Heatpump for long narrow corridor

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ajbw

115 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#284065 29-Mar-2021 10:34

We have a rather unusual corridor that we want to keep warm.
It's 1.2m wide by 2.1m high by 12m long.
There's not enough room above the doors at each end to mount a heatpump, and we can't put ducts in the floor because it's concrete.
Our initial idea was to install a high-wall heatpump halfway along. However, one supplier suggested that would simple recirculate warm air about the middle, and said a low-level heatpump would spread the heat better.
Does anyone have any experience of this sort of setup, or any suggestions?

timmmay

20580 posts

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#2682374 29-Mar-2021 10:41

Could you do ceiling ducts? Ducted would be fairly expensive. A high wall heat pump plus a heat transfer kit with an inlet the the heat pump and two outlets spaced along might work and be cheaper.

Is it the corridor you want to heat, or the rooms off the corridor?

JeremyNzl

359 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2682378 29-Mar-2021 10:50

I have a 9mx1.6ish hallway, With a highwall at half way

It heats the hallway and has a positive effect on most connecting bedrooms.

Cooling however is not as effective as the heating as it gets a bit too much recirculated air to really dig into it during the day,

For nighttime cooling its adequate.

In the summer I wish I had a floor mount or end mounted high wall, In the winter it doesn't bother me

I now have 2 heat pumps in my house 1 in the hall and 1 in the kitchen,

If I could start from scratch again I would have 1 ducted unit.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2682384 29-Mar-2021 11:05

If you can place the floor mounted heatpump on a non-structural / load bearing wall, then you can cut studs and recess the unit into the wall. A builder may want to add a bit of framing to keep the wall sturdy, but your house won't fall down and you won't need an engineer, consents etc. The floor-mount heatpump we've got can be recessed by the thickness of wall lining, or recessed a further 80-90mm. If you did the latter, then it would only protrude about 125mm.

We've got one in a hallway, it's on a load-bearing wall, so it protrudes by the full depth of the unit, but it's not in the way of anything as the hallway is a bit wider. It's "tee shaped" and about 12m. I leave the automated vents off, manually set them with the left hand side hard left, the right hand side hard right. It heats the hallway very evenly, and bedrooms if you want that heat (we only very rarely do) more slowly, but quite effectively.

ajbw

115 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2682946 30-Mar-2021 10:10

Thank you for your comments. We're still undecided about the best way to go, but it will probably be a low-level unit...

Kickinbac

427 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2685027 31-Mar-2021 19:57

A problem with heat pumps in small spaces is that they short circuit. The temp sensor thinks the room is at setpoint and backs off the inverter and you dont get the full heating capacity. A way to get around this is to set the temperature higher than normal and fix the fan speed. Works in some situations, not others.

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2686467 4-Apr-2021 23:30

The most common heat pump installed in NZ is a high wall, however when I was selling them ~10 years ago at our local retravision, the floor level ones were more efficient and the Mitsubishi floor one was the quietest on the market at the time. As mentioned above you can semi-recess them within a wall.

They much less fan noise and dont need as much forced air movement to access the cold air at the floor level for heating, and for cooling it doesnt matter as much much because you dont necessarily want to cool the hotter air at the ceiling level anyway.

I highly recommend them.

Ray Taylor

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ajbw

115 posts

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#2687066 6-Apr-2021 10:05

Thanks again for the comments. It looks like we will be going with a low-level one.

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Kickinbac

427 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2687473 6-Apr-2021 19:40

ajbw: Thanks again for the comments. It looks like we will be going with a low-level one.

Be prepared to pay more though, a floor mount unit will cost approx $700 - $1000 more than the equivalent capacity hi-wall.