There are a huge number of air conditioning systems for apartments and private houses, which can not only cool and create the necessary air mobility, but also heat the room, and, if necessary, add fresh inflows from the street. A modern chiller is equipped with user-friendly functions and reliable automation, which helps to create additional comfort in the air-conditioned area.
It is easy to get lost among the offered variety, therefore, when buying climatic equipment, you should figure out what types of air conditioners exist for a house and an apartment, and how to choose the right climatic equipment for your home.
Air conditioners for city apartments
Household and semi-industrial refrigeration systems are usually installed in apartments: window and mobile monoblocks, as well as split systems, which, by their design and design features, can solve almost any air conditioning problem in rooms from 15 to several hundred square meters.
Mobile and window units of air conditioners
With a limited budget for small residential areas, window or mobile air conditioners are purchased, which are a monoblock design with all the main working units in one case. Due to the fact that the compressor and the fan are not placed in a separate unit, these devices are noisier than stationary split systems.
The difference in sound level is very noticeable. If we compare a wall-mounted split and a mobile air conditioner with the same cold power of 2.5 kW, then the first device on average has only about 28-32 dB, and the second - 50-56 dB.
It is because of the noise that monoblocks are often installed in areas where regular silence is not required: in the kitchen, living room, dining room, office.
When installing the window block, part of the glass unit is removed and a cooling device is inserted into the opening. Modern models no longer frighten the consumer with their huge dimensions and, unlike Soviet air conditioners for the home, can function not only for cooling, but also for heating. Most of them have a standard operating temperature range of -5 to + 43 ° C, but some brands, for example, WHITE-WESTINGHOUSE, produce devices that can work properly even at -20 ° C due to the built-in heating element.
The window unit is controlled by the remote control, and for manual control, some models do not have rotary mechanisms, but touch buttons. The presence of coal, plasma or bio-filters for this type of home air conditioner is not a novelty, and almost every monoblock window unit has the following functions:
- on / off timer;
- night sleep mode;
- hot start;
- cooling in the "Turbo" mode;
- self-diagnosis of malfunctions.
Their main advantage is the presence of a supply ventilation mode, with the help of which you can ventilate the room.
In Russia, several manufacturers of window air conditioners with an average price range have proven themselves well:
- WESTINGHOUSE GENERAL ELECTRIC;
- TOSHIBA;
- PANASONIC;
- GENERAL CLIMATE;
- TIMBERK.
Despite the increased popularity of split systems, window monoblocks are still in demand by buyers in the HVAC market due to their ease of installation and lower cost.
If the question arises of which air conditioner to choose for a house in a room up to 35 m², then, judging by customer reviews, mobile units will become a good alternative to the previous type of household air conditioners.
They are also distinguished by a higher noise level in comparison with splits, but they cope with their task of air conditioning perfectly. Outwardly, this device looks like a box on wheels. Compressor, fan, evaporator and condenser - all operating elements are collected in one housing.
You can choose a mobile air conditioner for your home that works both for cold and cold / heat. The standard set of modes also includes dehumidification and air ventilation. Most have several fan speeds and the ability to adjust them. The main additional functions include:
- automatic mode selection;
- self-diagnosis of malfunctions;
- on / off timer;
- night sleep mode;
- protection against breakage during power surges and power failures;
- high-quality filtration system.
The mobile unit is controlled using the remote control or from the front panel. Some models are equipped with an LCD display for displaying current information for the user to see.
By the way, heating a house with a mobile-type air conditioner is quite possible, since it has a built-in heating element, but the electricity consumption will be large, so this approach to heat production is unlikely to justify itself.
The disadvantage of a mobile monoblock, in addition to noise, is the need to remove hot air through a corrugated sleeve, which is pulled into a window, balcony door, ventilation hood or into the basement. The average diameter of such a corrugated pipe is 10-12 cm, and its length is 1.5 meters, which clearly does not add sophistication to the design of the room.
During installation, it is necessary to observe the tightness at the joints of the hose and the outlet opening, otherwise, due to heat inflows, the work efficiency will significantly decrease.
If the noise from the operation of the mobile unit is very annoying, then you can purchase a mobile split system with an outdoor unit - a noisy compressor is just placed in it. It is attached to special belts or brackets. There are models that work for heating either by means of freon or an electric heater.
But it is much easier to take advantage of the mobility of the device with an air conditioner without an outdoor unit. It will be possible not only to move it around the room, but also to carry it with you to the dacha or take it to a new place of residence. The outdoor unit significantly limits these actions, since the indoor unit can only ride on wheels within a small area.
The advantages of mobile air conditioners are considered to be their portability, ease of installation and a lower price than a split system.
