Please help me heat and cool my upgraded makeshift studio -- PROJECT CANCELLED

[FredAzinger]

Split-Mini all the way.
Actually not that hard to install yourself if you're willing to buy a vacuum pump, which you can later re-sell.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Split-Mini all the way. Actually not that hard to install yourself

For most people, probably so. Not at all for me. I watched a video of everything that has to be done and it's not my cup of tea.

 

[Growltiger]

In a previous house I installed one of these, made by Daikin. It was excellent. I had it professionally installed. It requires electricity and pipes. It makes you hot when cold and cold when hot.

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[dburanich]

When you stay at a motel or motor lodge they all seem to have heat and a/c units close to the floor.
I have never seen any for sale anywhere when they must be able to be purchased somewhere.
This would eliminate the need to disturb the windows and install it just below the window.

 

[Palouse]

It makes you hot when cold and cold when hot.

But Mike wants heating at 60 and cooling at 80

 

[dburanich]

When you stay at a motel or motor lodge they all seem to have heat and a/c units close to the floor.
I have never seen any for sale anywhere when they must be able to be purchased somewhere.
This would eliminate the need to disturb the windows and install it just below the window.

Here ya go
Looks like they're called PTAC's. Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner

https://www.heatandcool.com/air-conditioners/ptac-air-conditioner.html?limit=all

 

[Mike Buckley]

This would eliminate the need to disturb the windows and install it just below the window.

If I install it just below the window, my handyman would have to create an opening in a brick wall. I would rather not make such a permanent change to the brick but I'm open-minded about that.

 

[dburanich]

If I install it just below the window, my handyman would have to create an opening in a brick wall. I would rather not make such a permanent change to the brick but I'm open-minded about that.

Well you certainly have a lot to think about and a number of options.
Good Luck.

 

[Mike Buckley]

A box of circuit breakers is located in the storage room adjacent to my upcoming temporary studio where the air conditioner will be installed. This convenient location would be good if an electrical outlet installed next to the new air conditioner could be run to that box of circuit breakers. However, there is no indication on the box about the voltage. That means I don't know if the voltage is adequate for an air conditioner.

Another box of circuit breakers is located at the opposite end of the house where the electrical line from the pole on the street is connected to the house. That box is labeled 120/240 Volts AC.

Is it possible or even likely that the box of circuit breakers in the storage room is just an extension of the other box of circuit breakers? If so, would that mean the supply of 240 volts needed to run the air conditioner could be accessed using the circuit breakers in the storage room?

 

[bsinc1962]

If you look at the panel are any of the breakers doubled? If so it has 240v.

 

[Mike Buckley]

are any of the breakers doubled?

There are three possibilities, depending on what you mean by "doubled."

• One pair of circuit breakers in adjacent slots are connected to each other.
• Another pair of adjacent slots is taken up by one circuit breaker.
• One slot has two small circuit breakers.

Looking forward to learning about this from you!

 

[bsinc1962]

• One pair of circuit breakers in adjacent slots are connected to each other.

This ^^^

 

[Mike Buckley]

This ^^^

Thanks, Bill!

 

[Palouse]

There are three possibilities, depending on what you mean by "doubled."

• One pair of circuit breakers in adjacent slots are connected to each other.
• Another pair of adjacent slots is taken up by one circuit breaker.
• One slot has two small circuit breakers.

Looking forward to learning about this from you!

Haven't you guys heard of photography?

 

[Mike Buckley]

My next-door neighbor spoke with his son and passed the information along to me but something might have been lost in the translation. Earlier today the word was that if I choose a mini-split system, I would need a 1 ton air conditioner. Later in the day the word was that I would need a 16,840 BTU unit. My understanding after looking stuff up is that 1 ton equals 12,000 BTU, so I'm a little confused. Even so, there doesn't seem to be much difference in costs, so I'll go on the high side of BTUs just to be safe.

If my power source is 240 Volts, will it work with an air conditioner that is 230 volts?

 

[FredAzinger]

You walk a fine line choosing capacity - too much and you get "pulses" of heat or cool.
Too little and you have no headroom for error or climate/weather/hormonal swings.

Some newer "inverter" systems should be able to throttle.

 

[Mike Buckley]

You walk a fine line choosing capacity - too much and you get "pulses" of heat or cool.
Too little and you have no headroom for error or climate/weather/hormonal swings.

I would rather err on the side of getting those pulses. I probably won't even notice them because I'll be busy doing stuff any time that air conditioner is on.

 

[Pa]

If my power source is 240 Volts, will it work with an air conditioner that is 230 volts?

Yep.

Earlier today the word was that if I choose a mini-split system, I would need a 1 ton air conditioner. Later in the day the word was that I would need a 16,840 BTU unit. My understanding after looking stuff up is that 1 ton equals 12,000 BTU, so I'm a little confused.

That's BTU/hr energy removal capacity. The old system was 1 ton = 12,000 BTU/hr. The "tons" term is used because that rate of energy is required to melt a ton of ice in 24 hours.

 

[Commodorefirst]

Do consider a PTAC unit, we have one we installed in our 4 season room. They are the same units as you see in hotel rooms, we like ours. Here is the room that it heats and cools. 220 sq ft plus a lot of cubic feet of airspace. It handles all the windows and sun in the summer and extreme cold in winter.

We wanted a separate System from the rest of our house since we keep it around 58 in there in winter and 78-80 in summer.

The brick opening is an issue however and mini split or other may be your best route.

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[acnomad]

+1 for the mini-split heat pump recommendation.

I had one installed in our garage right after moving into our home in Florida. It works extremely well and has minimal impact on my electric bill even with a non-insulated garage door, running it 24/7 on its own thermostat.

One thing I would highlight:

Don’t buy more BTUs than your room volume requires - oversizing the unit is less efficient and will result in more “bracketing” of your desired temperature.