energy efficient heating

Energy Efficient Heating the Cool Way

  • October 7, 2015
  • By MR COOL

Everybody’s making energy efficient cooling systems. Mostly, because the government is making them. My point is that I’m confident you’ve heard about it. What you might not have noticed is the recent revolution in energy efficient heating.

What am I talking about? Let’s dig in.

Energy Efficient Heating from Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are awesome. Seriously, who doesn’t love them? Ductless or conventional, we here at MrCool Industries are huge fans; they heat, cool, and dehumidify.

But there’s a problem right? You can build a heat pump for energy efficient cooling, but not for heating. When there is not very much heat in the ambient air on very cold days, heat pumps lose efficiency until they stop working altogether.

At least, that’s how it used to be.

Introducing the MrCool Olympus Hyper Heat Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump

We’ve got a brand new ductless mini-split heat pump system coming that we’re quite proud of. It’s called the Olympus Hyper Heat.

Awesome name, right?

As you probably already gathered, the Olympus Hyper Heat is a ductless heat pump system, so it’s ideal for homes without conventional ductwork or where space is an issue. What you probably don’t know is just how good the Hyper Heat technology is going to be.

The energy efficient heating components inside the Olympus allow it to heat at 100% efficiency at more than -10 degrees. Yes, you read that correctly. If it is, literally, 10 degrees below zero, the Olympus Hyper Heat will still deliver energy efficient heating. This is a huge step forward for ductless systems, and we can’t wait to get these units on the market.


49 thoughts on “Energy Efficient Heating the Cool Way”

  1. How efficient are these units heat pumps? better than electric heat? Do you know the annual cost for heating?

    thanks,

    Jay

    1. A heat pump, ductless or otherwise, heats a lot more efficiently than a simple electric heater does. It’s hard to give an exact cost, since so much of that would depend on local factors like weather, individual thermostat settings, living patterns, etc. I can tell you that an energy efficient heat pump will only cost you about half as much in heating expenses as an electric furnace.

  2. I’m not seeing these listed on your site yet? I’ve seen them a few other places on the web, but can’t seem to find any info on them here…

    1. That’s because our sales team works faster than our web team! Seriously though, the new page for the Hyper Heat is near to being finished and should be up very, very soon.

      1. Do you have the heating capacity percentages at 5 degrees and subzero? I saw a comment on the blog post about heating to -10 but couldn’t find literature about it.

        1. If you are using a 11.8k heating unit, you still get around 7.8k at 17 F according to AHRI measurements (which corroborate our internal numbers). Drop another 12 degrees Fahrenheit (to 5 or -15 degrees Celsius) and you’ll see a commensurate drop in BTU production. A low temperature cooling model will let you keep operating the air conditioner down to similar temperature (for those who need that functionality).

          1. I’m confused…what does the “hyper heat” model mean? The guy at Ingrams told me they used the same inverter as the Mitsubishi h2i??

          2. We call it the Hyper Heat, because it heats more efficiently at lower temperatures than our other units and many other ductless mini-split heat pumps. It uses a powerful condenser and an inverter-driven compressor. In terms of using the same inverter as the Mitsubishi H2i, I don’t know what inverter they have in their unit, but I can’t imagine they would be that dissimilar in similar units. If you ignore what Mitsubishi says about their H2i and look at what the AHRI says, their H2i has similar heating performance to our Oasis Hyper-Heat.

          3. According to AHRI, the 18,000 btu h2i is rated at 21,600 btu output at 5 degrees F. What is the Mr Cool AHRI rating for the 18,000 btu at 5 degrees? I’d really like to go with the Mr Cool, but I need it to heat at capacity at that temp.

          4. Could you share with me that AHRI Certified Reference number? As far as I am aware AHRI will only rate to 17 degrees Fahrenheit.

    1. Specs don’t include the HSPF. “Highly efficient” doesn’t mean anything. Why don’t you give some efficiency ratings?

    1. AHRI only rates HVAC units at 47 degrees and 17 degrees Fahrenheit. We would really like it if they measured at 5 degrees, but unfortunately they haven’t moved in that direction yet.

  3. appreciate your prompt response
    MRCOOL must have done some testing themselves, i believe, to see how Oasis hyper heat behaves at 5F or below. I am asking for that data.
    Otherwise its seems illogcal for MRCOOL to claim that Hyper heat works at 5F.

    1. The absolute minimum is -22. They are only rated down to 17 degrees, and the exact BTU capacity of that would depend on the model in question.

        1. Our engineers did during testing. I’ve requested the information from the factory, and will put it in a new blog post as soon as it comes through.

  4. can you give me any info on the 24k DIY system and how it will perform sub-zero? it gets down to -20F or so a few times a year here, and i need to make sure this 24,000 btu DIY unit will keep me warm!

    thanks!

    1. Our DIY unit is good, -20F is way outside the useful range of heating for ANY heat pump. AHRI only rates heat pumps down to 17 degrees. The 24k DIY is about 60% efficient at 17 degrees. Understand that we want to sell you a unit, but we also want to be up front about what our systems can do. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee any kind of reasonably performance at -20f. At that low temperature, we recommend something combustion-powered like a gas or propane furnace.

