This one is rated at -13 F. I found that mine shut off last winter around -10F. I have seen some that have an extreme cold rating of -25. I'm not sure how well they would work at that temp. They have to go through a defrost cycle at least every hour if not more when its below freezing and humid out.

I have always liked your videos, Mike, especially over the last three years. But I notice the change in approach and honestly, I like it. Good straight to the point information for dudes that are trying to get shit done. Good on you.

I installed a Mini Split mainly for cooling. For heating I love my wood stove and my endless 100% natural wood supply. In 100 years we will be living back in caves.

Considering how many decades they have been used in asian countries like Japan, I can imagine this is going to be a long lived switch to better energy efficiency. Especially since they now make these units to be able to heat most winter days even in cold climates. Even the new whole home central AC systems are being pushed to have heatpump options and far more efficient compressors than in the past. I think the mini-split heatpump units are going to make the most sense in all the places you usually see window AC, through wall AC and PTAC units since they are so efficent.

Central Texas here. Changed out our furnace/AC unit for a new heat pump system, forced air, and Our bills have dropped dramatically. I'll eventually install a mini-split in the shop for future use as well. Haven't heard about the water heaters yet. I think they're here to stay until, as you say, the next big thing comes along.

This unit looks nice unit. 5 years ago, i bought my self an mitsubishi, hyper heat unit that would work -13 Fahrenheit. Does both cool and heating. I am on the eastern side of the U.S. worth every penny. Savings hundreds of dollars a month. I highly recommended it. Awesome video

Installed a 42k multi-zone mr.cool mini split with three heads in my house after a renovation. Took me about a day to do it by myself, and only cost about 5k in total cost vs the 25k I was being quoted for vastly lower quality units being pushed by local hvac companies. The only issue I think i'll have in the future is service as a lot of companies won't service these if they are off brand as they cannot rip you off on the install. That being said, I have heated and cooled my 2 bedroom house for two years now, and i've seen a remarkable reduction in both heating and cooling costs.

Switched to a MItsubishi heat pump with an air handler for my ducted house this last winter. Absolutely amazing difference in every aspect. My old furnace was the original oil but with a newer beckett burner I put on a decade ago. While I actually like the simplicity of oil furnaces, it had just become too much of an expense with diesel being 4+ a gallon where I am at... plus my underground tank was 80 years old and who knows how much longer it had. The retrofited AC coil I had on my old system was only 12 seer and the new system is 18.7. At this point the unit will pay for itself within 8-10 years with reducing both heating and cooling expenses. Gas wasn't even an viable option as the utility wanted 47k just to stub the line to my curb, plus the gas here (and around the country) is going up as well. We've had a 50% increase in gas over the last couple years. I also have the option of solar panels or solar roof someday which would bring down the return on invest even further. I'm sure there will be a newer fancy technology down the road, there always is, but I'm pretty sure the trend of moving away from all fuels (NG, heating oil, and propane) and going electric is here to stay.

I just removed my oil furnace . I gave the furnace away , sold the 380 gallon of oil I had left and the 2 tanks. Put in a Bosch heat pump. I have my pellet stove tied in to the transfer switch on my generator. Super happy with the heat pump.

I'd like to see more companies installing retrofit geothermal heat pump systems. They use the constant temp of the ground for heat exchange so it works without regard for the outside temps.

Very nice and clean install! The reason for using a vacuum pump to put the system under vacuum before letting out the refrigerant is mainly to remove any moisture that may have gotten into the sealed part of the system. The best thing to do is to not open any of the lines or the evaporator until ready to make the connections and and limit their exposure to the atmosphere. Remember air always contains a small amount of moisture. If the components were sealed and not exposed but for a few minutes at installation then running the vacuum pump for 15 to 30 minutes should be suffice. The higher the humidity at the time of the open system or longer open time, the longer vacuum time. Remember that once moisture gets in the sealed refrigeration system, if not removed with vacuum it will remain internally untill it causes damage. And over time it will.

