I am quite certain that York private labels someone else's line. They do not make their own. If they did, they are so new to it that I wouldn't want to support them against the known excellence of the major brands. It could be a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or other brand from somewhere else.

The contractor you like has access to all the major brands. I'd suggest you push him on it.

Hi Jackfre and thanks for the response....

According to the spec sheet, the model i am looking at states the manufacturer of the compressor is mitsubishi which is a very reliable brand.

My contractor told us because of our electrical wiring, we need a certain voltage and York is the only one that has that configuration.

The electrician will be coming over to confirm this week and I will ask again if I can install the other brands.

Still interested to know if anyone has good/bad experience with their mini split. I NEEEEED an AC so badly. And right now, my only choice is York.

Thanks again!!

I just looked up the specs of the Affinity Mini split and the electrical requirements are the same as any other unit. Ive been a York dealer for almost 20 years and i can tell you this is nothing more than a rebadge of another unit, just like Jack said above. Not uncommon at all. Any brand should work just fine.

Hope this helps

My issue with re-branded units is how long that particular affiliation works for both companies, and for you from a warranty support standpoint. I was a rep in the HVAC industry for 25 years and saw a bunch of these relationships go south. You don't want an orphan. There are dozens of mshp manuf all over the world. Only North America insists upon blowing air through tubes.

As to your power requirements, I'm ssuming you have only 110 available. Fujitsu, whom I represented and use in my home, has 110 units. Personally, I'd only go with the major brands. Fujitsu, Mitsubishi & Daikin

Thank you again Jackfre, also fluffybunny for the response.

The model i have been quoted is DHPM09CSM41Q1/DHPM09NWM41Q1. The rep says i can only install 115v unit vs the 240v unit. I already have asked if there are other brands available and they said they only have York. I can always solicit for other proposals who possibly use the japanese brands, it is just hard to find a contractor you like and a proposal that fits your bill :(

So are these York units rebadge of the mitsubishi units since they have mitsubishi's compressors?

Thanks so much!!! really appreciate your input!

Also Jack, what exactly did you mean by:

There are dozens of mshp manuf all over the world. Only North America insists upon blowing air through tubes.

Does it mean the american brands, even though are simply rebadges, work differently than the japanese brands?

I think Jack means central units that blow air through a duct system as opposed to a mini split. You know, all house have 240volts so it is possible to to install 240 volt units ...like say... a single outdoor unit with multiple indoor units. We just finished a 18,000btu single/single & a 30,000btu single/triple ceiling cassettes.

Thank you fluffybunny. That fujitsu looks good!!!

The problem we have is, we live in a condo and there is only one outlet available to the balcony. According to my rep, that outlet only supports 115v :( Like i said, the electrician will be here this week to confirm if we can even use that outlet. So lets hope the rep is wrong, i highly doubt it, although i have not heard the same from other contractors. But its possible i wasnt made aware of the voltage requirements.

Another question I want to ask is, if the rep told me I only need 9000btu, but if i really want the 12000 its 30 dollars more, should i just go for the 12000btu just in case? Will there be any adverse effect by getting too high btu?

Whats the sq.ft. you are trying to cool? Ceiling height?

The whole unit is about 830 and the area we want to cool is the living room which is about 500. And we dont mind it cooling our bedroom too but the bedroom will be right behind where the interior unit will be installed so not sure if it will reach. Ceiling height is about 92". Rep did do a heat calculation analysis to come up with the btu requirement.

If you were quoted a standard style mini split without the inverted compressor... i would say to stick with the 9000btu unit but since your contractor is quoting the better compressor... i say go for it. The 12,000btu is available in a 115volt unit.

So with a higher btu, i wont be wasting energy, or doing something negative, correct?

Also going back to my previous question... if we assume all york mini splits are rebadged and we know for a fact they use mitsubishi compressors, can we say the york mini splits are rebadge of mitsubishi and work just like the mitsu?

Thank you so much fluffybunny!!

Don't assume that because you are getting a rebadged Mitsubishi system that it is the same as what is being sold under the Mitsubishi name in the US. Mitsubishi sells HVAC equipment the world over for all kinds of markets.

