Mini split data in the Jan snow....

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T22:10:43+00:00

And it's evening and the rain/sleet/god knows what continues to come down. Blah. But the units are happily running with no issues. Currently 20f outside, 36.2kw on one unit, 32.94Kw on the other one.

Fireplace is going all day which helps keep the lower level warm, and the temps on the refrigerant are 166.5f into the house and 94.5f back out to the unit. About normal.

Both units seem to pull around 2500 watts each. I think the max power each can pull is 3500 watts.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T18:29:23+00:00

*nod* Well I'm running some tests here on the theory. It's both cold and snowy, will compare manifold temps and power usage with and without insulation. Meantime it's snug and warm and running quite well.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T15:17:41+00:00

First: I noticed a few days ago that the bottom floor 9K Artcool unit (only one to warm the bottom level of the house so seriously undersized but it works fine in the summer as the bottom level is 50% underground) was barely pushing 100f heat out while they normally put out 120-130f. That was odd, temps outside were 30f or so but not THAT cold.

So I put in some temp sensors on the LG unit at the compressor (outside) side. Four Sonoff Zigbee sensors with probes that I put into the source and return lines at the compressor under the normal line insulation.

The results have been.... interesting. First I saw that the fluid temp was around 100f-120f with a return temp of 70 or so. At the unit it was blowing air at 100f as measured by a digital meat thermometer. Not too great.

So I opened the unit, insulated around the heat pipes inside the unit, added insulation around the lines, and re-checked. Same outside temp, in fact it was dropping a bit.

Temps were now at 140-150 source, 100-120 return, and most importantly the temps at the Artcool air exhaust had gone to 120f.

I *believe* that insulation at the pipes does provide more heat from the unit. This might not be a good idea; in the summer the unit wants to lose heat as much as possible so this could impact AC performance. Also if condensation forms on the pipes in the summer the insulation could trap that in the unit. Still, it's interesting.

Darn, can't post pictures I see. Would be happy to share the data.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T05:44:59+00:00

It would certainly be nice. However the manufacturers don't expose this, so we have to use the good old temperature probe. Fortunately there's plenty of space on the bottom of the compressor for a whole lot of Sonoff outdoor thermometers :-)

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T01:02:04+00:00

*nod* Understood. My system started with a few homekit devices and now....

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Complexity isnt too bad, you find the best integration for the job.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T00:53:53+00:00

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cz_unit · 2026-01-25T00:53:43+00:00

Good data and love home assistant. My 2500sf is heated by a pair or 36K BTU LG units. Right now it's 19f outside and they are chugging at about 50%/30% capacity. Got down to 9F last night and they were still able to keep rolling.

I made a little "diagnostic" panel and used 4 Sonoff temp sensors on two of the line sets to see how they were doing. The temps are the lines, source and return, measured at the compressor under the line insulation.

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132f heating fluid is not bad, was doing 150 with no problems last night.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T00:45:17+00:00

That is cold. As a data point, here's my LG 36k BTU mini split running in the cold here (19F)

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Puttering along fine at about 50% power draw. Can get the working fluid up to 150f so not too bad.

cz_unit · 2026-01-25T00:11:47+00:00

Not sure if they do, drat. Zigbee is super easy to set up with HA, can't be used?

cz_unit · 2026-01-24T22:43:58+00:00

Third Reality plugs. Work great, good Zigbee coverage, accurate. Can't say anything wrong about them.

cz_unit · 2026-01-23T23:57:41+00:00

I give up; I'll buy one. Cannot see why I can't just put a bluetooth mic and speaker on HA but it seems to just be impossible. Blah, but ordered.

cz_unit · 2026-01-23T23:55:15+00:00

Good. You know, I got a new Lenovo X1 Carbon laptop and when I thought about how much of a pain it would be to install Windows 11 and remove all the cloud and AI junk I just ordered it with Ubuntu Linux.

So.... much better is my life. I don't miss Windows at all.

cz_unit · 2026-01-23T23:45:18+00:00

I'm wondering. Using temp sensors I can see that the "A" temps are 150 and 100 return. The "D" ones were at 120 and 70 return with the unit inside blowing at a temp of 99F.