The most popular manufacturers of these climatic units of equipment in Russia are:
- ELECTROLUX;
- BALLU;
- NEOCLIMA;
- ZANUSSI;
- GENERAL CLIMATE;
- DANTEX;
- AERONIC.
But no matter how modern and thoughtful monoblock devices are, for air conditioning in a private house or apartment, none of them will surpass in their technical characteristics and functional set of a split system.
Split air conditioning systems for apartments and houses
In a split system, it is meant to be divided into two blocks - internal and external. The outdoor one houses a compressor, a fan, and a heat exchanger (condenser), and the room one houses a tangential fan, a heat exchanger (evaporator), a filtration system and other smaller working elements. Both units have a connecting freon line, which is covered with insulation from above, and electrical wiring.
There are models with linear compressor control, the so-called on / off air conditioners, in which when the set temperature is reached, the compressor turns off, and devices with inverter control. These are distinguished by smooth power control, in which the compressor does not stop when the required temperature is reached, but simply slows down. This significantly saves not only electricity, but also the resources of the air conditioner itself. Such devices are less noisy during operation.
All inverter devices in the indoor unit have an electronic control board, which is responsible for adjusting the operation.
The most frequently purchased for domestic purposes are wall split systems, since the dimensions of air conditioners for this type of house are very diverse. This allows them to be installed in different rooms in different variations with respect to windows, furniture, heat sources and the main places where people stay.
Wall-mounted systems exhibit excellent performance characteristics:
- low noise level;
- high energy efficiency;
- wide range of operating temperatures;
- air purification from small inclusions of dust and dirt;
- rapid cooling or heating of the room.
They have many convenient functions such as a night mode of power consumption, automatic adjustment of the operation of dampers, motion sensors, in which the flows are distributed so that a person never falls under a direct stream of cooled air.
There are models that work exclusively in the cold, but mainly now they produce wall-mounted units that operate in heat pump mode. The temperature range, of course, is not expanded for everyone and has relatively average values - from -5 to + 43 ° C, but the leaders of the climate industry, such as DAIKIN or MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC, produce whole series of splits with the ability to work in winter to -25 ° C outside, and not only in the cold, but also in the heat. Therefore, heating a house with a wall-mounted air conditioner with such parameters may well be carried out.
It is worth remembering that split systems only recirculate and cool the air in the room, and do not renew it. Partial or complete air change can be organized using semi-industrial duct-type air conditioners with air ducts and a supply unit.
The only drawback of wall-mounted devices is the limitation on refrigeration capacity. The most powerful of them can qualitatively process air in a room up to 70 m², while the ceilings should be no higher than 3 meters, otherwise the efficiency of air conditioning is significantly reduced due to the fact that the air simply does not reach the lower zone.
What other air conditioners are there for the home, if, for example, high power is required, or there are restrictions due to the special configuration of the room?
Split-system air conditioners are divided into:
- cassette;
- channel;
- columnar;
- floor and ceiling.
Some manufacturers can still find separately only ceiling and only wall.
All these devices already belong to semi-industrial climatic equipment, although they can provide air conditioning in a private house or a spacious apartment.
Ducted indoor units of split systems are built into suspended ceiling structures or into a false wall. Only decorative grilles are visible on the surface. These devices are distinguished by their neat dimensions and greater power - they are able to handle rooms up to 200 m² and have a cooling capacity of 5 to 20 kW.
The advantage of a duct air conditioner is the ability to organize cooling / heating of several rooms. The indoor unit itself can be hidden in a non-residential area (bathroom, corridor, pantry), but the air ducts passing from it in different directions will flow to all the necessary places.
The control takes place from the remote control. The set of additional functions does not differ from the functionality of wall systems.
The duct system has one significant disadvantage - only one temperature can be set in all zones. This is inconvenient because the cooling needs of, for example, kitchens and bedrooms are very different.
Cassette units are built into a false ceiling cell. The air passes through the distribution grilles and spreads in several directions - volumetric cooling or heating is obtained. They are also controlled from the remote control and have many different settings, including automatic ones. You can find models from 2.5 to 18-20 kW.
Although, specifically for an ordinary apartment, a cassette split system is of little use. It is more often installed in a two-level apartment on the second level, where there are through openings between floors. The air spreads evenly over the entire area, without forming temperature imbalances in different points of the home.
One of the main conditions for installing a cassette or channel unit is a ceiling height of 3 meters or more.
Less often, floor-ceiling air conditioners with a capacity of 2.5 to 15 kW are installed in apartments. They have two installation options: just above the floor on the wall and on the ceiling. Some people believe that it will be possible to change the location of the indoor unit if necessary, but this is a misconception. It is mounted either in the floor version or in the ceiling.
