New Product: Window Unit Heat Pump
giles_winden
| Posted in General Questions on
Does anyone have any more info or thoughts about this product reportedly going into beta testing soon.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90658525/this-sleek-climate-friendly-cooling-unit-reduces-the-footprint-of-ac-by-75
It seems to be pretty much a minisplit combined into a single unit.
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It looks like a much better option than a window shaker, but its appeal is going to be limited to that market segment, I would guess. Looks like it would only fit in a single or double hung window, probably a narrow range of wall thicknesses as well.
Yes, the questionaire one fills in to see if one can participate in the beta program implies all those constraints by asking for window type and those measurements.
I signed up for the beta. I'll post back if I hear anything.
I did too. I have a negligible present on social media though so that may be a negative.
I would be very interested to hear if you get selected for the beta.
I have zero social media presence. Oops. Hopefully somebody on this forum will get selected and can let us know how well the thing works. I'm a big fan of self-installable HVACs, especially with completely sealed refrigerant systems (i.e., no brazing or flares). I've always wondered why there weren't better window-unit type heat pumps available. Hopefully this will be a good option.
Neat idea, really. Midea has something like that where the interior and exterior portions are connected on a slimmer portion that the window sits in. Just AC for those though.
If they had options for different exterior colors, might match some buildings a bit better.
I have the Midea U-Shaped AC installed in a double hung window and it has been a massive improvement compared to a standard window unit AC. I would unequivocally recommend it to anyone who needs a window AC for a double hung window. https://www.midea.com/us/Air-Conditioners/Window-Air-Conditioners/10,000-BTU-U-shaped-Air-Conditioner-MAW10V1QWT
The Gradient unit that is posted looks aesthetically better than the Midea. This comes with some design compromises:
1. The distance between the outside and inside parts has to be very large to accommodate a variety of wall and window depths. Or if it is too small, it will not fit some windows.
2. Since the low point of the inside unit is below the window, a condensate pump or other solution is required.
The Gradient unit is more similar to the design of the existing Soleus Air. https://www.amazon.com/Soleus-Air-Exclusive-Conditioner-Putting/dp/B085P27VNF/
The Soleus price is higher and the reliability is lower than the Midea, but it is nice that it takes up less of your window.
>"The Soleus price is higher and the reliability is lower than the Midea, but it is nice that it takes up less of your window."
The Soleus takes up less window area, but it sticks out considerably further into the room than the Midea U-shapers, it doesn't modulate like the Gradient or Midea do, it's CEER efficiency is quite a bit lower, and is uses R410A which has 3x the global warming potential of AC units that use R32 (like the Midea).
I too am liking the U-shaped Midea window shaker. (Mine is the 1-ton version, selected because it was available and cheaper than the price-gouging going on with the 8000 BTU/hr version at the time I was buying.) The hand held remote that came with it is identical to those being shipped with many Carrier/Midea mini-splits, and even has a "HEAT" mode selectable on the remote (but alas, the Midea is cooling-only.) The modulation range is quite wide. With the compressor and both blowers running at their minimum speed it's only pulling ~ 100 watts, but when cranked to the max on a sunny 90F+ day it's a bit north of 1100 watts. Since it's more efficient and quieter than my (obscenely oversized) central air I'm setting it a bit cooler and letting it carry the lion's share of the cooling load. Without the modulation range I would never have installed a 1 ton AC in my tiny open loft office space, but it's fine, running in the 350-400 watt range at the 1% outside design temp, and still covers the load (with without ridiculous capacity to spare) at 10F above that temp.
It would be nice to see some real specs on the Gradient heat pump rather than just pretty pictures. From the pictures the coil sizes seem to be pretty large- maybe TOO large for the loads of most single rooms. But if it has a decent turn down ratio and good efficiency at the lower modulation range that would be fine. In humid cooling season days an oversized evaporator coil is liability, since the coil temps needed to meet the sensible heating load might not be cold enough to dehumidify much. I just signed up as a prospective beta-tester, (which would be nice if I'm selected). I'm curious to see how well they do at < 25F (or even < 10F) in terms of both capacity and defrost & ice management during cooler humid weather.
" The modulation range is quite wide. With the compressor and both blowers running at their minimum speed it's only pulling ~ 100 watts, but when cranked to the max on a sunny 90F+ day it's a bit north of 1100 watts."
Dana, do you know if running watts is proportional to BTU output? In other words, if 1100 watts would be somewhere near 1-ton, does 100 W mean that it's outputting as little as between 100-200 BTU? If not, do you have a guess as to what it's minimum output capacity is based on this 100 W figure that you've measured?
Does it do a decent job dehumidifying at it's lower operating capacities?
Did anyone here get selected for the Gradient Beta testing program?
I signed up for it too, but was not selected, and would love to hear some real world feedback on these units, in terms of energy costs, noise, and output for heat & A/C now that they're starting to take deposits on them. The design is certainly more attractive than the norm, and love that the units heat & cool, can be self installed, and run on 120V but have to say that I was disappointed to see a CEER rating of just 10.8 for a unit which is touted as being more environmentally friendly, with a recently announced "introductory price" of $2K per unit!
I understand that the R32 refrigerant used is more environmentally friendly than most, but see other Energy Star rated window units that use R32 with a CEER of 15+ on the market for a fraction of the cost, so am not sure how a 10.8 CEER translates as environmentally friendly, or warrants the considerably higher price...
I'm no expert / just an average consumer, but from what I understand an 11 CEER is just "good" for a 8 - 9,000 BTU unit, with a minimum 0f 12 for an Energy Star rating. Would love to hear feedback if anyone has...
Yes, I would love to see more discussion now that Gradient has released specs.
@Jetje, you mentioned alternatives. Are any of them window-mount heat pumps? Would you please share? Thank you.
Unfortunately the Gradient is the only window mounted / self installed heat pump I know of at this point, so I wasn't comparing apples to apples. The other window units I mentioned which also use the more environmentally friendly R32, and have the higher CEER ratings, are A/C only. I DID, however, see that Daikin just introduced the first high efficiency ductless mini split systems to use R32 into the US market a few months ago in their Atmosphera line, which has a great efficiency rating, but defeats my hopes of being able to self install, and not have to upgrade the electrical system... According to the articles I read, those systems have already been available for a number of years, and sold in 100 other countries, so why are we just starting to get them in the US? (she asked sarcastically) It's ludicrous how far behind the US is in this area! And still curious to check out the Gradient in a real world setting...