it just cost more in the electric bill - but these things are great - boy this is an old thread. thanks ed

My heat/air guy said to steer clear of that Pioneer stuff on Amazon - it's cheap Chinese stuff with a short warranty. I went with a two ton Daikin for my 3 car garage and it works REALLY well - I think it has a 10 year warranty. I wish my house was as comfortable as my garage is!