I currently own a condo in California and am looking into an AC Installation, but with HOA restrictions am unable to do anything involving outdoor condensers. All external walls and the roof are considered a shared part of the building, and drilling through them is a no-go. I've been trying to find other clever solutions as thus far portable/window ACs are just not cutting it. As an example one of my rooms is ~400sq ft with absurdly tall casement windows surrounded by glass which means window ACs won't work and a portable AC would require a funky seal and be an eyesore if I used a proper dual hose.
In my search for something a bit more efficient I came across a solution that seems to be getting a lot of traction in Europe, but hasn't been getting picked up as much stateside. It looks like there are a few mini-split solutions that are water cooled and allow installation of the condenser unit indoors with connections to a water system (ie the sink) for cooling & drainage (I can't post links but if you google "Teknopoint Idra Monosplit" you'll see an Italian brand that does this). The solution seems perfect for urban cities with building restrictions (my situation), but I am having difficulty finding any residential HVAC companies who are familiar with them and are willing to install them in the Bay Area.
I'm wondering
1. Should I just keep going through the list of local installers in the hopes of finding one, or is there some code/restriction I'm unaware of that prevents these?
2. Should I try reaching out to a commercial installer? I've heard water cooled units are apparently more common there, but I have no idea if they would even consider a residential project.
3. Why are these so popular in Europe but impossible to find here? Is there a US company that does something similar that I just haven't found yet?
4. Are there other clever solutions aside from this that folks have seen to get around the external condenser / wall drilling HOA issue?
Thanks for any insights on this! I feel a bit lost at this point but am determined not to give up.
In my search for something a bit more efficient I came across a solution that seems to be getting a lot of traction in Europe, but hasn't been getting picked up as much stateside. It looks like there are a few mini-split solutions that are water cooled and allow installation of the condenser unit indoors with connections to a water system (ie the sink) for cooling & drainage (I can't post links but if you google "Teknopoint Idra Monosplit" you'll see an Italian brand that does this). The solution seems perfect for urban cities with building restrictions (my situation), but I am having difficulty finding any residential HVAC companies who are familiar with them and are willing to install them in the Bay Area.
I'm wondering
1. Should I just keep going through the list of local installers in the hopes of finding one, or is there some code/restriction I'm unaware of that prevents these?
2. Should I try reaching out to a commercial installer? I've heard water cooled units are apparently more common there, but I have no idea if they would even consider a residential project.
3. Why are these so popular in Europe but impossible to find here? Is there a US company that does something similar that I just haven't found yet?
4. Are there other clever solutions aside from this that folks have seen to get around the external condenser / wall drilling HOA issue?
Thanks for any insights on this! I feel a bit lost at this point but am determined not to give up.
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?2222433-The-Great-Outdoor-Condenser-Debacle-and-Water-Cooled-Mini-Splits&goto=newpost
No comments:
Post a Comment