Home cinema diy air-con unit install.

Johnny.G · 06-05-2009, 7:26 PM

Decided to try a diy split type air-con unit for the existing cinema room ..... with the projector & av gear kicking out heat it's getting too hot and stuffy and now that summer seems to have arrived it's getting worse. Went for a 12000 btu Toshiba unit that was reasonably priced.
A couple of pics showing the start of the indoor unit install.

Any other rooms out there with diy air-con systems ?

Pulsar · 06-05-2009, 10:08 PM

I'll be interested to see how you get on here as I'm fitting a system in the next few weeks.

Rob

Johnny.G · 09-05-2009, 7:44 AM

Did a bit more yesterday .....

Note: Ideally would have liked a separate ceiling air intake grill and separate ceiling extract grill the same as forum member Quantas but due to cost and existing room restrictions i have had to go with the compromise we have here

Anyway, made a backboard the exact foot print size of the indoor unit that will be fixed to it and covered it in black sticky back fablon material to minimise any possible vibrations between the unit and the back board. The hole in the bottom right hand corner of the board is for the units connecting electric cables and cooling pipes to the outdoor unit which is mounted below the cinema room. Last pic for now shows finished section of room minus the air-con unit itself. Should get that bit done today and connect the interconnecting 4mtr long cooling pipes to the outdoor unit.
Just a bit of plaster patching up to do as well around the new 13amp socket.

Johnny.G · 09-05-2009, 11:27 AM

Bit more done today ... (Saturday)

Fed cables and pipework through 50mm hole to outside and with the help of 'er indoors mounted the indoor unit on it's back board. A two person job to do that as the unit is only plastic and is just too flimsy & awkward to attempt it on your own. Replaced the curtains in their normal position and plugged it in for a quick noise test.
There are three fan speeds on this unit and even on speed 3 max it is not particually noisey and i don't think it would distract too much on a film .... quiet scenes - yes.
On tick-over speed 1 it is virtually silent

Next job to do is the outside work etc.

Hardip · 09-05-2009, 6:54 PM

Looks good, so far. If you don't mind me asking, where did you source your AC from? What sort of budget are talking of?

Johnny.G · 09-05-2009, 8:11 PM

Hi.
Thanks for that, when i purchased mine about two weeks ago it was under £290, just had another look and the same unit has gone up to just under £340. Source was the famous internet site. I'm in the electrical trade myself and so gave it a good looking over when it arrived and it seems sound. If you want to pm me i can go into a bit more detail.

Johnny.G · 10-05-2009, 6:37 PM

Done the final bit today (Sunday) .....
Connected the two extension cooling pipes onto the ends of the indoor unit which were only just long enough. Housed the joints in an adaptable abs box and ran the pipes & two electric cables within a 50mm x 50mm plastic trunking. Had a quick go at trying to blend it into the brickwork .... will have another go at that later. Fabricated some brackets for the outdoor unit to sit on, measured up to where they needed to be and bolted the outdoor unit on. Got the instruction book out and started the commissioning routine. All went well with that and no problems at all. Fired it up electrically and ran through the initial 1st time operation also without any hitches

. It's just going through its heating test at the mo.

Final thoughts .... not bad at all, easy to install, and glad i got it. Well chuffed . Just about wraps it up really, cost me less than 300 quid and recommend others to have a go.

Hardip · 11-05-2009, 3:09 PM

Congrats and thanks for sharing your efforts, so far. I've got my eye on these units for my bedroom/study, definitely.

Were you able to get the electrical cable from the external unit straight back inside, without the need for extending it?

Johnny.G · 11-05-2009, 5:01 PM

Hi,
The indoor unit has three electric cables connected when you buy it. One is the 1mtr long mains flex that has a 13amp plug top fitted and the other two electric cables are just over 4mtrs long. One of them is the 240v supply to the outdoor unit and the other is a control cable to the outdoor unit. In my case they were only just long enough to connect directly into the outdoor units connection panel, but i intend to fit a small 240volt isolator switch adjacent to the outdoor unit and then install a new length of cable from the isolator switch to the outdoor units connector box .... similar thing also for the control cable. Good luck with yours.