      1. can you email me the testing data of the DIY 24k unit so i can see lower temp info than the 17F? that would help me a ton!! (i do have backup heat for the nasty cold temps)

        1. I can do you one better. Follow this link: https://www.ahridirectory.org/ to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute search directory. AHRI is an 3rd party testing organization. The easiest way to find our 24k DIY is to use the third category on the left, Outdoor Unit Manufacturer), and select MRCOOL. The search will turn up our 24k DIY (DIY-24-C-HP-230A). The entry will also list the cooling capacity, EER, SEER, heating capacity at 47f, HSPF, heating capacity at 17f, estimated cooling cost per year, estimated heating cost per year, and you don’t even have to take my word for it.

          1. thanks! that helps! what i am really looking for though is any data you might have at outdoor temperatures below the 17 that ahri test at – certainly you have tested these units it lower temperatures than 17F? thanks a ton!!

          2. Basically, below 17f, energy efficiency starts to drop rapidly. We only make claims about performance on what has been tested and validated by a third party (AHRI). Because lawyers.

          3. im just trying to get some way to know how many BTU approx it might have at 5F or 0F – i know it will be much reduced, but how much? anything in the relative ballpark will let me know just how much aux heat i should plan for. All i want to do is make a purchase, but this is impossible without some sort of data. All i am asking for is the same info the guys earlier in this same thread were sent to them when they asked for the same info below 17F. thanks!

          4. In our own analysis with a DIY unit, performance at 5f should be around 25% or approximately 5-6k BTUs. These numbers may vary depending on local factors, but that is what I would expect. This level of performance is typical of heat pump tech in that temperature range.

          5. Thanks.

            Last question, does the DIY system shut off the compressor below a certain outdoor temperature? or is that a setting? Id like it to stop operation once it gets below xx temp. thanks!!

          6. The unit won’t shut off, but if the outside temperature is too low the unit would basically stay in defrost mode. If it is doing that, there will be an indicator on the indoor unit to let you know.

          7. is there any way to connect a thermostat or relay so i can have something shut it off below a certain temp? Obviously i can do that with killing power, but i would prefer a low voltage option to do so.

      2. Definitely interested in a unit. But I l ive in NH where it can get pretty cold in the winter. I have wood heat so I’m not concerned with using it as a primary heat source. But will the unit survive these -20 temps and getting snowed on? Would the environment void the warranty?

        1. The environment does not void the warranty. The best thing you can do to ensure long term performance would be to install the outside condenser on a wall mount. That way it is elevated above the snow.

  5. My 24k DIY unit is installed and working awesome, even with some 15 degree temps so far. However, the drain pan on the compressor is getting filled with ice from defrost cycles. Do you have a drain pan heater for these 24K DIY compressor units?? thanks!!

    1. We do not have a drain pan heater for those models. Where exactly is the ice building up? Could you send us pictures?

      1. My 24k was building ice and on defrost cycle pouring water out 3 holes in pan. I removed the fitting and hose thinking it was the culprit and drilled a 3.5 inch hole under the middle drain. It still drains out all three holes.
        It has only been in the low 20’s and I have concerns about the future winter temps.

  6. Hello could I find documentation or a testimonial somewhere of a 24k BTU hyper heat model operating at successfully in the single digits? It occasionally hits zero here in Ohio! All of the product manuals I have read only advertise these units working down to 5F.

    1. Recently, one of our dealers told us about a customer in Alaska who is using one. We’re following up to try to get a customer testimonial about how effectively it worked up there.

    2. I am using 2 DIY 24k’s in my 30×70 shop to keep it 62 degrees inside – we regularly get temps below zero, and have quite a few nights getting down to -20 to -25 degrees F. These two 24k DIY’s have done a fantastic job of keeping my shop warm, even when its well below zero.

      my only complaint is the App – if it could show actual feedback of the real current state of the machine it would be much better. Things like showing the current fan speed (especially when in auto mode so you know how fast it is really going), compressor speed, showing when in defrost mode (and maybe a count of how many defrosts in a given timeframe), and any error codes/descriptions. Adding those to the app would make this thing absolutely AWESOME!

      1. Hey, Michael, that’s great! Also, if you would like to list out the features you would like to see in the next WiFi app and send it to me ([email protected]), I would be happy to forward it to the development team.

  7. Is there a way to get the Comed rebate when it is a DYI install? I have tried to figure it out but you have to have the “Contractor Name”.

  8. I was hoping to find a graph of heating performance which shows heat output in BTUs on the vertical scale against outside air temp on the horizontal scale, with the inside setpoint held constant at 68F/20C. Also a second graph on the same horizontal scale showing energy consumption on the vertical scale. This would allow me to calculate a heating energy efficiency ratio, and determine the outside air temp where electric resistance would be cheaper.

  9. Are there any plans to add hyperheat to the 24k DIY unit? I would love to purchase a DIY unit but I think it is just a little bit too cold here for the standard DIY unit.

    1. Not currently. There is a Hyper Heat 24k BTU Olympus mini-split that we offer, but this is not DIY, and it must be installed by a certified HVAC technician.

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