[Will.S]

New to Florida & Mini Splits. Are these Mitsubishi Mr Cool Mini Splits energy hogs or are they pretty efficient and electrical bill friendly ? We want to close up the Lanai and set Mr Cools thermostat & forget it.. unless it is going to double our electric bill .
Any experience comments welcome.

[LuvtheVillages]

When we had our Mitsubishi mini split installed several years ago, our electric bill did not noticeably change. We leave our lanai sliders open most of the time. The mini split took some of the load off the main A/C, so it did not have to run as much. Now all areas of the house are more comfortable.

[PJMac]

The idea is, the air is cooled near where you need it, making them pretty efficient. Hopefully, as someone else stated, taking a bit of the load off of the main unit. Usage will increase, but our experience has been, not much. One important thing, it is my understanding that as a general rule these houses have little or no insulation above the lanai. Your installer will probably tell you this and offer to add it for additional money. I believe we paid $300. Also, while I am thinking about it, we had a realtor tell us you needed glass windows to get a permit. I don’t think that is correct.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by PJMac

The idea is, the air is cooled near where you need it, making them pretty efficient. Hopefully, as someone else stated, taking a bit of the load off of the main unit. Usage will increase, but our experience has been, not much. One important thing, it is my understanding that as a general rule these houses have little or no insulation above the lanai. Your installer will probably tell you this and offer to add it for additional money. I believe we paid $300. Also, while I am thinking about it, we had a realtor tell us you needed glass windows to get a permit. I don’t think that is correct.

Most of the enclosure contractors insulate the space above the lanai when they enclose it with glass.

[Will.S]

This was a resale home. All glass sliders & mini split already in place.
.

Originally Posted by PJMac

The idea is, the air is cooled near where you need it, making them pretty efficient. Hopefully, as someone else stated, taking a bit of the load off of the main unit. Usage will increase, but our experience has been, not much. One important thing, it is my understanding that as a general rule these houses have little or no insulation above the lanai. Your installer will probably tell you this and offer to add it for additional money. I believe we paid $300. Also, while I am thinking about it, we had a realtor tell us you needed glass windows to get a permit. I don’t think that is correct.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Will.S

New to Florida & Mini Splits. Are these Mitsubishi Mr Cool Mini Splits energy hogs or are they pretty efficient and electrical bill friendly ? We want to close up the Lanai and set Mr Cools thermostat & forget it.. unless it is going to double our electric bill .
Any experience comments welcome.

Mini-Splits are ridiculously cheap & efficient to run.

[Will.S]

Thank you for your reply.

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Mini-Splits are ridiculously cheap & efficient to run.

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by Will.S

New to Florida & Mini Splits. Are these Mitsubishi Mr Cool Mini Splits energy hogs or are they pretty efficient and electrical bill friendly ? We want to close up the Lanai and set Mr Cools thermostat & forget it.. unless it is going to double our electric bill .
Any experience comments welcome.

Your inquiry is somewhat confusing. Per your initial statement above, It sounds like your Lanai is not enclosed but has a Minisplit. It would seem that would be unusual. Your later post states that the Lanai is already enclosed and Mini split is already in Place.

In any event in answer to your question regarding Mr Cool and forgetting it, I would say no. There are many considerations, but all should consider the following:

How often do you use the Lanai? Dues the Lanai have overhead fans?
The Mini Split is extremely efficient in cooling and heating if sized correctly,

No reason to keep on continuing run unless used all day and then only when needed.

[RICH1]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Mini-Splits are ridiculously cheap & efficient to run.

Agreed ... Best and smartest improvement that I done to my home .... shop around for the best price, but definitely a Mitsubishi ...Most efficient and quiet AC on the market

[rsmurano]

The mini split is an heat pump which is very energy efficient. Adding a mini split to our enclosed lanai actually dropped the price of our electric bill compared to having our main hvac system try to heat and cool our lanai.
Also, throw away the cheap remote that you control the mini split and get a real thermostat that you can program, like the newer ecobee or nest thermostats used in your home. They cost $100 on sale and I put mine in the 1st day I got the mini installed

[Will.S]

Close up (as in close the exterior sliding doors).

Originally Posted by mtdjed

Your inquiry is somewhat confusing. Per your initial statement above, It sounds like your Lanai is not enclosed but has a Minisplit. It would seem that would be unusual. Your later post states that the Lanai is already enclosed and Mini split is already in Place.

In any event in answer to your question regarding Mr Cool and forgetting it, I would say no. There are many considerations, but all should consider the following:

How often do you use the Lanai? Dues the Lanai have overhead fans?
The Mini Split is extremely efficient in cooling and heating if sized correctly,

No reason to keep on continuing run unless used all day and then only when needed.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by RICH1

Agreed ... Best and smartest improvement that I done to my home .... shop around for the best price, but definitely a Mitsubishi ...Most efficient and quiet AC on the market

Originally Posted by rsmurano

The mini split is an heat pump which is very energy efficient.

Also, throw away the cheap remote that you control the mini split and get a real thermostat that you can program, like the newer ecobee or nest thermostats used in your home. \

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Mini-Splits are ridiculously cheap & efficient to run.

In my opinion, Mitsubishi & Dalkin make the best mini-split. I used a lot of them, in commercial applications.

One of the biggest advantage of mini-splits, is the remote control. They provide nearly instant heat or air conditioning. There's generally no reason to keep them running or constantly managed ... they're not designed for that purpose, they are "on demand HVAC". In my experience, the useful life when used "on demand" is likely to be 10-12 years. Constantly managed/used, more like 6-8 years.

[VilGeorge]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Most of the enclosure contractors insulate the space above the lanai when they enclose it with glass.

We bought a 3 year old home with a glassed in lanai. There was no a/c and no insulation in the attic (above the lanai). Make sure you check it out!

[Berwin]

Before we moved down here, we lived in Norfolk 700' from the Chesapeake Bay. We had a totally glass (even the roof) four-season addition built and it had a Mitsubishi mini-split. As others have mentioned, we kept the sliding glass door open all the time. THEN, our main A/C went out one really hot day and the service couldn't come until the next day. We put a fan blowing out of the addition into the house; another one to blow down the hall; and a third to blow into our bedroom. Closed all other doors and were comfortable enough to get by until the main was repaired. Bottom line: having that separate backup came in real handy.

[ithos]

After the lanai, usually the most strategic place to install a minisplit is the master bedroom.

While you sleep, set it to 68 degs and leave the rest of the house at 74 at night.