I recently built a new backyard workshop and needed an A/C unit for the Texas heat. I could have just put in a window unit; but, I wanted something that was more efficient, quieter, and that didn't block my single window.After some research, I opted to go with this Klimaire unit since it had the features I was looking for and is also geared more toward installing it yourself than the competing models are.
Anyway, here are the things I like about the Klimaire Mini-Split:
1) It really was pretty easy to install. I'll talk about this more in a bit; but, there are several videos online and the unit comes with pretty much everything you need.
2) It has A/C, Heat, dehumidifier, and fan settings. That covers pretty much anything I could want.
3) It is EXTREMELY quiet! Both the inside and outside units are barely audible, which makes it a lot more enjoyable.
4) The remote can be mounted to a wall and works great.
5) It is very efficient at 19 SEER. This shouldn't cost much to run at all.
6) It looks great and is very simple to operate.
Even though I am loving the unit overall, there is one irritating problem that I've run into. When the unit is on A/C mode, the fan will switch between levels 1, 2, & 3 it never turns completely off. That makes me feel bad leaving it on when I'm not out there (the building is extremely well insulated using foam). The dehumidifier setting does the same thing.
Fortunately, the Auto mode lets the fan turn completely off; but, it tries to keep the temperature in the room at an 'exact' level. So, in the summer, if you have the unit set at 78 degrees, it will run the A/C until the building cools down and can actually switch to the heater if the temp goes just a little low. It's crazy to be wasting energy running the heater in the Texas heat! The auto mode would be MUCH better if it would focus on a range rather than an exact temp. For example, if the A/C would turn on when the temp gets above 78, but the heater turns on when the temp gets below 65.
Anyway, that's something I can live with but it's still irritating.
As far as the install goes, the hardest part was running the electrical out to the building in the first place. I'd never done anything with 220 volt before, so it was a learning experience and took me a couple of days. Although, to be fair, I had to run electrical out there anyway. This unit requires a 220 volt, 30-Amp power supply.
Once the power was connected from my new sub-panel to the A/C disconnect, I basically followed these steps:
1) Put a couple of 18"x18" concrete pavers where I wanted the exterior unit and bolted it down.
2) Mounted the bracket for the interior unit to the wall.
3) Drilled a 3" hole in the wall where I wanted the pipes to go through. NOTE: The instructions call for a 3" hole, but I actually wish I had gone a bit smaller. Be sure to look at the conduit they provide for going through the wall, since that is actually closer to 2". I ended up filling around the conduit with Great Stuff gap filler.
4) Wired the provided electrical cable to the inside unit.
5) Ran both copper pipes, the drain pipe, and the electrical wire out of the building through the hole that was drilled in step #3.
6) Hooked everything up to the exterior unit.
7) Wired the exterior unit to the A/C disconnect using wire that I had leftover from wiring the building. I ran the wire through some 1/2" LiquidTite flexible conduit that I also had leftover, and that I had purchased from Home Depot.
8) I opened the lower valve and briefly pressed the discharge button on the upper valve 4 times to get the air out of the system. This process is shown on some of the online videos.)
9) At this point, I just wrapped up the pipes, made everything look good, and turned it on. :)
Overall, if you're looking for a highly efficient, and quiet A/C & heater solution this is a great choice! I would definitely recommend it, even with the irriating "Auto-Mode" issue.
Installed myself, but I'm no stranger to mechanical stuff. I think an installation of this sort for a newbie would be a challenge since there's so many disciplines involved. The biggest challenge is working with the supplied lineset and making sure you don't damage it or run short since you don't want to modify the length. Careful planning always pays off here. After the typical hookup, I vacuumed the lines for about two hours on both units, opened the liquid line a bit to charge the vacuumed lines and evap up to atmospheric pressure, opened both packing valves and buttoned everything up.
At this point checked for leaks with a leak detector solution and found I had leaks on three out of four connections. Some serious tightening solved those problems and I'd say that was the most surprising, it takes more than you'd think it would. I worked with a plumber for several years as a young pup and the answer to "how tight should this be?" was "till it stops leaking."
After flipping the breaker on the disconnects I started each system and have simply been amazed at how quiet and seemingly efficient these units are. I think you could run them both on power from a hamster in a wheel. Matter of fact, I did connect both of these units to my gen-set so we'll have cooling in those two rooms when the storm hits. Less than 4 amps on the small unit and 7 on the large unit. Amazing.
My thoughts on reviews. Anyone that is considering making a large purchase such as these will do some research and inevitably run across negative reviews and there are those here as well. But, any company that is putting forth the effort to bring items like this to market is not doing it to fail. Sure there are issues and problems that can and do arise, but that's from any company, with any product. More often than not problems stem from a language barrier, and this is where patience, compassion and persistence will help solve most problems. If you're looking for trouble, you'll probably find it. Those with a bad experience will rush to warn while those with a good experience will simply enjoy and move on so one needs to see all reviews in that context.
Of course most AC guys in the states hate messing with something they did not sell you, or something they are not familiar with. Most everyone is biased in one way or another. Knowing that and wanting to learn something new can make a project such as this rewarding if you do it yourself. Of course it's all at risk, and they'll be no shortage of people with a God complex to warn you of that fact.
All in all, I'd say that if you're a good car mechanic and know your way around the construction of a house and have an understanding of home wiring beyond the basics, you'll be happy.
Of course, mine could fail tomorrow.
Feel free to write me with any questions and I'll try to help.
All the best, DonI, like one of the other reviewers installed it in a workshop that I built in Texas. I have installed central air in the past, but it has been quite a few years. The biggest issue that I had was that the directions could have been worded better. I recommend that if you choose to install it yourself, watch a few installation videos on-line. This helps clarify a few issues that I came across with their directions. They do not have to be the same brand to understand the concept. There is an LG split system video (tips and how to) on You-Tube.
I found a discrepancy in the breaker size in the directions and the outside unit. I went with the 20 amp breaker stated on the actual unit, not the generic directions.
I did have to go out and purchase a vacuum pump, a set of gauges and an adapter for the gauges to hook up to the 410a refrigerant line. This required adapter is not included. Some people choose not to do this step and just purge it. I can't see how the moisture can be eliminated from the line set by skipping this step.
I put a kink in the low pressure line and decided to cut the section out and silver solder it.
Buy a bottle of leak detector from Home Depot or Lowe's to check the fittings. I really had to tighten down on the factory flair fittings to eliminate two almost undetectable leaks (so tight that I was afraid of breaking the line).
I did not change the length of the line set during the installation. This way I did not have to add or eliminate any of the refrigerant.
So far it is working great.I have not tried this product.
Before making a move for any product I want to see if they are real.
They do not list their address/phone/e-mail on their website. It is a mute point hiding that information from your customers these days. Here it is: 7909 NW 54th St, Doral, FL, (305) 593-8358 Sales extension 501. Support/Sales people never pick up: Nice classical music, put up a HiFi headset if you are interested in listening to that before calling. If you have only a cell phone do not waste expensive ether-bandwidth, put in a good classical DVD in your computer instead.
It is amazing how dump a company can be. They are sitting on gold mine with top of the line green product and they are screwing this up. I am mad at business people who screw up excellent engineering this way.
This product can only be sold with very strong support (it has bugs), and there is a market there that is tolerant to those problems as well as willing to pay higher price as you can see from the reviews.
If you live in Miami and feel like it, do visit their office and wake them up... Please.
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