Too much cooling can be bad as it can lead to high humidity. It is not so much of a problem with inverter (variable-speed) compressors because they can throttle back to a third of their maximum capacity.

Thanks ionized.

The electrician came yesterday and confirmed we can use also the 240v units, yay!!!

We have decided to go with the Daiken, 9000btu.

Any feedback on daiken?

Daikin is a very reputable brand. Assuming a quality installation you should be pleased with their performance.
Both Daikin and Mitsubishi have been making mini splits for a long time and are the two most common brands specified for commercial applications in my region. Due to the large number of commercial installations your more likely to find parts support and qualified installers for both Daikin and Mitsubishi.

This post was edited by roadking on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 15:52

Thank you roadking!!! I finally am rest assured :)

It is a bit more expensive then the york but i think i am more confident with daiken.

To change from 9000btu to 12000btu, it costs only 30$ for the york, but it costs 170 for Daiken. I think i am sticking with 9000 to keep the cost down.

Thanks again everyone who has replied. Great info here!!

$170 does not seem like that much compared to the full cost of the install. What was the size/heat calculation for each room? Keep in mind that the minimum output of each is a fraction of the maximum so if that figure is 30%, for example, the minimum output will be 3000 and 4000 BTU respectively.

The drawback to going larger is that lower capacity will be better when it is not very hot, but it is humid and you want to cool slightly and dehumidify your home.

My experience indicates that the high wall units cool adjacent rooms reasonably well. Sometimes I am running one of seven in the room I am working or resting in. With the doors open, the adjacent rooms are still comfortable depending on the heat load in those adjacent rooms. For example, if I am cooling on the sunny side of the house and the adjacent room is on the shade side the latter room will be pretty cool. If I am cooling the relatively shady room, the sunny room will be hot unless I cool that too.

If your high wall unit is blowing air directly away from the bedroom door, you could try pointing the vanes down and putting a small, quiet fan in the doorway. That might be too much of a trip hazard at night, though.

Out of curiosity, what are you being charged for a 9000btu Daiken?

The main concern where it gets really hot is the living room and den. The heat calculation is based on the living room and den only and it states the btu required is 6400btu. So sounds like 9k is sufficient.

We do have a bedroom that is located behind the wall where the indoor unit will be installed. Ideally will be nice to also cool that room but I wasnt sure whether the cooling can go all the way around to the bedroom since the indoor unit will be installed at one end of the long wall, and the door to the bedroom will be on the other end of that wall. Yes i know 170 is not a big amount, i just felt like from york to daikin i already am paying 4 hundred more so i just felt like i shouldnt go crazy with the upgrade :D But please let me know your thoughts i might still be able to put in a change order.

The price for a 9k btu with installation is about 4500.

What part of the country do you live in?
Just for comparison, I just finished installing a Daiken 2 ton single, modulating compressor in a little laundry room. Total cost was $2900.00 It was a simple install, gravity drain, no pumps and about 15' of copper.

Oh FluffyBunny you just got me sick in the stomach. I live in seattle. To be honest, this quote is in the lower range of quotes i have received. Can you come and install mine, I think with airfare the cost is still below what i am going to pay. Now you got me curious, where are you located?

Paintpanther:

$4500 is towards the mid to high side of the range for Daikin 9000 btu mini split installed but not unbelievable as Daikin's tend to be a little pricier. What you do want to make sure is that you purchase from a HVAC company that has previously installed these and will honor the 1 year labor warranty. I'm not aware of any major mini split manufacturer who will warranty their equipment unless purchased through an authorized distributor (no internet purchases will have any warranty).

As some others have suggested If it were me I'd give strong consideration to springing for the 12,000 btu model even though your study said that the 9000 btu model would be OK.

This post was edited by roadking on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 15:51

Thanks Roadking.

Before i asked my installer to change to a 12k, are we saying there will not be any issue going with higher btu then required? Thank for the suggestion.

Thanks for the suggestion Roadking. Before i ask my installer to up the btu, are we saying there is no issue going with higher btu than required?