Mini-splits are efficient because the compressor runs off an inverter powered motor (variable speed control) and there are minimal fan losses, ductless. It’s hard to imagine that getting much more efficient, although there are probably minor improvements here and there. I guess the next thing will have to be some kind of solid state heat transfer, but that will need a lot of development. Nice install job! I put one in my insulated garage (Fujitsu) 20 years ago. Still working…

The heat pump with inverter tech is obviously more efficient than even whole house heat pumps. But there are always more technologies in the wings. it’s probably a 25-50 year technology. I’m looking at insulating my garage and putting one in for my woodworking habit

It could very well be, that it could change over to heat pump. I just had a mini split installed in my garage. Works beautiful! Ice, cold air! Best thing I’ve done for the house lately. Also, thanks for all the great videos, and opportunities to learn so much from you. Thanks again!

I've got both hot water heater inverter and 2 mini split units as my primary heat source. That used to be my oil furnaces job. Now the oil furnace is my backup which I reset the temps low setting to minimum so it only has to turn on in the winter months when burner aquastat is set to it's lowest temp. Water heater is so efficient and never runs cold. 2 years back oil prices were insane. My home took a few tank or oil/month during the coldest part of the winter. 1200 for one month. Now that would cost 200/month. I only use oil heat if I fear water pipes might freeze in crawl space during sub zero degree weather.

It's not like they're forcing people to replace what they have, but it's hard to argue it isn't more cost effective and efficient. Has been used for decades elsewhere, so it's well vetted even if some people here are less sure. The problem is with HVAC guys quoting/charging $7k-$10k for an install like this, because their time is in demand... the whole value proposition goes out the window

Here in New England we have a lot of older homes that have never had a traditional AC system and the heating is forced hot water or steam…..that being said it is much easier to run refrigerant lines to a 2nd or 3rd story rather than ductwork. Seems to me that mini splits will have a place as long as these older buildings need cooling….

Refrigeration/hvac tech here. I like these. If theyre installed and maintained properly then they will last, but who am I kidding 😅.

I work in hvac and honestly im not really sure. Im not the biggest fan but thats because I dont work on them much. Being in america minisplits are extremely new, and seem like a pain to work on. But other places in the world have been using almost exclusively mini splits, in even some of the poorest countries. You know their installs probably arent the best, and the conditions arent great, but it seems to be working fine for them. And a heat pump even in my northern climate I dont believe will handle the winter time. But for 80% of the year i think they will work, summer-fall-spring. Plus mini splits dont really filter or circulate any air. I think the ideal system would be a ducted standard split system with a heat pump, but dual fuel with a gas furnace. Then you have the reliable heat in the near 0 degree temps, but you also have the heat pump for anything 30 degrees and up without having constant defrost cycles every 30 minutes. Plus having a ducted system gives you the option to balance the house, as well as have a good whole house purification with a solid filter plus add ons like uv lights or an iwave. Also you can add a whole house humidifier to a ducted system to help the whole house out.

I have installed 3 different brands of these over the last 2 months, including this model he has. I agree they are by far the best of the 3. Costway and Tosot were the other two, I do believe Tosot is possibly the same company. Its easy to do and they work great.

For a very well-constructed and insulated house very high efficiency heat pumps are great!

We built our house new in 2018, I had a Heat Pump water heater installed on our house, it's already paid for itself now, by a lot, and still runs great. As an added benefit it helps dehumidify and cool , I leave it on heat pump only mode since we live in Texas it's very welcome to have that fringe benefit!

