Conservatory A/C Heat pump?

Johnhowell

All,

We are having a conservatory (5mx5m) built in the new year and am interested in having an air conditioning/air source heat pump installed to provide cooling and heating.

Has anyone any knowledge/experience of these units and can advise us on their usefulness, etc. We are looking at:
LG Air Conditioning S09AW-N40 Wall Mounted Heat Pump 2.6 Kw / 9000 Btu Inverter:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]http://www.orionairsales.co.uk/lg-air-conditioning-s09aw-n40-wall-mounted-heat-pump-26-kw--9000-btu-inverter-585-p.asp[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Many thanks,[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]John[/FONT]

jamescmac88

Hi John,

I've not got one of these personally but they do seem to be in every hotel room I've been in this year (which is a lot!). They tend to take a little bit to heat up, but once they've heated up they tend to keep the place nice and warm on the lower heat settings. The air conditiong is also really hand in the summer.

The only problem with the model you've linked to is that it has a massive air con unit that will need put outside on a wall or roof (they are something like 4ft x 3ft x 1ft!)... One of those big things with the fans you see behind takeaways, office roofs etc. I'm not sure if you could get one with the air con without one of these fans.

rando

Hi John,
Have you looked at the LG Art cool Unit. Looks more like a flat screen TV than an air con unit. I can't paste the link at the moment as LG site seems to be down. I am considering getting one of these mainly as a heat source for our conservatory. Just waiting for some other work at the house to be completed.

Johnhowell

James and Rando,

Many thanks for your comments.

James the unit sizes are:
Indoor Units WxHxD (mm) - 885 x 282 x 165 (3ft x 11" x 6.5")
Outdoor Units WxHxD (mm) - 770 x 545 x 245 (2ft6" x 1ft9" x 9.5")

We have quite a bit of gable end wall to hang the internal unit on to and a dead area behind one of the conservatory outside doors and the chimney stack for the outside unit.
These are supposed to be quite efficient by sourcing heat from the outside air and I was also looking at the time it would take to change the air within the conservatory.

Rando, I shall have a look at those units as well.

Regards,
John

rando

John,
Would certainly be interested in hearing your views if your purchase an a/c unit as a heat source. It will be Feb before i get round to buying one.
I am hoping that these units would be better than underfloor heating which is another option i have looked at but was put off by how much money they cost to actually run according to people that have it installed.

Johnhowell

Rando,

Other than the cost of installation and running costs of underfloor heating, I have also heard that as the elements are quite fine they break readily and once under the floor can not be repair easily.

February is the time we would be buying this unit, as well!

Thanks,
John

Mutton_Geoff

Do you still pay a lower rate of VAT on aircon units if they can also generate heat?

In Japan they are common too. I like the idea of setting a temperature and it just does what it needs to to achieve this (heat in winter, cool in summer). One of the reasons I like climate control in cars too, just leave it set at 20.5 the whole year round :rolleyes:

Johnhowell

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Do you still pay a lower rate of VAT on aircon units if they can also generate heat?

In Japan they are common too. I like the idea of setting a temperature and it just does what it needs to to achieve this (heat in winter, cool in summer). One of the reasons I like climate control in cars too, just leave it set at 20.5 the whole year round :rolleyes:

Geoff,

Have not heard of this VAT lower rate - the website lists 15% VAT.

Regards,
John

Mutton_Geoff

John, it's referred to here. My neighbour paid 5% instead of 17.5% for his aircon because it heated as well as cooled.

Johnhowell

Geoff,

Thank you for the link. Does you neighbour like the unit he got? Which one did he get, where from, anything to particularly need to look out for, etc...

Regards,
John

dursley.donkey

I'm also in the market for one of these for a loft conversion. I figured I may as well get it up while the scaffolding's still there. I'd be interested to hear from anyone with experience of these things. What are reliable makes etc. and what to watch out for.
The one you link to in the OP looks a bit pricey - I found this site that could save you some dosh, but I don't know if LG have a better reputation. Also, 2.6 kW (not Kw btw) sounds a bit small for a 25 m2 conservatory. (Though I wish they'd quote volume and not area - our loft will have a low ceiling so I would think a lower requirement for cooling than a high-ceiling room of the same area.)
http://www.airconditioner.me.uk/vmchk/Split-air-conditioners.html