# AIr Conditioning



## gprit

Does anyone have any experience of retrofitting mini split (ductless) air conditioning? Looking for maybe 5 units? 
Any rule of thumb guide costs? Seems like these will also provide heat when needed. If anyone in the Dordogne (24220) knows of someone who has fitted these let me know!! 

thanks


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## Bevdeforges

If you mean the heat pump heating and cooling things, there should be plenty of information available online as the government has several programs to sponsor changeovers to heat pump systems. For example: Parcours


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## gprit

Thanks Bev....it's not really what I am looking for.....anyone with PRACTICAL experience of this type of aircon?


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## ToutesDirections

Not sure what you mean by 'retrofitting'. But (here in the US) I have experience using a licensed electrician to install more complicated heat pump systems in 2 different houses (plus a 3rd pending). Indirectly, a friend has installed several mini-split units in his older, small house.

Yes, they are heaters as well as air conditioners. Think of a heat pump as basically a refrigerator - running in one direction you get cooling inside/heat outside; in the other direction heating inside/cooling outside. AFAIK they all have this capability due to the basic system design.

The cost question has at least a 4-part answer: unit retail cost, unit installation cost, wiring upgrade cost, minus any incentives (as @Bevdeforges points out). Unit retail is probably the easiest cost to pin down, whereas required wiring upgrades are truly a wildcard. 

You should be able to walk around your village, town, or city and notice which of your neighbors have heat pumps. Every heat pump system has an external unit that (in my experience) either hangs on the exterior wall of a building or sits on a concrete pad next to the house. A local who has been through the process might have useful info to share re: local electricians and costs in your area.


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## Peter_E

Hi. I have installed a split aircon-heating unit myself. A german company sells complete units, precharged, with the pipes already evaculated so you need to just connect the pipes and then open a valve.








Klimaanlage Quick Connect – wenn´s schnell gehen soll


Klimaanlage Quick Connect – für sofortige Inbetriebnahme Wenn Sie sich entschieden haben, eine Klimaanlage für Ihre Wohnung, Ihr Büro oder Ihr Geschäft zu kaufen, dann muss eine Installation gar nicht lange dauern. Denn mit einer Klimaanlage mit Quick Connect kann das Gerät in kürzester Zeit...




www.kaeltebringer.de




You want the "Quick Connect" units which are more expensive but then you do not need an operator and vaccuum pump to install. However if you do it yourself, you break the warranty immediately.
They sell they same kit on Amazon (but more expensive) so you can see the reviews there. 
The most difficult thing is drilling a 65mm diameter hole through the wall, which took me 5hrs to get through 50cm thick solid stone wall. Works perfect for aircon at the moment and looking fwd to seeing how effective it is heating in the winter.
It appears a lot of the aircon units come from the same factory in China, since they have the same pressings in the metal. They are just rebadged. You can ask them to email the English instruction manual but there are pages missing so it is best to google other retailers in UK and you can downloads far more comprehesive installation manuals. Their manual omits to tell you which valve to open, but their support desk answers emails promptly.


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## gprit

Thanks for the information - a good help. It's not easy to get someone local to give an estimate for fitting a mini-split system.


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