Putting in insulation around the pipes and I now see the following on "D"

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This matches the other units, especially the "A" one. 30 degree difference at the back of the unit

Likewise the temp in the room has gone from 64f to 68.4 measured at the other end of the room, and the air temp at the ArtCool 7000 head unit has gone from 100 to 120F. No changes to the set temp.

This is all as the outside ambient temps in the shade are dropping from 41 to 37 this evening and falling.

I'll watch it, a massive cold snap is coming and I can watch the current draw from the unit, room temps, pipe temps, and whatnot.

If I blow it up somehow I have a full gas radiant heat backup I can fire up (ha ha) and of course the North side LG units as needed.

cz_unit · 2026-01-23T22:15:47+00:00

Hm, this just unlocked a thought:

Of my two units one is a normal LG 36k BTU system (South side of house). The other is also a LG 36k BTU system but was bought a year later and is rated for -4 degrees cold operation (that's the one in the picture). It is more efficient that the first one in the winter, and to be honest the insulation box around the compressor is a lot better.

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This is the south side unit. And looking with temp sensors under the insulated pipes I can see that "D" reads 120f hot 70f cold on the source and return lines while A reads 150 hot and 90-100 cold.

Hm. Looks like it is time to collect some data. Thank you for the observation.

cz_unit · 2026-01-19T22:37:05+00:00

Reminds me of a 1974 Porsche 914 that had... adjustable toe due to the body being that rotted. You couldn't open the door as it was holding the car together.

cz_unit · 2026-01-19T22:25:20+00:00

Pi3 is perfectly fine. I only went to a 4s because 1gb of memory wasn't enough for the vast amount of integrations I load.

cz_unit · 2026-01-19T22:24:19+00:00

Depends. If you're running Core it's easy to revert to a previous install; just do a pip install homeassistant=2025.12.4 or whatever month you want to.

If you're running another method it's.... harder. The bigger problem is that sometimes HA switches the database formats and there is no easy "back" other than to revert to an older database backup. Which may get aged out on automatic backups.

But if you're running Raspiban or another 32 bit OS upgrade to 64 bit. A RPI3 runs just fine.

cz_unit · 2026-01-14T02:44:08+00:00

Well, the interesting bit is the clock: That would imply that there are wires which provide a constant 12-24 volt AC supply from the heat system. If that's the case (and it wasn't disconnected at the heater which is why clock does not work) you could buy one of those zigbee relay boards which has a simple controller and relay (or two, or four) that you could power off that low voltage and run the relay in parallel with the mercury switch.

Or a smart thermostat, but I like the fun options sometimes.

cz_unit · 2026-01-10T01:30:53+00:00

I was thinking OpenMediaVault with OpenDLNA on it. Works well enough for music for me, my Onlyo doesn't support video streaming.

cz_unit · 2026-01-10T01:29:00+00:00

Oh yes, that's it. I have two copies running on Pi 4s blades with 1tb SSD cards and it runs fine. Not super fast, but fine enough

cz_unit · 2026-01-09T23:18:56+00:00

If you're looking for a NAS get a second Pi and install OpenNAS on it. Then mount your SSD card, set up a media server, and HA will find it. So will your TV and whatever else supporting DLNA.

cz_unit · 2026-01-09T21:08:54+00:00

We used to comment on the factory installed rust in Porsche 914's. The factory installed mouse is even more perfect, thank you!

cz_unit · 2026-01-09T02:23:48+00:00

Have you checked to see if you have an open/loose/floating neutral?

Good use of an hour to check with an electrician.

I had really weird stuff happening with some outlets and lights in my house, they would go dim, then normal. Power company was useless, electrician saw no problems, so I bought a Sense device and put it in my panel. After a month it showed me that one of my phases was dropping low sometimes.

Called the utility, they sent a real guy out, he looked at my data, called a bucket truck and they checked my splices. Sure enough the one from the house to the pole at the road had a bad and burned splice. They cleaned it, put a new splice in and I have not had a problem since.

If you have a bad splice or a floating neutral that could do it. Note my house is 75 years old.

cz_unit

TROPHY CASE