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Does anyone use the wifi controllers on their mini splits?

whitenack | Posted in Green Products and Materials on

Hi all,

I am a bit of a gadget geek (in addition to starting to become an energy nerd). I like dabbling in technology and home automation.

At our old house, I had a nest thermostat controlling a typical 2-stage furnace and a/c unit. I really enjoyed the nest functionality… setting up schedules, tracking usage, turning things off/on while on the road. Also, we lived in an inefficient house, and paid a lot for heating and cooling, so I was always looking for ways to raise/lower temperatures when we were out or sleeping, or any other ways to adjust the usage.

Are are picking out the mini splits and accessories for our new house, and I see that there is similar functionality on some of the mini splits. The question I have is whether it would get any use? Yes, it would be nice to track historical usage, and turn the system on if I have been on vacation. However, it is my understanding the mini splits are best to “set and forget”, and that in a really insulated home, setting back the temperature at night or while you are away for short periods is actually inefficient. If that’s the case, I wonder if I really would use such a device.

Any thoughts?

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Replies

  1. Irishjake | | #1

    Clay,

    The wifi controllers and equipment cost between $600-800 to buy and install. Not sure if that was a deterrent, but it was for me.

  2. Jon_Lawrence | | #2

    Clay, they are designed to pretty much set and forget. If you want to get your nerd on, the cash may be better allocated for a home energy monitor so you can see how much energy your mini-split is using. PowerWise seems to be a pretty robust product and is the only one listed on the PHIUS website under monitoring tools. There were a couple of similar products at NESEA that you could probably find by checking their website. I like having Nest products in my current house, but I am looking forward to building a house that does not need Nest.

  3. whitenack | | #3

    Yikes. $600-800? I thought the nest was expensive.

    Thanks for the replies, and recommendation for a home energy monitor.

  4. Irishjake | | #4

    Clay,

    PowerWise is a product I'm considering too, it requires a bi-annual license agreement at just a bit over $300 (2015 quote). I was quoted (2015) $2,700 for the PowerWise SiteSage system and a bunch of monitors for RH, Temp, CO, CO2, and VOC's, and a water flowmeter . Maybe you don't need all that, but being in a new home soon I hope to measure VOC's and such. I also want to control my ventilation based on CO2.

    I think the cheapest controller option by Mitsubishi was about $200-300 dollars.

    Good Luck!

  5. brp_nh | | #5

    We have the MHK1 for our Mitsubishi mini split with the wireless control kit, $380 installed. Basic on/off and temperature controls are available via phone app or online. I've tried it to make sure it works, but we never use it.

  6. Irishjake | | #6

    Thanks Brian....maybe my installer was talking about a kit that would wire a couple mini-splits????

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