The main advantage of such models is the distribution of air along the walls or ceiling. This helps to cover all hard-to-reach areas in the room. Round, elongated rectangular, oval-shaped rooms are perfectly air-conditioned.
Column air conditioners are not installed in apartments, since they take up a lot of space and have a very high cold capacity, which is not required in residential areas. In addition, they are distinguished by powerful blowing, which becomes a constant cause of the common cold of the residents.
Air conditioner selection rules
Knowing what types of air conditioners are for a house with medium-sized rooms, you can go to the rules for selecting a refrigeration device for an apartment.
Cooling capacity. First of all, the required cooling capacity of the device is always calculated. On average, 1 kW is taken for 10 m². If the room is located on the sunny side, on the top floor, there are a lot of working household appliances and people who are constantly in it, then another 20-30% is taken in reserve.
For example, for a room of 20 m², you can take a model of an air conditioner corresponding to a capacity of 7 or 9. In the presence of large heat flows, preference is given to the ninth size.
Cold or cold / warm. Whether you need an air conditioner with a home heating function, the buyer decides, taking into account what time of year he will use it. If heat is required only in the off-season, then the choice of models operating in heat pump mode is very extensive. But their limit is the outside temperature of about -5 ° C.
To operate the device in frosts, a special low-temperature kit is installed in it, or an air conditioner with an already built-in winter kit is purchased.
Availability of additional functions. The user does not always need all the modern functions of the device. It is worth considering when choosing an air conditioner for your home, whether you need such "bells and whistles" such as a multi-stage filtration system, automatic dampers adjustment, motion sensors and dehumidification of the heat exchanger.
Inverter or start-stop. If the question arises of how to choose the right air conditioner for the house so that it is used most of the day, then you should pay attention to inverter models that regulate the power of the compressor and save electricity consumption.
Noise. How to choose an air conditioner for your home so that it does not interfere not only with users, but also with neighbors? Be sure to look at the noise level (min / max) of both units. Values of 30-35 dB are comparable to a quiet conversation.Noise of more than 40 dB at night may disturb sensitive people.
Indoor unit type. Sometimes there is no way to find extra space in the room either on the floor or on the wall. In this case, a duct or floor-to-ceiling (ceiling) air conditioner will be a way out.
If the shape of the room is not quite standard, then a floor-ceiling model or a wall-mounted split with a vertical indoor unit will help out. They have airflow along the wall.
In this case, attention is also paid to the height of the ceiling - up to 3 meters, wall models of split systems and monoblock devices will quite cope with their tasks.
Indoor unit size. An important factor when buying is the dimensions of the air conditioner for the house, because a model with any width of the indoor unit can be hung on a free wall, which corresponds to the power of the selected standard size. If the installation will be carried out between windows or in another confined space, then a series of mini-air conditioners for the home with compact indoor modules will do.
Almost every manufacturer has such lines. For example, MITSUBISHI, LG, PANASONIC, VENTERRA, MDV produce split systems of wall and duct types with reduced dimensions of the indoor unit and, most importantly, without sacrificing performance. LG has a super thin module with a depth of only 135 mm in the series ART COOLand at MIDEA there is a wall-mounted model MS11D-07HRN1 / MO11D-07HN1 with a block width of 680 mm, a depth of 178 mm and a height of 255 mm.
Although the concept of "mini-air conditioners for the home" is very conditional, since they can include both compact splits and monoblock structures - mobile and window modules that will not seem miniature to someone at all.
Feedback from buyers. Interested in what kind of air conditioner to choose for your home, you can read user reviews about the model you like. On the forums, people post very useful information that no manufacturer has in the documentation or on the official website.
Installation of air conditioners in apartment buildings
If the choice fell on a two-component system, then the question arises of observing the rules for installing an air conditioner in an apartment building, which introduce some restrictions.
The installed device should not threaten the sanitary well-being of residents - this is the main statement of SanPiN.
Firstly, the installation of air conditioners on the facades of residential buildings should not create noise above 30 dB at night. If the disgruntled neighbors are able to prove by measurements that their peace is disturbed, then the split will have to be dismantled. The basis for such claims is shared ownership. All tenants have equal rights to the supporting structures and common areas in a residential building. Although in practice it is difficult to prove that the rules for installing an air conditioner in an apartment building on this point were violated.
Secondly, it is necessary to make the correct condensate drainage so that the walls, the driveway canopy, the front door of the house and the windows of other apartments do not get wet. If this point is violated, then dismantling is ensured, since it will be easy to prove non-compliance with the law in this case.
Also in the rules for installing an air conditioner in an apartment building there is one more point - the device is mounted exactly within the refrigerated apartment. It is impossible to put an external module of the split system under someone else's window.