As I posted earlier, the drawback is that the minimum output will be 30% higher with the large model. That means that at night, in times when you hare not in the hottest time of the year, you will run into higher indoor humidity sooner with the larger model. I can't say whether it will be a significant difference.

You wrote that the size calculation put you at 6400 BTU for the den and LR and these are the hot rooms. The bedroom has a door straight into the room with the indoor unit. What about the other rooms, kitchen and others? What room do they open into? Is there a real door between the LR and den or is is more of a virtual division? What I am thinking is that you can preferentially cool the BR by closing off the doors between the indoor unit and other areas of the dwelling. In times of low cooling demand, but high humidity, you can leave everything open. You will cool more area that way but the humidity issue will be less.

Here is another way of looking at it. Assuming that all the rooms have proportional heat load, you would need 10,625 BTU to cool the whole place. (This is based on your 500/839 sq. foot and the 6,400 BTU figures.) The 9,000 BTU model puts you 85% there. The 12,000 BTU model puts you over the top by 13%.

Caveats: That probably does not include cooking appliances, but maybe you don't cook. Since the 500 sq ft is, apparently, the area with the highest heat load, you might actually be sized correctly for the whole place with 9000. If that is the case, I might stick with that. Did the contractors,perhaps do a heat load for the whole place?

Now here is an argument in the other direction. If your lifestyle is such that no one is home a lot of the time and you will not be cooling, and you come home unpredictably, you might want the extra capacity to bring the temp down fast.

No one has asked how you heat the place and if you are going for a heat pump model. What's that part of the story?

Hey Ionized, that;s right, i remember someone brought up the humidity issue but i was using my phone and reading the page was not the easiest.

You brought up a good point about cooking. At the time the rep did the heat calculation we werent cooking, but we do cook!! And on a hot summer day we avoid using the stove like a plague! Also we didnt even have any electronics on, on lights on. So, please educate me, does that mean that the 6400btu is not entirely accurate, since we didnt take cooking, electronics, lights into consideration? And no, they didnt do a heat load for the whole place. I guess I kept saying I want to keep the cost down and bedroom is not really an issue, that's why he didnt.

They did ask how we heat the place, basically saying using the heatpump instead of what we have now, which is not as energy efficient.

30% difference in min output? Perhaps, I am not familiar with Daikens specs, but Fujitsu' s 9&12 units minimums are 3600 btu for the 9 and 3800 for the 12. 26 & 25 seer respectively. I would suggest the 12 as well, based upon heating output. I know heat has not been mentioned, but I think you will be very pleased with it.

Whichever way you go, install it and live with it for a while and come back to wake up this thread and let us know how the air circulation is. I have a 12 downstairs in the living room and it cools the whole downstairs within a couple degrees room to room.

The heat calculations would not take into account the cooking appliances because you did not ask to have the kitchen included. It should have taken into account any appliance in the room you asked to have cooled.

Yes we did include the kitchen. Its a small place, the kitchen is open and is part of the living room. And to answer your question earlier, the den has no door, the only door other than the bedroom is the bathroom door.

Jack, yes i will surely report back.

So can i sum it up and says 12k is the consensus, and i dont have to worry about humidity?!?

You guys have been super helpful. Thank you all so much.

Daikin specifications for model D (inverter) series.

9000 btu model: cooling range 4400 to 9,000 btus, heating 4400 to 12,000 btus.

12,000 btu model: cooling range 4800 to 12,000 btus, heating 4800 to 14,400 btus.

Going to 12,000 btu model running at minimum output only results in 400 additional btus being delivered...in my opinion not enough to result in any significant difference in humidity removal performance.

The 12,000 btu model is close to the 9000 btu model in energy efficiency rated at 23 SEER vs. 24.5 SEER for 9000 btu model. Both very high efficiency models.

Key thing is to make sure that you are getting an inverter model as Daikin still sells a non inverter mini split model that does not have a range of output...only full output or none. Oversizing with a non inverter model will present the potential humidity problems noted by others as well as much lower SEER ratings.

Attached the link of the model i am getting. Looks like it is an inverter model.

