Cooling your theater with a movie poster mini split

Thanks for posting that link.

Yep, those are pretty cool (no pun intended) and you'll see from a few discussions (like http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=890149 or http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=730415 or http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=910146 etc) that that price is a little misleading: The unit can be purchased for about $1k, but legally (and mechanically) requires a professional HVAC installer for some steps. So the price when installed tends to be $2k for minimal professional assistance, or over $4k for a complete install. So it's a good solution (assuming one gets one of the quieter models, and doesn't mind it still being louder than a projector) but not as cheap as those of us on a budget would like

Wow, that is a good price. I paid over $1K for my 1 ton mini-split locally. It's a 220v version. Works great for cooling my 400 sqft theater. Extremely quiet on low fan setting. This one has a similar outside unit, but I can't tell from the website how the inside unit works. It looks like a flat picture and it has no dimensions. Must have a blower and intake with filter somewhere.

I installed mine myself. The hardest part is drilling the slanted holes to the outside for the pipings. My outside unit was on the ground, so roof installation would probably be a lot more difficult. It's a rather large hole (to fit 1/2"+1/4" piping+5/8"ID drain hose +36v wiring). It means renting a huge drill. You need to buy additional lengths of piping to reach the outside unit (need a copper flaring tool to join them and some thermal wrap) and after you're all done, need an HVAC guy to purge the lines and add freon. This may be an extra $100 w/labor. I had mine do it while he was checking my main A/C.

What brand/model did you put in your theater? I'm trying to calibrate my understanding of what their specs say about db ratings versus real user experience (you say it's pretty quiet on the low setting).

It's a no-name brand I bought at Naughton's Plumbing. The plate on the outside unit says International Comfort Products. (Made in Korea). The exact unit is at the bottom of this page: http://www.naughtons.com/Pages/a_c.htmlI don't know what the db rating is, but the main reason I got it is because mini-splits are known to be quiet. The noisy part is outside where you can't hear it. There is only a low-voltage fan in the inside unit with 3 speeds. I would estimate at least 35db based on projector fans. I suppose I consider it very quiet because it's mounted at least 12 ft from the closest sitting position. At that distance you can only hear it during a quiet passage of the movie and then only if you think about. It's a much lower pitch noise than you would get from a projector fan.

A regular HVAC ventilation system would be the quietest, but unfortunately, my theater is at the other end of the house where it doesn't quite reach. This was the most innexpensive solution.

12,000 BTU's is 1 ton of cooling. Depending on the interior heat load maybe 300 - 400 sq ft. Pretty interesting marketing plan they have there.

Just noticed they do show the dimensions of the inside unit. Lots bigger than the normal ones they sell. Looks like the vents are on the 5" sides.

I read 400 to 700 sq ft for a 1 ton, but I would say 400 easy because I rarely have to go above the lowest fan speed in mid-summer and you can see where I live.

Isn't the southwest a dry heat? What is the average humidity down there? It never gets over 60% RH.

We are in the 90% RH regularly!

Not sure what outside RH has to do with having a hot theater. But, RH averages around 7 to 15% at best when hottest outside. During monsoon it's generally above 50. Do these units have to work much harder (i.e. higher inside fan speed) if the RH is high?

Do you have an airtight house? Unless you have your A/C on, the outside RH will be the inside RH. If you have your A/C on, it will have to work a lot harder to get rid of that humidity. I don't like to sit in a room that is 75F but at 90% RH, that would feel like 90F.

I don't know where we were going with that, but if you haven't been through a midwest summer you don't know what I am talking about...

I've definitely been through those midwest summers. That's exactly why I moved out here many years ago.

My house is fairly air tight, in that it never reaches the RH it is outside. If it's 90% it may get up to 55%. My main A/C eventually pulls out the air from the theater (if the door is open). It just doesn't blow much cool air into it.

All I know is, it takes only 10 to 15 min with the mini-split on low fan to cool the theater down to a comfortable 78F from maybe 84F at most.

Buying two heat pump Fujitsu's 12kbtu - Halcyon mini-split - primarily for heating and dehumidication of the basement playroom (1000 sq ft) and theater (400 sq ft).

Using two units as I get greater rebates from the electric company and they are more efficient than a two zone.

total is about $6k for the two units professionally installed. Then I get about $1k back from rebates/tax credits. Net $5k - Not too bad for efficient heating, cooling and AC of a 1400 sqft. space.

db

I bought one of these on E bay and it works great was $450 bucks plus shipping and cost me $400 to have it installed for a total of 850 and its doing me 22 x 15 x 8 room nicely. room is not finished yet so i will let you know on use once room is full of say 8 people but for now i m happy for the cash.

Is it loud?