Aircon routing query - can they go via loft?

ashe

We talk about getting aircon every year, but with getting some new kittens this year and finding it extremely hard to keep them cool, let alone us, my partner has asked me to look into it again. Ideally we would probably just do one room, but potentially two if the numbers work. 

I've enclosed a floorplan of our house, our main bedroom is the one with the en-suite. Ideal locations would likely be the two red points. The trouble with the right hand side one is that then is an immediate border with our neighbour - our house is detached but the border on that side is right along the house, so having the external unit there is probably a no-go. 

The trouble with the bottom unit is that is the front of the house, so having the large unit out there is unappealing to her although could be done as a last resort. 

The ideal location for the external unit would be on the left hand side of the floorplan as we have a large driveway that spans the entire house and about twice as far again so loads of space between us and neighbours, but not sure how pipe routing works - I am guessing that its not possible for the pipework to go up into the loft and then back down again as presume there needs to be some fall? But then if so, that means we'd have an awful lot of unattractive pipes/trunking alongside the front of the house to get it over to that side?

Another option I have floated is we get a two unit setup for the two bedrooms on the  left hand side - the bottom is my office and the top is our spare room, and then any time its actually hot enough to use we could just use that room, and use the office for keeping the cats cool (plus it does get hot in that room sometimes as it has a gaming PC and laptop in also)

we've considered portable units however we don't really have internal storage space for such a large device, and don't want to cart it in/out of the garage all the time, and all our windows are tilt/turn and our cats are escape artists so would worry they would figure a way out of the window adapter. 

I'm probably going to ring boxt for some advice but figured its good to go into the discussion with some insight already! 

grumbler

The coolant is pumped, so, I think, there is no problem with the pipe going up and down, but it must be well insulated and there have to be some restrictions on its length.

ETA: regarding the condensate pipe, it doesn't have to go to the external unit. It can go through the wall (to the front or to the side of the house) or even to the bathroom.

ComicGeek

Why not look at condenserless ac units (Powrmatic, Trotec etc) instead. You don't need to run any pipes then and also don't need the external unit. Just a couple of 160mm diameter core drills through the external wall, and a nice RAL coloured metal grille on the outside.

ashe

ComicGeek said:

Why not look at condenserless ac units (Powrmatic, Trotec etc) instead. You don't need to run any pipes then and also don't need the external unit. Just a couple of 160mm diameter core drills through the external wall, and a nice RAL coloured metal grille on the outside.

Sounds good on paper but these seem to have been around for a while yet and I cant seem to find any actual reviews or videos that arent made by Powrmatic. Plus with that option, its basically £2k for the unit + installation per room so adds up pretty quick, although will not rule it out without more research

plumb1_2

The base unit compressor can go almost anywhere outside, bolted to the wall on brackets  or sat on a concrete plinth.
pipes can be run up the wall in trunking into the loft, then dropped down into each wall.

ComicGeek

ashe said:

ComicGeek said:

Why not look at condenserless ac units (Powrmatic, Trotec etc) instead. You don't need to run any pipes then and also don't need the external unit. Just a couple of 160mm diameter core drills through the external wall, and a nice RAL coloured metal grille on the outside.

Sounds good on paper but these seem to have been around for a while yet and I cant seem to find any actual reviews or videos that arent made by Powrmatic. Plus with that option, its basically £2k for the unit + installation per room so adds up pretty quick, although will not rule it out without more research

We've used them (and similar) for a number of commercial and hotel projects for a number of years - the system type is really common in the US and Canada in motels, where the hotel rooms are onto external balconies or outside. Hasn't been a system used by individual house owners, large developers don't write reviews.

Although not particularly DIY minded myself, I've helped install a couple, really simple. As they are monobloc sealed units, you don't need a qualified engineer to install. Good for those locations where external condensers are more difficult to install, and we have used them on some listed/conservation buildings where we couldn't get permission for external units. External noise levels are much reduced.

markin

The main benefit to a split system to me is getting the noisy compressor outside the home. 
 
48 dB(A). Distance 1 m. 
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/TROTEC-PAC-W-Conditioner-without-External/dp/B0979FVFKF

Cats love the heat, so that excuse doesn't wash.

As AC units need planning you want it hidden from the street, and not pointing a someone who will complain about the noise.

Split systems are efficient and powerful enough to do the entire house if you put it in a central location and can keep the doors open, So the landing would be the best location if its at the back of the house.

ashe

markin said:

The main benefit to a split system to me is getting the noisy compressor outside the home. 
 
48 dB(A). Distance 1 m. 
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/TROTEC-PAC-W-Conditioner-without-External/dp/B0979FVFKF

Cats love the heat, so that excuse doesn't wash.

As AC units need planning you want it hidden from the street, and not pointing a someone who will complain about the noise.

Split systems are efficient and powerful enough to do the entire house if you put it in a central location and can keep the doors open, So the landing would be the best location if its at the back of the house.

Cats like warm days but not being 38c, we spent all day with frozen treats, water baths, keeping them from playing too much etc, it's a rare use case but they definitely didn't enjoy sitting there panting most of the day 

ComicGeek

markin said:

The main benefit to a split system to me is getting the noisy compressor outside the home. 
 
48 dB(A). Distance 1 m. 
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/TROTEC-PAC-W-Conditioner-without-External/dp/B0979FVFKF

That's the noise level external to the house, as the main noise is through the 2 external ducts. Same, if not slightly quieter, as an external condenser.

The indoor noise level of the Powrmatic units is 26-27dB(A) depending on model - that's on the low fan speed for sleeping, but even 39dB(A) on high fan speed is quieter than a lot of fridges. Again very similar to standard split systems.

And you don't need planning permission for these.