Sounds like i need to see if i can change the unit, installation is 3 days from now i donno if they can. Will try. Again, many thanks for suggestions!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Daikin model

To summerise, you are saying that everything but the bedroom is open and you've sized for everything but the bedroom at 6400 BTU? The Bedroom is the cooler room?

Yes!!

So is the winner 12000?

Just to clarify,bedroom is cooler, but does get hot and ideally we want to also cool the bedroom, thats why im wondering if the 12000 will help, again bedroom is located behind the wall where the indoor unit will be installed and door to the bedroom is on the opposite end of the wall.

Thanks guys!!

No one is going to decide for you, sorry. Here is yet another way of looking at it. Your calculations for the hot part of the home is 6400 BTU for 500 sq so that leaves (9000-6400) 2600 BTU for the cooler part. That is 12.8/sq BTU for the part with more heat generators and perhaps the sunny side. If you take the 2600 BTU that is "left over" that is 7.9 BTU/sq for the part of the home that has less heat-generating stuff. 9000 seems like enough.

Roadking is right, though, only 9% difference in the minima between the two so it probably won't make that much difference in humidity control at low load.

You'll probably be happy either way.

Go big or go home !! lol..j/k. Im installing a Daikin this weekend in my little office this weekend. Its very small but it opens into my foyer. Both rooms total to around 400sq.ft. Im planning on installing a 15,000btu single H.P. inverted Daikin. Im in S.Texas where we have 30-90 days of 100+ temps. in the summer. Ive installed alot of these but never lived with one and like you, im going to try and supplement the cooling of a room next to where the indoor unit is installed. We'll see.

I am in seattle where theres less than a month of real summer. Some people already think i am crazy to spend so much money. I have put in a request for the change order, will see if they get the equipment in time.

Anyways, again, appreciate all your feedbacks. You guys have been wonderful!!

"my little office this weekend. Its very small but it opens into my foyer. Both rooms total to around 400sq.ft. Im planning on installing a 15,000btu single H.P. inverted Daikin"

It depends a lot on the construction. If your shell is well-insulated and the partition walls are thin, It will probably work better than if the building is the other way around.

"I am in seattle where theres less than a month of real summer. Some people already think i am crazy to spend so much money"

Maybe you are crazy, but you might really like the dehumidification setting. It minimizes cooling while maximizing moisture removal.

All of you wonderful people, installation is complete!!!

I finally went with the 12k, havent been able to test the unit much since weather has been pretty cool so i am hoping for scorching hot weather in the coming weeks before summer ends. We have been turning the circulation mode on though, so we dont have to open the windows cutting down all the outside noises. So far so good. And I am very pleased with my installer.

One question for you experts. In order to hide all the piping and lines in the wall. We had to cut a piece of wood out from several studs. Is that a common practice?

One question for you experts. In order to hide all the piping and lines in the wall. We had to cut a piece of wood out from several studs. Is that a common practice?

Well, if you put them "into" the wall, then you have to open it up, install, repair, seal, paint" No substitute for that if you want the piping in the wall. Most retrofits will run the piping along an eve and in or up/down the exterior wall with the line set covers. Every system, like the owner has a personality. I run mine on "fan only" all the time. It is a nice feature.

It's just the fact that we are cutting the studs, I was a little uncomfortable with that idea when i first saw what was going on, they went ahead and did it without asking me. But then again, you are right, there might not be any other way if we want to hide everything in the wall.

Today is in the 80s, have had it on since i came home, cool and nice!

How many studs were cut? How were the studs repaired? These were cut to bring in the tubing and electrical connections between outdoor and indoor units?

I have been wondering, how is the condensate handled on the balcony, or does it run elsewhere?

About 4 to 5 were cut, not all the way through but just a square bracket "[" shape was cut from each stud, and yes that's to make space for the piping/connections between outdoor and indoor units. They were not really repaired but they did screw in a metal plate to cover the opening (sort of making it a closed square bracket like this "[I" Does it not sound right?!?

The condensate is routed in a tube like thingy from outdoor unit to the gutter system.