Considering a whole house mini-split heat pump...looking for opinions.


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Old 03-19-14, 12:05 PM
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Considering a whole house mini-split heat pump...looking for opinions.

Hello all, I would certainly appreciate some insight and opinions on my situation below...

I currently live in a 1900 sq ft home. (1550 downstairs with 350 upstairs).
My downstairs square footage is serviced by a 2.5 ton heat pump that for the most part serves me well. It hasn't really given me any trouble but it is nearing 10 years of life.
My upstairs on the other hand consists of a bonus room over a garage and a bath that I added a few years ago. I'm currently heating and cooling the upstairs with a window unit AC with heat strips.
Considering that fact that these rooms (bonus & bath) experience major heat loads/losses during the summer/winter months due to all of the walls being either attic facing or exterior, my current window AC unit just doesn't quite meet demand at all. I have considered installing a mini-split ducted system (ducted to supply both rooms at once) for some time now.
I am extremely interested in these mini-splits systems due to their amazing efficiency and inverter technology that appears to help cut power usage somewhat drastically.
Currently, I am in the middle of a small remodel and I started to the think about mini-split heat pump scenario and wondered if I could possibly budget to include a quad zone system to service my whole house....both up and downstairs. I have the ability to run the line sets in a chase that runs from my crawlspace to my attic so as to hide them for appearances.
I've performed a Manual J Load Calculation and have decided that I need approximately 3.5 tons for this system.
Has anyone here ever done this and if so what was the result?
Also, is it reasonable to assume that a ceiling cassette sized for proper BTU delivery supplied by any of the various vendors (I'm seriously considering Mitsubishi if I pull the trigger) will be able to service my living room, kitchen, and dining room efficiently (they are pretty much open to each other)? I've attached a 3D image of my current first floor for detail. The yellow sections indicate these areas...with the black device in that section indicating the ceiling cassette in question.
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Old 03-19-14, 01:32 PM
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You will need a cassette in each room unless your going to use a fan coil unit. The main floor is really cut up and not open Id stay with what you have are go to a VRF system because of the longer line sets etc.
 
 

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