nwdiver
Well-Known Member
Oh I have looked into it, I got a few quotes to re-do the house with mini splits or a more efficient conventional setup.
The quotes ranged from $18k - $24k not anywhere remotely in the cards right now. Especially considering the current AC setup works great, it just draws a lot of power.
I've got a LG 2 ton 3 split unit at my house. I LOVE, LOVE... LOVE IT! The VFD is like magic. I have a 4kW Magnum off-grid inverter that can surge to 8kW. Surge absolutely NOT needed When I'm running off-grid the refrigerator cycling causes a much larger surge then when the AC cycles. It's frustrating that VFDs aren't more common... they're amazing!
On top of that it's a mini-split so I can cool one room at a time. Running a 12k BTU unit to heat or cool my living room uses <1kW!
If you're decent at DIY split systems are not difficult. I've installed 4 systems, all doing fine.
Another option is instead of the soft-start which appears to just be a larger capacitor bank... install a VFD controller.