Heating and ventilation of cottages.

Recently, the idea of multifunctionality has been extended to all inventions, and at the moment there are already enough ways to combine all the functions of climate control in one system.

More complete central air conditioners allow you to carry out almost any air treatment process and include:

filters (depending on the environment and your needs);
electric heaters;
heat exchangers;
mixing chambers;
noise suppressors;
heat recovery systems;
humidifiers;
air purifiers;
fan.

So, let's define the requirements that we have for the installations:
ensuring comfortable temperature and humidity throughout the entire volume of the rooms;
convenient placement in the house, not interfering with the functions of the rooms and not taking up much space;
cleaning and uniform distribution of incoming air;
noiselessness of the system (the noise level acceptable for a person is 25 dB).

Based on this, let's pay attention to the following attributes of air conditioners:

power consumed by the air conditioner;
size and type of installation;
functions;
adequate price;
warranty service.

Here is the necessary work plan — let's estimate the capacity of the air conditioner, summing up all possible heat inputs for each of the cooled rooms, based on the size of the rooms, the amount of heat penetrating through the glazing (depending on which direction your windows face), artificial lighting, people in the room and office equipment.

The next thing we need to stop at is determining the type of air conditioner.

The installation method depends on it, as well as how much and what volume of space you will have to “give up” for the sake of comfort.

Multi-split systems or ducted air conditioners are more often used for cottages. They fit best into the design and also provide uniform distribution of incoming air, due to which there are no overcooling or overheating zones in the rooms.

Multi-split systems consist of an outdoor unit and several indoor units, located accordingly in the room.

Depending on the mounting, they can be wall, floor, ceiling or column types. In large rooms, it is recommended to install floor or ceiling indoor units, fixed either to the ceiling or to the lower part of the wall, near the floor. This choice is especially good if suspended ceilings are planned in your cottage. There are also models of ceiling air conditioners that distribute cooled air in four directions at once, and the flow rate is regulated separately in each direction.

Such an air conditioner can be successfully used to cool complex-shaped rooms that do not have a suspended ceiling.

Duct-type split systems have a fundamental feature, which consists in the ability to supply fresh air in volumes necessary for full ventilation of conditioned rooms.

It is only necessary to take care of the correct calculation of air exchange, selection of an air conditioner by cooling capacity and static pressure, provide for the installation of an electric or water heater to heat the outside air in winter.

Mechanical ventilation, which can guarantee not only a sanitary minimum, but also good comfort, providing an influx of fresh air, removing polluted air and eliminating excess heat, will also not be superfluous. And its correct design will simplify the task of the overall system.

Heating cottages

Having dealt with cooling and ventilation of air, it is necessary to pay attention to the heating function. There are two different ways to make the air conditioner work for heating.

In most cases, this is done using the so-called heat pump.

In this mode, the air conditioner starts to work as if the other way around — it freezes the street and heats the room.

At outside temperatures down to -5, -10 °C, such heating is very effective, but for complete comfort in the winter cold, it is better to buy a model with electric heating.

It is worth noting that we consider the heating system together with ventilation at all stages of development. This means that you have an alternative — separate selection of equipment for heating and ventilation.

Installation and planning will still take place in a complex, but you will receive equipment that is more resistant to low temperatures, and if one function fails, all the others will remain in good working order. Also, different rooms can be functionally separated without any problems: lower storage rooms are cooled, upper rooms are heated, and the pool is equipped with ventilation.

The principle of the arrangement of the units is the same as that of split systems, and will take away only a few centimeters from you above the ceiling or floor, depending on the design.

How and who to choose?

Now that you have taken care of the functionality of the system that is most suitable for your home, make sure that it will serve you as long as possible — choose a proven brand, a large well-known company with good reviews.

The production of conventional multi-split systems has been mastered by most companies producing mono-split systems, but not all of them offer «designers».

Similar equipment is produced by Daikin, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy, Sanyo.

In addition, Airwell, Daikin, Fujitsu General and Hitachi offer multi-split systems, which combine indoor units of various types: wall-mounted, ducted, cassette, floor-ceiling.

Such air conditioners open up the widest possibilities when equipping elite housing. Duct-type split systems can be found in almost all leading global companies.

These are Japanese companies Daikin, Fujitsu General, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy, Panasonic, Sanyo, Toshiba, European Airwell and Clivet and Israeli — Electra and Tadiran. There are also American products Carrier, McQuay, Lennox and York.

Heating systems are now offered by companies such as Viessmann, Buderus, Lamborghini, Immergas and Cointra, Seitron, using the latest technological advances in this area.

I would like to immediately eliminate some inaccuracies that are worth your attention:

Many people mistakenly believe that any air conditioner not only cools, but also ventilates the air in the room.

Air conditioners operate in the «cooling» or «heating» modes, and the «ventilation» mode (indicated in the instructions) means that the indoor unit fan operates without turning on the compressor.

The function of fresh air supply is fully implemented only in duct air conditioners.

In ventilation mode, neither cooling nor heating occurs, but circulation of the air in the room is created and its purification (if filters are available).

So do not forget to clarify and ask questions about all the capabilities of the system.

In fact, there are not so many joint systems that work well for heating, especially in Ukraine.

Therefore, carefully follow the reviews and consult with specialists, especially if you have cold winters.

Of course, there is no need to explain once again why it is preferable to entrust this work to professionals, ensuring yourself a peaceful sleep, high-quality warranty service and a minimum of hassle.

The best option would be if at all stages you work with the same company, which also provides consulting and service.

And let your home become the most cozy place in the world.