BRIAN: Hi, I’m Brian, and today, I’m meeting with the Johnson family to talk about air
conditioning.
A few months ago I had a mini-split installed in their garage.
They were so happy with the result that they’ve called me back to address some new challenges
they’re facing.
Let’s see what we can do to help!
MICHELLE: Welcome to our home!
I’m Michelle…
MARK: And I’m Mark.
MICHELLE: …and we are having some problems with our air conditioning.
MARK: Last time we called Brian, he found an awesome solution for us, so we’re hoping
he’ll be able to help us out again.
MICHELLE: Exactly.
So, here’s the thing.
We have 3 kids, but only our youngest lives here full time.
Our oldest son visits from college pretty regularly, and our daughter lives in Europe
with her own little family, so they only visit about 2 times a year.
MARK: When they are all here, the air conditioning situation can get pretty chaotic.
Our son is always hot, our daughter is always cold, and they basically take turns running
out into the hallway, adjusting the temperature up and down and up and down…
MICHELLE: Not to mention the terrible noise that the A/C makes every time it turns on.
It’s so loud!
MARK: We’re definitely curious to see what Brian suggests for us.
BRIAN: I hear about these types of problems all the time with central ducted air systems.
You see, with these systems, one outdoor unit conditions the air and sends it through the
ducts to the rooms.
The first room, where the Johnson’s daughter stays, is located just next to the outdoor
unit.
All of the conditioned air passes by her room in order to reach her brothers’ rooms down
the hall.
By the time room 3 is cooled, room 1 is much colder.
To make matters worse, the temperature sensor is located with the thermostat in the hallway.
It’s inconvenient for the kids to make temperature adjustments, and it’s also inaccurate when
it comes to heating and cooling the room.
The living room has high ceilings and lots of windows, so it’s hotter than the bedrooms,
which means that the A/C works harder than it needs to.
Not to mention, constantly changing the temperature can cause the system to over work.
But I have some good news for the Johnsons.
A multi-zone mini-split system will solve all of their problems and then some.
Mini-splits are affordable, easy to install, and much more energy efficient than central
ducted systems.
We’ll replace their noisy outdoor unit with a super silent multi-zone condenser, which
will supply heating and cooling to each of the 3 rooms independently.
This means that, if only one of the kids is home, they won’t have to waste energy cooling
or heating unoccupied space.
This alone could save a lot on energy use.
And when they do have a full house, each of the kids will have the freedom to choose the
desired temperature of their own room, or “zone”.
So, the first zone could maintain a temperature of 76°, for example, while the others are
set to 72° and 68°.
It’s also worth mentioning that these temperatures will be maintained far more accurately with
a mini-split system.
Since each indoor unit has its own temperature sensor, it adjusts its output based on the
temperature of the room, rather than the hallway.
Converting to the mini-split system will be very simple.
All we need to do is cover the indoor grills, to eliminate dust accumulation, and replace
the outdoor unit with the new one.
MICHELLE: Honestly, we never even considered mini-splits as a possible solution.
For a garage, sure.
But for a home?
MARK: It’s true, but we’ve been really happy with our garage unit and trust Brian’s
expert advice…
MICHELLE: And there do seem to be a lot of advantages…
MARK: So we’re ready to make the switch.
BRIAN (Voiceover): For the Johnson house we’ve decided to install two 9,000 BTU units and
one 12,000 BTU, for the larger room.
Although these units could connect to a 24,000 BTU outdoor unit, we’ve opted for a 36,000
BTU unit, which allows some extra capacity in case they decide to add another zone in
the future.
MICHELLE: Wow!
The mini-splits have made such a huge difference!
The house is peaceful, with no more fighting about the temperature….laugh
MARK: And we had no idea just how much energy we were using with the old system.
In the first month alone our electricity bill lowered by almost $100.
MICHELLE: Honestly, being able to provide a comfy, happy home for our kids is just priceless.
I can’t believe we didn’t think mini-splits could work for a home.
They are wonderful.
MARK: We like them so much, in fact, that we’re already preparing to convert the rest
of the house.
MARK and MICHELLE and SONS: Thank you, Brian!