apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

speaking of which...
what about if you have a regular window unit? does anyone have a good idea to hide these in a way that doesn't prevent the air from getting to the house? so far most of what i've seen blocks the vents.

Jens,

I installed three of these units in my house last summer. I have two of the plain metallic front square shaped units, and one larger rectangular unit with a mirrored front. Aside from their price, the units are great. They are very quiet in low speed mode, and they do a great job of cooling. You would probably not want to run them at higher speeds on a continuous basis, since the noise would be annoying. Fortunately, once the room is at a reasonably cool temperature, the lowest speed is all you need to keep the place comfortable.

If central air is not an option, these are definitely the best alternative. Actually, even is central air is possible, these units give you additional advantages such as easy zoning and no ugly soffits for ducts.

I'm not sure about this particular unit, but when I lived in Africa (Peace Corps), compressor outside / blower inside things were everhywhere in the capital. They worked really well, esp if they were in the right-sized room.

I'm not sure about this particular unit, but when I lived in Africa (Peace Corps), A/Cs with the compressor outside / blower inside were everhywhere in the capital. They worked really well, esp if they were in the right-sized room.

How pricey are we talking here? My boyfriend and I are looking to purchase a vintage apartment with no central air and I think these would be just right...depending on the price of course :)

Lisa, I saw a price of $1199.95 (link in my name).

diego - thanks for the feedback. a few questions:
how far does the front open up when operating?
can you just set them at a particular temp and leave them, or do they need to be manually turned on and off (i.e., are there good thermostats?)
a hvac contractor told me they were not very invasive in terms of installation: just space to run the cooling tube and electrical, and mounting hardware. is that your experience?

on price: for our 900 sq feet, i am looking at a 1.75 ton compressor with two blowers. the cost of materials is about 3k. haven't gotten a quote on labor yet, but i will pass it on.

Jens,

The front panel tilts forward about 1.5-2.0 inches, and the side and bottom louvers open all the way. They have a thermostat built into the remote control, so you can set it at a given temperature and forget it.

If you are installing on an exterior wall, the process is very simple and non-invasive. In my case, all three units are on interior walls, which made the installation process MUCH more painful. The end result is worth it, though.

Thumbs definitely down. This is freaking stupid.
Benoit

>Just wondering if they're reliable and effective.

Yes.

Split system A/C units are widely used in Europe and work great. In fact, they're a whole lot better than the window units used in the USA/Canada.

The LG art cool is expensive (over $1k) but standard units can cost as little as $200 and they still look good. The best part about split system A/C units is that they come with remote controlls and allow you to COOL/HEAT/DEHUMIDIFY/FILTER the space it's in.

On a side note, I can cool my entire 600 sq.ft apt with one centrally located split system unit... some models (not mine) even allow you to to plug into your phone line and remotely activate/turn off the A/C simply by calling your home phone number and punching in a code! Very cool.

diego and pete - very helpful info, i really appreciate it. i think we're going for two blowers, one 12K btu for a big common area that will be strong enough for the LR/DR and kitchen, and one 9K btu for the bedroom. one will be on an interior wall, so i will prepare for the added pain.
thanks! j.

Can someone tell me more about interior wall installation? I have a 900 sq loft in a 100 year old building and hate blocking one of the three windows with a 20,000 BTU A/C. Since I need to re-do the kitchen and bath, I could probably have this done at that time. But what type of interior wall would I need to install it through - a closet? Adjacent to the kitchen/bath, given the drainage?

anna
they can't go on any interior wall. but from what i understand the only thing connecting the outdoor compressor and indoor blower is electrical wires and a cooling tube (not sure what the tech. name is). so you have to accomodate wires and a relatively thin tube along any wall between where you are mounting it and where the outdoor unit is. in our place, we will use an interior wall that is perpendicular to the outdoor wall. there will be about 8ft of space to run the wires and pipes across that wall, which they can hide in all kinds of ways. drainage etc is not an issue, they said it's all through the that one tube. j.

Anna and Jens,

Since I installed my own units, I can give you some idea of what is involved. With the LG units, there are four things that need to be routed. Two copper refrigerant lines (lineset) connect the inside blower with the outside compressor. The units come with enough refrigerant for a forty foot lineset. If you need to go farther than that, your installer will have to add refrigerant, and there will some added strain on the compressor, which may reduce its life span.

In addition to the lineset, a low-voltage, five-conductor wire connects the indoor and outdoor units. The nice thing about LG's product is that all power for the blower is provided by the outside unit, so no high-voltage electrical junction box is required inside. This is in contrast to many of the units you see in Europe and South America, where the inside blower has to be plugged in to line voltage.

Last, but not least, is the condensate drain pipe. This is a small diameter (insulated) hose or rigid pipe that carries condensed water away from the blower and into a drain (or the outside). This can be tricky in an interior wall installation, since the drain must run down (for obvious reasons). When installing on an exterior wall, you simply route the drain tube out the hole and let the water drain out. If the unit is on an interior wall, you have two options: either find a way to route the drain pipe down the wall and into a drain (or tie it into an appropriate place in your existing plumbing, according to codes), or use a small condensate pump. Using a pump allows you to direct the condensate water just about any which way you want, since you are no longer constrained by gravity. There are some very small pumps made precisely for these types of units. They will run you about $100-$150. In my home, two units are gravity drained and one uses a condensate pump. In my experience, running the condensate line in an interior wall installation could very well be the trickiest step.

The main added complication with an interior wall installation is that you have to find a way to get these four connecting lines to and from their respective destinations in a discrete and attractive way. After all, the reason you are going with an Art Cool unit is because of the aesthetics. It makes no sense to pay the extra premium for beauty and then end up with an ugly installation. Take the extra time to plan everything and you will end up with a great result. Do not assume that your installer will take the time (or have the skill) to figure out the cleanest possible installation. They are mostly used to exterior wall applications, and anything different might throw them off.

Good Luck!

diego - you're the man! i got a similar but apparently a bit simplified story from a hvac contractor. your detail helps a lot. j.