Will a Mini Split work below freezing?

We got ourselves a Mitsubishi Ductless Mini Split to heat and cool our home. It's been a pretty great unit, but I was concerned that it may stop working during a rather extreme cold snap. I've heard that a mini split can freeze or just quit working when temperatures get very low. Long story short, this we're gonna see if these things work in below freezing temperatures.
We have a Mitsubishi MXZ4C36NA2U1 36K BTU Multi zone system which is powering 2 MSZGL09NAU1 9000 BTU wall mount units and a MLZKP12NAU1 12000 BTU ceiling cassette.

[@vmax673]

I just got a Mitsubishi installed in my sunroom and I does a great job! If you live in a super cold climate then consider the Mitsubishi Hyper Heat model!!

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

I'll have to check into that!

[@aarone9000]

Thanks; Am seriously considering getting one; this freezing while in the frontroom has gotta end!

[@JPCommenting]

So far in the middle of the Arctic Blast in the NorthEast, at -13 and the mini splits are still spitting out hot air! I have 7 ceiling units (like the one you showed) and one wall unit. All of them working properly, but I can definitely hear the compressor working quite hard compared to when it not as cold.

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Are you running the Mitsubishi as well?

[@JPCommenting]

@@HomesteadBandwagon yes :) all Mitsubishi. Only upped the numbers from 66 to 69 and spent the night nice and toasty.

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

That's really impressive! Guess I don't have much to worry about

[@JPCommenting]

@@HomesteadBandwagon indeed! Cheers!

[@billyrayboo7315]

Ya but how hot is the air what are you calling hot 65 degree discharged temp. Never heat your home with that

[@johnlang2293]

I am not an HVAC tech, but I have had my Cooper Hunter 24k BTU splits installed about 1 year now, and I noticed sometimes when its super cold, like 20 or 15 or less (Fahrenheit) Also I am in NorthEast Pennsylvania. They will occasionally make a "moose" sound, for a few seconds, and from what I read its a pressure differential occurring. and its normal. So sometimes, possibly your split might "moose" on you.

[@MrYorugua12345]

Does it heat good when temps drops very low?

[@johnlang2293]

@@MrYorugua12345mine worked good this winter. So I would say yes. .

[@johnlang2293]

@@MrYorugua12345 Yes, it will run a little harder and might not be as efficient but yes, it does work. I have 2x Cooper Hunter 24k BTU systems, one for 1st floor , and 1 in basement. I am in northeast PA and it did great keeping the house between 69 and 73 degrees the entire time. This winter was not as bad as previous, but it was plenty cold enough.

[@BeKind-ve4id]

I noticed on eBay today that a CH split has a COP of 3.81. is that real? What cop are you getting?

[@johnlang2293]

@@BeKind-ve4id I have no idea all I know is my electric bill has been better since stopping use of baseboard electric, and the split system kept up fine with heating the house this winter. I am in the mountainy rural area of northeast PA and it gets just as cold here as it does for a friend of mine that lives up in Maine. We get brutally cold weather for most the winter. No issues here coming up on 2 years now. Unless you bought the absolute cheapest Walmart clearance rack version of a split system, you should have no problems with a premium brand like Cooper Hunter.

[@clintkuntz327]

My ramsond 27,000btu unit with two head’s running kept my house at about 70 degrees with outside temps between-3 to 12 degrees for over a week

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

That's impressive!

[@mfb6310]

Live in Minnie Soda for a few years..WWHEW! -20 was coldest, without the wind. Any wind below 32 is cold, but any wind below 0 is $#^**@ cold. No MI gets warmed up by the lakes, get more snow though. Montana is where I'd love to go.

[@ooigfgnnkhjjnc]

Im gonna heat my house with a window unit backwards.

[@Thatsmessedupman]

So are those the only way that you get heat? How can they cover the entire house? How many do you have? I'm just thinking about doing this but even with a small unit if I don't keep all the doors open they don't know how many I would have to have. And then do you lose efficiency if you're running lines through a cold or heated attic to get to other rooms to put another head in? And don't you have to create some kind of wind chill effect when you're pushing hot air down because heat rises. So I always thought that just using an air purifier in the house in the winter I feel cheerier because the air is circulating not warmer.

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

We have 3 head units that heat the 3 areas of our downstairs. The heat rises and keeps things comfy upstairs where the bedrooms are, for the most part as long as you leave your doors open. We have enough headroom to add a 4th unit upstairs if we wanted AC in the master bedroom or something like that, but haven't really wanted to yet. We'd need another heat exchanger if we wanted a head unit in every room, which would be pretty spendy. There are electric wall heaters in each room upstairs, but they're rarely used. It's been MUCH more efficient than any other heat source I've ever used, even though i run the heat much higher than i would with a furnace. It seems like it'll be less maintenance over time, as well as there's no ducting to clean and the main unit is outdoors, so it's very easy to keep that clean and unrestricted

[@stoneyswolf]

Well you did get the most expensive system on the market so upfront it's more money. You failed to mention if it's maintaining you set temp kinda important to know because at that point they'll switch to your emergency backup if you have one

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

No backup for this system except for a fireplace. Holds temps without issue down to under 10 degrees ferenheight!

