Air conditioning advice please.

[malt25]

G'day all.

I know very little about air conditioning except the obvious results of an efficient system. I need some advice please. Not from Thai retailers.

Our bungalow is 52 sq m. I was initially contemplating just getting AIR in the bedroom, but now wondering if air conditioning the whole bungalow might be the way to go.

The bungalow is.... Bedroom, 14 sq m. Bathroom, 8 sq m. Combined kitchen, dining & lounge, 30 sq m. We have a large outdoor, covered, entertaining, relaxing area. But, the TV, computer & main eating area is inside.

We have a HomePro & other retailers not too far away, so plenty of choice. Oh, we are in northern Isaan.

I have seen adverts for INVERTER systems, this means little to me.

All, any, info & advice will be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers..... Mal.

[CharlieH]

Going to move this up to the Isaan forum for local knowledge etc

[happylarry]

Forgive me for saying CharlieH, but how is " local knowledge " beneficial regarding an air con question?

HL

[sdanielmcev]

What is your house made from? Wood? Concrete? Block? Also knowing the layout is helpful.

An inverter system is more efficient, but more expensive. And for the size of your place, probably not worth it. I always recommend whole house, if affordable.

[Aussieroaming]

An inverter gives you a variable speed compressor, so more energy efficient than a motor running flat chat all of the time. The compressor motor speed is controlled by the temperature controller.

A 15 foot wide by 20 foot long room contains 300 square feet. Multiply this by 25 BTU, and you'll discover the room requires a 6,000 BTU capacity unit.

[crazygreg44]

height of ceiling, house's location on the compass, materials the walls are built with and the make of the roof. A many things can affect the natural conditioning of a house. Windows location, is the a draft when you open windows, is there wind going, any shade outside by trees ?

Did you know that alone by being near a few well grown trees can adjust your houses temperature by 2 -4 degrees?

A 52 sqm bungalow actually I would not think of airconditioning, but maybe 3 or more fans, some inside, some located outside of the windows on the shaded side, blowing through the mosquito nets into the the house. Leaving another window open on the opposite helps for a draft to built.

We sleep in the Eesarn house for 7 years, never needed aircons, have fans going and an aisle between two houses serves as a coolant from where i distract the cool air into the house by means of simple fans.

Also, I find fans more healthy to breathe while we sleep, than aircons, which give me a sore throat.

Ever tried to make a fan blow through a wet towel on a wide berth hanger . . . works wonders !

Edited November 11, 2014 by crazygreg44

[wayned]

As stated it all depends on construction of the house. I would use a 10000 BTU unit in the bedroom. I assume that the bathroom door is off the main living area and there are no outside "vent" holes in the wall. I would use two 12000 BTU units, strategically placed , to cool the living area..

Most installers will use either 600 or 700 BTU/sq. meter to calculate the requirements. It depends on the construction and of course they use the higher to drive the price up. At 52 sq. meters the total 31,200BTU usin 600BTU/sq. meter at 700/sq. meter it would be requirement would be 36,400 BTU. I definitely would cool the bedroom separately so that you can turn off the one's in the living area and close the door and think that two smaller units strategically placed in the living area would be more efficient than one larger 24000BTU unit but would cost more. When you buy the equipment make sure that you negotiate "free installation" as part of the sale! good luck.

[ATF]

Provided you haven't got loads of glass a 12K BTU for the bedroom and a 15k BTU for the living room will be more than sufficient. Inverters are best and use less electricity because the compressor doesn't need to be constantly switching on and off.

Spend the extra and buy Daikin or Mitsubishi if you can. They'll last ten years or more.

The more furniture, carpets and curtains you have will help insulate the rooms and keep them cooler.

[malt25]

Thanks all, very much appreciated.

Cheers..... Mal.

[sipi]

We used a Thai installer near Beung Khan. They did a good job. Unless you know how to instal a split system unit you will need a local contractor anyway. Why not get a quote for the compete job, supply and instal.

[wayned]

Provided you haven't got loads of glass a 12K BTU for the bedroom and a 15k BTU for the living room will be more than sufficient. Inverters are best and use less electricity because the compressor doesn't need to be constantly switching on and off.

Spend the extra and buy Daikin or Mitsubishi if you can. They'll last ten years or more.

The more furniture, carpets and curtains you have will help insulate the rooms and keep them cooler.

