Thoughts on electricQ air-to-air?

[ReedRichards]

We have a workshop at the back of our detached garage that needs to be heated and I was wondering about these electricQ air-to-air heat pumps .  E.g. https://www.aircondirect.co.uk/p/1681860/electriq-12000-btu-wall-mounted-heat-pump-air-conditioner-with-smart-app?gQT=1  or possibly one of the cheaper split units.  It's a small space, about 5 m x 2m, but badly insulated because the walls are a single layer of brick, covered by plasterboard.  We sometimes need to run a dehumidifier in there so the dehumidification action of the heat pump is a plus.  But are these reliable, or is there a better manufacturer for something sub £1k?     

[SteamyTea]

I have often wondered what they are like as they would be a good replacement for one of my storage heaters.

 

Get one and report back.

 

Just had a look on Reddit and the make, not that particular model, seems to get good comments.

 

I think like a lot of things, how they are used can affect reliability.

Edited February 14 by SteamyTea

[saveasteading]

I hadn't seen this idea of no outside unit. Tidy. But the in and out vents would need to be far apart or it will draw the exhaust straight back in.

The other type (with external wall mounted unit) is a standard thing in Mediterranean areas. Off the shelf in the diy stores. They seem to be optimised for cooling but reasonably efficient for heating too. ( X 3.5 ish).

They can be a bit noisy.

 

[ReedRichards]

Thanks.  I have room for an outside unit so the comment about in and out vents for the all-in-one makes me think that the outside unit is preferable.  They are cheaper too.  And quieter (inside the room) do you think?

[saveasteading]

8 minutes ago, ReedRichards said:

quieter (inside the room) do you think?

That's likely.  The big fan is outdoors. They will all publish noise figures I think.

The prices range dramatically for what looks similar.

Efficiency and noise are the obvious differences.

[joth]

I did a DIY install of one of their split units, in a garden room gym (100mm insulation)

 

I fudged it up and all the gas leaked so paid more to have it recharged than having pro install would have cost to start with (because finding someone to do R290 was expensive). But hey, learning experience!

They all in one completely removes that risk, would have done that in retrospect 

 

The dehumidifier struggles when the air is already very cold, which is the main time we have (very serious) condensation issues. You need to warm the air up first, it doesn't seem to do that as part of the program. 

I'm going to try and automatic extractor fan instead.