[@mikeham5465]

@@HomesteadBandwagonnice so what happens after or if it drops below 10 degrees Fahrenheit dies it cut off and stop or does it thaw out then kick back on just curious on the process thanks

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

@mikeham5465 it has never stopped running, but it will lose efficiency below a certain threshold. There's a heated element that can be installed in cold climates that keeps a drip tray from freezing, which cam be an issue when it's in the teens or below

[@muskateer10]

Do you run them on off peak electric? Do they run up your electric bill a lot? Thanks from North Dakota

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Out in our area, electric rates are the same any time of day, which is nice. Our electric bill dropped by 30%, and we keep the heat on 24/7 at the same temp while also having AC, which we didn't before. I'm pretty impressed

[@LittleCabin]

Colder than a polar bear's nose, I say!

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Man, i felt like we were cold up here, then I saw the temps out in the Midwest! Uffdah!

[@shawnroddick7523]

Your wall unit is too close to the ceiling I believe they need at least 6 inches clearance. I just installed a 18k hybrid mini from hotspot energy. Its 110° and evaportive cooler is still running fine but once the humidity kicks in I hope to have the panels connected and run it all day off solar for free 😊 nvenergy keeps raising their rates more and more so i am looking to use as little as possible from them while still maintaining and comfortable lifestyle!

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

I sure hope it isn't! The company we hired has installed a few thousand of these things, so I guess they'll have to warranty it if something goes wrong

[@sticksnstones7716]

@@HomesteadBandwagon HVAC tech here…..he’s right

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Weird. The installer gave me a lifetime warranty, and Mitsubishi said the spacing was OK

[@shaylawildroses6878]

mine were installed this distance from ceiling too. farther from ceiling make it easier to take off panel maybe?

[@jacobwatson1818]

Question if you don't mind. I have an old house as well. By chance what is your cost to run this in winter and summer? I need to get some for the upstairs.

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Before we installed, the house didn't have a functioning heating source in the downstairs. We were using 4 radiant space heaters, which were pretty efficient, but didn't really do a good job of warming all the time. After the install, we had a historically cold season. It's still historically cold, in fact! Despite that, our electric bills are 30% lower. Pretty great! We could lower them even more if we put timers on the units for when we're out of the house, but I've just been running them at 67 degrees 24/7. It's really impressive! I'd say our average bill is under a couple hundred a month, which is a great improvement

[@jacobwatson1818]

@@HomesteadBandwagon Wow, that is impressive. Thanks for the response.

[@randydaigle]

I’m wondering why it needs to be outside, if it’s electric couldn’t it work if it was in the basement? Or in my garage? Heat the garage and the house

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

I've seen one in a cellar before, but when heating the house it would cool the cellar, and vice-versa. It also can accumulate ice or condensation on the coils, which could lead to issues if there wasn't a whole lotta ventilation

[@randydaigle]

Ok thanks

[@ThePeavey23]

Not bad for the low level unit, hifi unit is more efficient and better in heating

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

I'm plesantly surprised by its performance. We had some days above 100f, and it didn't miss a beat!

[@randydaigle]

We get -40 c in January and February here in northern Manitoba Canada. Will it work?

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

A mini split loses efficiency pretty quickly below freezin, so I'd bet it would reeeeaaaally struggle in conditions that cold. They do have some pretty ingenious systems to keep the heat exchange coils from failing, buy -40 is pretty extreme!

[@woodsman-ww7tx]

Mine is factory tested and guaranteed to work and put out heat from -31 degrees Celsius 🎉

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

That's incredible. I'm really pleasantly surprised

[@fredflintstone5356]

I am wondering the same thing. I am in northern Canada and it can get up to -40 here for January and February and even times I seen it colder than -50c. I am building a sunroom now and I have a mini split I am going to put in there. It’s not a very big room, only 220 sq feet but I am hoping the heat will be enough for the winter. I am thinking though I might end up just turning off the unit when it gets to -15c and just use electric heat. It’s a well insulated room with high efficiency windows so will have to see what it’s like this first winter.

[@york806]

Mine works down to -13° But wood is much better..

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

For sure! We have a Blaze King Princess fireplace insert which has been a great asset. We didn't figure that we'd need a low temp version of the mini split but I might add the tray warmer this spring.

[@dougphelps6917]

@@HomesteadBandwagon Mine works to -13 according to the specs... at -9 it started to struggle... but it held its own. At 10 to 20 it has no problems keeping my space warm.

[@thaneoflions975]

The homestead bandwagon winter set looks pretty good. But it’s all smoke and mirrors…feel like I’m watching gremlins or something- there’s no vapor from your breath! I dont know what to believe anymore

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

My lungs had frozen.

[@thaneoflions975]

@@HomesteadBandwagon that makes sense

[@justme-yj3bu]

DO THEY WORK AT -30 TO -40 IN DEGREES?

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

I don't belive so, but there have been some pretty great advances in the technology, so I may be wrong!

[@qrunsel8574]

The up-to-date ones do. But for the rest of them? No. But a lot of them will work at -22 degrees.

[@thaneoflions975]

“Butt cold” -Me

[@billyrayboo7315]

Weird looks like down stairs was turned off. Damper was shut but blowing hot air. Bs

[@HomesteadBandwagon]

Ya caught me. I'm working with the Illuminati to create Deepfake MiniSplit content

[@gonnfishy2987]

@@HomesteadBandwagon😂