There are a lot of pros and cons to heat pumps. Here are some thoughts: - PRO: I like ductless mini-splits for their efficiency, silence, and individual zone control. Plus they are generally DIY friendly and also relatively economical compared to other forms of air conditioning. I think they have the most pros and the fewest cons. - CON: Ductless mini-splits have one major issue: they require annual cleaning (or in some cases, more frequently). This is something I learned recently. My fan was almost totally clogged with this white mildew-like slime. I was able to vacuum it fairly clean and also cleaned the evaporator coil. The system works WAY better now but it's not even been two years. The filters do practically nothing. - CON: Running line sets on the exterior of the house. This is becoming more and more acceptable every year so it hasn't stopped me yet (currently have 3 zones and will add two more next year to cover all rooms). - While ducted systems do a great job of filtration, these whole house systems are the most expensive way to be a heat pump user. It'll never pay back, AND you are generally limited in your zone controls. - I do NOT believe in heat pump hybrid water heaters. I had a standalone oil fired water heater that finally gave up at around 23 years old. I replaced it with an oil fired water heater and not one of these hybrid systems. While I like the idea of my water heater removing humidity in my basement for "free", everything else seems like a con. They are expensive (although with rebates maybe not). They are complex. There is no way in hell one of those units is going to last the 23 years that my oil fired unit did. They don't make hot water like my oil fired unit. My oil fired unit is practically on demand. The heat pump units recover slowly and generally require large tank sizes (my oil fired is only 32 gallons for a big house with 4 occupants and we never run out). It falls back to electric element heating when the heat pump can't keep up with is a huge electricity draw (which would require a new circuit, too). Also, my 7000W generator would not be able to power those elements in an outage. Finally, the oil fired unit uses so little oil that there is really nothing to discuss when it comes to payback. It's pretty much all downsides for me.

Just installed a mini-split in my room for the first time ever myself. I also got lucky with the electrical. There was a fairly fresh 240 volt line going to my room to the baseboard heater. I decided to tap into that and use that as my power source. The baseboard will still serve as a backup, but at least my mini-split can also serve as a heat source in the Winter and be a lot more efficient. I went with the 12,000 BTU Della Unit from Amazon, which is probably made with the same components at the Turbro. I also made sure to use that Nylog sealant with the flare connections. Originally, I was running one of those portable, R2D2, units that has a hose that connects out the window, but they are extremely noisy. The mini-split doesn't make any more noise than an average fan and can cool a room much better. My portable was 10,000 BTU while my mini-split is 12,000 BTU and I can already feel a huge difference in cooling power.

These are going to go main stream. Not a fad. These are used all over the world, only recently becoming very popular in the U.S. If I was young again I would only do electric car installations and these split systems. Very hot market for the for see able future. I was in construction since the 60s, retired now.

You are the only handyman I know wearing a Rolex.

This should be condensed into a Rolex ad - The original working man’s watch!!

9:00 another quality Turbro feature is the built-in screwdriver holder in the outside bracket! I like the look of the ceiling mount cassettes like Mr. Cool, at least they are less visually intrusive. More PITA to install, though.

I think they would work great for heat and AC for home additions where it is hard to extend the existing heating system

I'm looking to add a mini-split to my home. my central air is bare minimum for my SQ and these Texas summers have been tense. I see this as both redundancy for when my central AC goes out and offsetting some of the load, thus extending the life of my central AC.

I like heat pump units, the only issues I've found is that they are great until deep winter hits and it's low temps like in the teens. Then they almost always need back up heat to keep the temperature up. (Talking more along the lines of condenser and air handlers and package units. Not really about mini split heat pumps.)

Been running heat pumps for close to a decade up here in canada. My only gripe is the mouldy buildup in the indoor units. But you can charge an easy 100 to 150$ to clean them (the cylinder fan gets really gross)

I've been running my heat pump water heater for 2-1/2 years so far. It's nothing but awesome, and will pay for itself. No brainer. If you can afford the upfront cost you'll make it all back in reduced power use and then it will continue to save you money, and eliminate the need for a dehumidifyer in the basement, or help cool your garage and use even far less power if you're in a warmer climate.

We have a heat pump for pur whole house and its amazing. We use propane as our heat backup. We probably go through maybe 150 gallons of propane each winter. Super efficient!

I installed a Senville Aura 18k unit I bought off Amazon 6 years ago. Mini split is cheaper to run than my old swamp cooler. Could not be happier and will be upgrading to a multi zone unit on my remodel the later this year.