Until 2011, it was forbidden to install air conditioners on the facades of all residential buildings facing central streets. Now this law has undergone changes and those who want to cool off in the heat have received concessions.
If the housing is located in a house that is an architectural monument or a building of historical value, then it is prohibited to install an air conditioner on its front part. This rule does not apply to the rest of the buildings.
Installation under such restrictions is carried out on the other side of the building, and the connecting lines are laid in a groove or decorative box. In extreme cases, they acquire a different type of air conditioner for the home: duct, mobile or window.
Even if all of the listed requirements are met, some problems may arise. If the air conditioner is installed in a panel house, then:
- when punching a through hole in the wall, you can get into the reinforcement and damage it;
- panel seams can crack due to strong vibration during drilling;
- the noise of an air conditioner running may be transmitted to the wall.
The last point is solved simply - when installing an air conditioner in a panel house, anti-vibration rubberized gaskets are placed between the outdoor unit and the bracket. They will not completely remove the noise, but they will significantly reduce them.
With the crumbling of panel seams and damage to the reinforcement in the load-bearing walls, it is more difficult to do anything. All that the landlord can do is to find experienced specialists who know the nuances of installing refrigerators in certain types of buildings. In some cases, it is quite possible that the air conditioner is installed in a panel house not on the wall, but on the balcony.
Air conditioning systems for country houses
When the question is about how to choose the right air conditioner for a country house, it is impossible to make a decision on your own. If there is a need for cooling / heating of one or two rooms in the cottage, there should be no problems with the purchase and installation. All the same options are suitable here as for an apartment: split systems, window or mobile units.
In a small house with several rooms, either a channel system or a multi-split system can cope with the assigned tasks. It consists of one outdoor unit, which is combined with several indoor units (from 2 to 9). Moreover, for each zone, you can take different types of indoor modules, depending on the characteristics of each.
The multi-split system is assembled simply: a freon line and electrical wires are connected from each indoor unit to the ports of the outdoor module.
There are multi-zone systems where up to several dozen room units are connected to the indoor module, and the total capacity reaches almost 100 kW, and the total capacity of the indoor units can be 30% higher than the external ones.
From the outdoor unit there is a connecting electrical line, to which the indoor ones can be connected through tees in a linear scheme or through collectors designed for several devices. The system can be built using both tees and collectors - this will already be a combined scheme.
When using a commutation circuit with collectors, no further branching of electrical wires should be allowed.
Many multi-zone devices use a variable refrigerant flow system, when, depending on the current load, the power of each unit can be changed using a pneumatic thermostatic valve. This reduces electricity costs by an average of 30%.
Several sets of outdoor and indoor modules can be installed.
Such a system is used in houses with several floors and a large number of rooms, when it becomes necessary to process all zones of a country house, including basements and basements. The air conditioning system of the cottage is designed by specialists. The climatic equipment is used from the semi-industrial and industrial sectors. Before starting to create a project, take into account:
- working draft of a house with a plan of facades and floor sections;
- construction technologies and building thermal efficiency;
- window glazing systems;
- arrangement of furniture in the interior;
- wiring diagram;
- the wishes of the customer.
A suitable option for such facilities can still be SCR based on split systems and natural exhaust ventilation. Splits can be used of any type, depending on the specifics of the project. SCR can be created on the basis of a compressor-condensing unit, a ducted air conditioner with air ducts and exhaust ventilation with a duct fan. The SCV is also designed on the basis of the chiller-fan coil system, combining it with natural ventilation and central heating. It can also be designed on the basis of a chiller-fan coil unit with forced draft and forced draft ventilation.
There are many air conditioning options for private houses, so in each individual case, professionals select the most optimal system.
Service of air conditioners
Regardless of which air conditioner was chosen for the home, it requires care: cleaning, changing filters, filling the circuit with freon and diagnosing faults.
Cleaning is carried out every few months, depending on the level of dustiness in the air. You should not try to clean the air conditioner yourself, as the average user does not have special equipment and disinfectants for this. Professionals clean the air conditioner with a special foamy liquid, disassemble the case of the indoor unit, wash the fan, heat exchanger and all filters. Sometimes you have to use a steam generator when manual cleaning does not bring the desired effect.
Strict filters are changed every six months. Filters such as catechin, charcoal, deodorizing filters are changed every two months after intensive work, otherwise they lose their properties.
If you watch the video on how to clean the air conditioner yourself at home, you can at least remove the top dirt on the panels of wall or mobile air conditioners, as well as refresh the elements of the filtration system, then only the masters are trusted to refuel with freon. They will also diagnose possible malfunctions.