If the bathroom is connected to the living area and you want to cool the bathroom, that's 38 sq. meters. You'll need a bigger unit to cool that large of an area, IMHO 15000 BTU won't be enough! You'll need at least 22k but 24k would be better and two units strategically placed would be more efficient whether they are regular or inverter units.

[happynthailand]

what kind of ceiling do you have in your home

do you have a drop ceiling tiles that look like this?

[malt25]

what kind of ceiling do you have in your home

do you have a drop ceiling tiles that look like this?

Hi, thanks for the reply.

No, no tiles as per photo. Normal plaster ceiling. Unfortunately not a lot of space between roof & ceiling. Sloping roof, on one plain, if that makes sense ? Front of the house has about 40cm roof to ceiling & rear of house practically no space at all.

There's no access to the ceiling cavity.

House is block construction that has been rendered. Front of the house, bedroom & lounge, is pretty much in shade all day. Bathroom & kitchen, rear of house, about 50/50 sun & shade.

Priority for the AIR is the bedroom. Living area can be second stage.

Even though we get a lot of shade, the house gets extremely hot.

Any further info or advice is most welcome.

Cheers..... Mal.

[malt25]

Going to move this up to the Isaan forum for local knowledge etc

Hi Charlie.

Any chance of moving this back to general section... please ? Isaan isn't the only place that gets bloody hot. Might be some good advice from others that don't read the Isaan posts.

Thanks in advance.

Mal.

[wayned]

If there's no insulation between the roof and the ceiling, I would cut an access hole in the ceiling and put at least R6 insulation on the ceiling. The Hole can be framed in and finished with an access panel and will not detract form the aesthetics. You might need it in the future especially if the roof starts leaking. 10k should be enough for the bedroom, but it seems that 12k units are very popular and you might get a better deal. I would still recommend two units for the living area, 12k each, one at the back, one at the front.

[jpinx]

So many things to consider for keeping a place cool. Small extractor fans at the topmost level, including "attic" space above the ceiling, can make a big difference if there's no breeze to assist natural ventilation. Paint the house white and the roof a very light green, both will reflect the sun better. Sounds like you have shade already but maybe not enough of a breeze to help, so big airmovers might be better.

Comments on aircon being bad for sleeping are correct, you'll end up with sore throat and headaches possible, but everyone's a bit different on this. I think it depends on where you're from and what you were brought up with as a kid.

Remember the basic principle of hot air rising and make sure it can escape and incoming air only from ground level. If the house is up on stilts or legs the air underneath is cool and can be vented in. Insect/reptile meshes in vents effectively reduce the size of the vent by about 50%, so make them big

If you must go for aircon, several small units is better than one big one, more flexibility. You can have only the bedroom one on and feed the cool air elsewhere. Buy spare filters and keep them very clean, not only for health reasons but to reduce the power needed to pump air through them. Experiment with the temperature settings. Often quite a high setting is acceptable if there is a floor fan running as well -- much cheaper to run like that than setting the aircon 5° lower. don't bother with "swing" etc -- just a plain old blower will do and the cold air will quickly sink to floor level. Fresh air intake would be much better than recirculation -- just make up some trunking over the inlet and feed that outside. Don't forget to allow the hot air to escape from the top of the room, helped by small extractors maybe.

Above all -- don't try to emulate the malls where girls have to wear a second layer of clothes. You'll have pneumonia in a couple of months!!!!

[happynthailand]

have a look at this site "lohr-trade"

add .com to the address,might be helpfull

[ATF]

Provided you haven't got loads of glass a 12K BTU for the bedroom and a 15k BTU for the living room will be more than sufficient. Inverters are best and use less electricity because the compressor doesn't need to be constantly switching on and off.

Spend the extra and buy Daikin or Mitsubishi if you can. They'll last ten years or more.

The more furniture, carpets and curtains you have will help insulate the rooms and keep them cooler.

If the bathroom is connected to the living area and you want to cool the bathroom, that's 38 sq. meters. You'll need a bigger unit to cool that large of an area, IMHO 15000 BTU won't be enough! You'll need at least 22k but 24k would be better and two units strategically placed would be more efficient whether they are regular or inverter units.

You are correct in your theoretical calculations but those calculations don't take into account furniture and other factors. Bathrooms don't need air-con. Close the door.

Imagine an air-con like a car a 15k BTU will cool just as well as a 24k BTU unit but the 15k unit will do it slower and the comp will run most of the time as opposed to a 24k unit switching on and off frequently which costs a lot more in electricity in addition to the higher consumption of the 24k unit. Insulation and shade of the house saves a lot of power.