For new builds they will be the go-to system. Especially if the house has 2x code insulation.

Thats good to know. very professional work and video. I wonder if that could heat my 1260 square ft home in PA. I go through 6 ton of wood pellets a year.

I have mini splits that I use primarily for cooling I have one room that I use it for both I like my hot water boiler so much more. Though for cooling, the best part of these is the humidity control.

Your videos are getting even better man. You’re a multitalented guy!

Hopefully, it's a TURBRO and not a TURBRUH. 🤣I've got a mid-60s home that I inherited from my parents that has a dead air conditioner and floor vents that fill up with ground water. We could put the floor vents in the ceilings with a new air conditioner or just put in mini splits in every room and take advantage of zone heating and cooling with a heat pump. We're already using window units and electric heaters. Using heat pumps should help a lot with the electric bill.

Great video Handy. The noise of the units seems to be less and less as new ones come out. Noticed that was under the deck. Man I hate it when an outside unit kicks on when I’m watching the #1 Handyman in the universe. HandyOn!

In 🇨🇦, I’m not sure if that can work at -35-40 Celsius in winter here lol, but surely it would be way more efficient than gas and 220-240v electrical draws. Interesting stuff, great job handyman!

When I run wiring for 240v I always run 3 wire plus ground just in case in the future they need the neutral for a different unit or they completely repurpose the wiring.

I dont see mini splits/heat pumps going away in the future, especially with companies like eg4 finding ways to make them run completely off solar panels during the day and only using grid power when it has to. Which is not a bad thing, the more options there are in the market the better it is for everyone.

Here in Florida all we use are heat pumps. The mini splits are great if you want to eliminate window units.

Put a mini split in my home last year; the HVAC guy wanted 7,000 for a new 2.5 ton natural gas heater unit so instead I bought a unit and self installed a 24,000 BTU minisplit ($2,000 plus my time). I changed from gas to electric. I got a unit that was 30%+ more effcient. I do think the revolution is coming, and with the prices dropping, it is the future. I am a not sure about water heaters yet. It is so hard to get people to change HVAC filters now, neglecting hot water heaters for years as is normal is not going to be good for those units. It also depends on how much people use them. With the new SEER2 and traditional HVAC prices going through the roof, more people are going to go with mini-splits. When $200 window air conditioners are combined with the high efficiency mini-split technology, I think that may also take over the space.

I think heat pumps will be the way to go. I'm saving for when its time to replace my fuel oil furnace and older AC unit.

That Stein is awesome. Love that kind of stuff. My family is German and we have some, but not silver

I had a Mitsubishi heat pump installed this past February. It connects to an air handler in my attic and all new duct work installed in my house as well as 2 mini splits in rooms that couldn't be reached with duct work easily. It works great!

Hey handyman, I'm a Gas tech apprentice up in Canada. I've been on a few installs of these things and so far so good. I've had quite a few complaints about their efficiency when its below -30 Celcius outside. Now I am aware this doesn't happen to often in the southern states but just wanted to point that out.

We have a small one story house with central AC, the master bedroom does not get any heat or AC, so installing one of these would be great. The rest of the house the central AC works pretty good.

I've had a Mitsubishi single-head since 2016. Installed by a local heating company. No regrets at all.

Built my home 27 years ago and put in heat pump AC units in and been very happy with them in the winter and summer. Back up heat is electric but found out if raise the thermostat slowly the back up heat does not come on.

I live in south florida, hot climate. The mini split looks like a great solution , similar to central ac like most of us have down here. But I like the mini split system because it looks like you can control temp in different rooms . One thing though , I grew up in NY and lived in different rentals , I know up there the one thing is the cost in running heat , how many amps plus the cost in electricity to run that system. Plus the other thing is in the winter up there, forced air heat is very dry, can cause sinus headaches. Here in florida it doesn't matter because you only need forced air heat for about an hour at a time and just turn it off after the house warms up. I know in NY the worst kind of heat to use is electric , dry air condition plus very high electric bill, so at least a forced air is better than that I guess.

