Mini Me
The main thing in our decision to go with mini splits is that living on an island we had to factor the delivery charges of the fuel being used. Assuming you didn’t run afoul of shoreland regulations, you could cut, split, and stack firewood but most of the trees on Cow are conifers with the attendant creosote problems. Clearly firewood is a losing proposition if you must pay to have someone handle it or don’t have the desire to do it yourself. It does nothing for cooling.
Propane and oil in any useful quantity needs to be delivered by a contractor.
Solar and wind power aren’t ready for primetime as a total solution. So, the mini split with electricity delivered by wire is the clear winner for hassle free fuel delivery.
But what happens if the electricity goes out? You could run a generator but then you have gasoline or propane or diesel fuel storage and maintenance issues. The best solution I have found but not yet implemented would be a Tesla or similar battery system kept charged by the grid or a solar array. They only last a day or two if charged by the grid, but a solar array can stretch that out to a week and that should cover most outages. I’m sure there are some rebate offers for this alternative energy equipment but haven’t gotten that far down the road yet.
I am constructing a new 1500 square foot home and fired up the splits in the fall. I set the temperature to 60 degrees. This year (2022) the temperature was 25 -35 degrees, and the usage was 1000 – 1500 KW. The highest price paid for electricity was $303.07 in January. Summer charges should be about $50 per month. I have five units one for each bedroom and two for the “great room.” When finished each of the units may be controlled by a Wi-Fi app which should help lower operating costs.
Very much a fan of minis so far.
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