Handyman, great instructional video. As to acceptance of heat pump. If you currently use resistance heating, is a no brainer, heat pumps can be 2 to 5 times more efficient depending on temperature. Compared to gas, gas furnaces will run 30 years at least without major repairs, not so heat pumps. But depending on local utility rates and whether one owns solar, its hard to say. Keep it up.

Cheers for this. I feel bad as I've got one sitting in my office floor, keep meaning to fit it. It's not the solution I wanted, but the others are just way more work or have a higher running cost. We'll see! Good video 👍

Is that a Hart drill? Emergency Wal-Mart trip lol

Nice install the only thing I would have recommended was a wall sleeve where the line set and condensate line goes through the wall. They're only a few bucks but most contractors don't use them either if there's ever any kind of leak or condensation on a refrigerant line for the installation failed you won't have it inside your wall it'll go outside.

It shows the wire protective flex conduit with protective outer jacket electrical wire, and cable with a protective outer jacket. When placed in a conduit, Romex-type wire can't dissipate heat well, which can lead to overheating and increased risks. It also can't breathe, which can cause it to retain too much heat. Can possibly overheat.

That disconnect, if you drill the spot welds out you won’t need the reducing washers. Knockouts fall right out makes for a cleaner job.

I have a Mitsubishi 48K BTU outdoor unit… runs 4 indoor units.. worst decision I ever made was wall mounting the compressor, it literally vibrates and shakes my entire bedroom. I eventually built a 4X4 crib enclosure below it (filled with crush stone for weight), and finally jacked the unit up 1/4” and lowered it to the cribbing and removed the wall mount. I can finally sleep again 👍

If your house is air sealed tight, you are still going to want to install an HRV or an ERV, so you will need ducts of some kind, to get fresh air into the building. I've also seen Mr. Cool makes a whole house unit that can hook up to a ducted system. Ground source heat pumps have been around for a while, but digging the trenches or wells is expensive. If they make air source heat pumps efficient enough, they should be fine.

Nice! I wonder if this is a Midea rebrand like Cooper&Hunter, Senville, etc

Would it be a good idea to wait until your release the refrigerant before taping off the linesets, that way you can check for leak bubbles?

Turbro?!? More like Fibafoosebro! 😂 nice video!

This technology is everywhere in Europe for the past 25 years. It is not a movement but catching up with the rest of the world in that aspect.

Thanks for the video! I have DIY solar and I am doing a DIY 18k BTU mini split. Overall I think it will be good and cost effective for me personally, not to mention decrease my dependence on external sources of energy.

I think you should consider changing your professional moniker from Handyman to Awesome Man.

sooo recommend the flare seals.

great video. I followed your first one to install one of these for myself. Have you installed a "Ducted" mini split (Also know as hidden duct) system before? I'd love to see a video of that. Appears to be more of a hybrid of a traditional air handler and a mini split. The plenum box connection appears to take a little more thought since duct work is being run. Anyway, great video.

Heat pumps are among the most efficient conversion of energy systems we have for HVAC. I think it's a natural evolution and a necessity to adopt the most efficient systems as rapidly as possible.

Loving the watch!

excellent video although it would be nice if you described, step by step, the vacuum portion of the install.

Can they handle the Las Vegas heat and replace an old rooftop unit??

hello handyman i don't for see them going out any time soon i have installed 3 now here in north west Texas 2 personal and one 3 head for a customer here close all of them are working well and are much more cost effective for the dollar spent really like your videos

I hope you have a wood burning fireplace for when the power is out

Nobody has to force me to use these! Ever since I encountered them overseas, every other heating and cooling system has made a lot less sense. Same thing for 220v point of service water heat for sinks and showers. The way we pay to heat water 24/7 is moronic! These work great!

Heat pumps as a primary heat source still require a backup heat source like electric resistance or gas, since a heater that quits working at sub-zero temperatures puts lives at risk. That being said, I think they're a good idea. I'm just worried about the market being flooded with a lot of cheaply made ones, and the fact that it will run in all seasons will cause more wear on the compressor...

Installed one this morning

I want to install one in a basement. Would it be an issue having the outdoor unit elevated above the indoor unit by a foot or so, or possibly at the same level?

I have 3 of these in my house. I love them. Very efficient and if you have a failure your whole house is not impacted. Just the unit and room. Do I think these will take over? No. Maybe in places like where I am in East Tennessee where the winter is more mild but in places like North Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc... these will be pretty worthless. Below 32 and they start to consume a lot more power to heat, and I have found my unit works alright down to around 0 where it cannot bring the room above 68 and if you lose ground its lost and wont be regained. There are ways around that but then you are paying for resistance heating built into these units which make power costs run crazy. So for colder states I foresee the need for furnaces for at least a while.

I also wonder how long these units will hold up. I just replaced my split system (gas heat and traditional AC), it was 31 years old. Does the construction of these units seem like they will hold up like that ?

Big energy company rebates on the mini split heat pumps.

They only last 3-5 years in high humidity hot environments with constant use. That said, they are still the best option for cooling. For heating, if it's cheaper, it's a winner.

Very informative videos.

Most mini splits i put in have electronic txvs and when not properly evacuated and installed it WILL clog just a matter of time. These things are awesome an will last about 20 years if put in properly.

Love the vid! Does your state allow electrical and HVAC work without a specific license and permits? Not calling out, just asking out of curiosity!

Usually if you tape the ends with electrical tape it fits thru the hole with no problem.

Well my grandparents and other relatives I have in Florida have had heat pumps in their houses, when we would visit back in the 80's. I don't think they are going away. I think these mini splits are a bit of a fad. This installation you just showed kinda illustrates the main down side to them. Looks like you were forced to dump it out the front side of the house where you see it. I get that was probably the most logical spot for it, but jeesus, there has to be a better way that they can come up with.

I was in Europe 40 years ago they had them there and are still using them now, (I was there last month). Your guess is as good as mine if it last here.

Handy's did u replace that exterior door on this house awhile back? And what Seer is that turbro unit?

I'm a licensed HVAC contractor in 3 states and an HVAC college instructor. Mini-splits have been around in the middle east, Asia and Europe for decades. America is typically at least 20 - 30 years behind everyone else concerning HVAC. Mini-splits are here to stay. The inverter technology makes them more efficient, more effective and quieter than virtually everything on the market other than geothermal which isn’t practical for everyone. Unfortunately, mini-splits are much harder to repair than traditional units and can have up to 3 control boards in the condenser. There also isn't a filter drier, so if you don't use nitrogen, followed by a deep vacuum proven by a micron gauge, you will eventually have compressor failure and/or reduced efficiency due to leaving non-condensibles in the system. If you live in an area with poor power quality or frequent lighting then a surge protector is recommended to protect your equipment as they are super sensitive to power abnormalities.

Isn't that the house you changed the front door years back?

FWIW, our local utility is offering a rebate to customers who convert major appliances to natural gas. But I think heat pumps make sense as long as your electrical service is reliable in the winter. Running a generator to power a heat pump makes no sense.

Great video! Was pleased to see this unit had better insulation and accessories. We replaced our ancient 4 ton Carrier system and gas furnace with a Rheem system last week. We thought about 17 seer Mitsubishi and Bosch systems with heat pump, but couldn’t do it…and they were twice the price. $4500 vs $11k (excluding labor). I was raised to worship and respect the gas furnace and avoid the heat pump. I’ll probably install a mini split in my garage but that’s it.

There was a house a block north that had a gas leak and it literally blew the house off the foundation, roof, and all. No one was living there at the time. Electric heat pumps are the way to go.

Drill your smack outs with a step bit = perfect size to fit glands 😎

How has your TOSOT unit in the workshop been treating you?

Excellent

Mini-splits are the one thing being forced on us that is actually good.