Pioneer Air Conditioner RYB-22 Ceiling Concealed Slim Ductable Inverter++ Mini Split Heat Pump, 36000 BTU-208/230V

I live in a small, 500 square foot house in the northeast USA. The previous owner was cooling it with a 10,000 BTU window air conditioner, a couple of pedestal fans to move the cool air, and a ceiling fan in every room. When that unit failed a few years after we moved in, we purchased two smaller units - one 5,000 BTU and the other 8,000 BTU. They were more than adequate for keeping things cool, but so loud that it was difficult to have a conversation or watch TV.One of the few pitfalls of living in a smaller house is that wall space is at a premium. Ductless would have been half the price and only a quarter of the hassle, but there is seriously no wall space to hang a ductless unit anywhere that makes sense from a cooling perspective. Likewise, the previous owner sealed the attic access for reasons that I don’t want to know, so a ceiling mount was also not really an option. The only remaining choice is a ducted central AC system, with plenums and everything in the basement and vents poked up through the floor. Given that the smallest traditional system is 2.0 tons (24,000 BTU) and our space really needs only 12,000 BTU per the AC sizing guides, you can see how I wound up selecting this 18,000 BTU mini-split ducted unit.For background purposes, I have to declare up front that I am over the hill and never once lived in a house/apartment with anything other than baseboard hot water heat. Since my current house had no ductwork, it meant that I had to design the entire layout from scratch with no previous experience to draw from. I searched online for web pages and videos of ductwork, and read debates on the evils of flex duct versus sheet metal ducts for several nights. My final design was a single 20x20” return grate at the center of the house, and one 6” round sheet metal duct to the far outside wall in each of the four nearly identically-sized rooms. Why the metal ducts? They flow air better than flex duct, and can be cleaned without worries of ripping the liner. Plus, the zinc coating in the galvanization allegedly has some anti-bacterial properties. Anyone copying my work can probably get away with a 16x20” return grate. I intentionally over-sized so that I had the option of running a super-fine allergy filter with extra surface area.Hanging the outdoor unit on the foundation using the optional Pioneer brackets was simple, and I’ve done enough electrical work over the years where that wasn’t a challenge. Once the indoor unit was hanging, I routed the refrigerant lines and lubed up all of the flare surfaces with Nylog Blue. Highseer sells it in tiny little tubes, but does not include one in their Amazon package bundle. I ordered it directly from them, but you can pick it up in bigger bottles here. Their web site also has a single low-side pressure/vacuum gauge for a really good price, and I recommend it if you don’t already have an HVAC manifold and gauge set. I pulled a vacuum on the system for about an hour, closed the gauge valve, and let it sit for three weeks to prove to myself that it had no leaks and while I finished up the inside sheet metal work.On a side note, I spent a few hours perusing the study guides for the EPA 608 test, and passed the exam at a local HVAC supply house. It is a gray area on whether or not you need to be certified in order to open the refrigerant valves on these units. I have a nosey neighbor who would absolutely call the EPA to get a cut of the $35,000 fine if he saw what I was doing, so the $50 test fee was cheap insurance (and opens up a new career line for me should I get tired of my current office job).My distribution and return plenums were constructed from S-cleats and pre-formed materials from the big box store with orange signs. I was originally going to use old-school 2.5x12” baseboard register vents, but wound up making a last-minute change to 4x10” floor vents when I discovered that the baseboard register boxes would not clear the cinderblock foundation from the underside. I was concerned that the extra vent size would decrease the air velocity, but so far it is turning the air over quite nicely in all rooms.Long story short, it took 2 months from order to powering up. I had to learn the duct design, electrical, refrigeration, and sheet metal trades, and buy the necessary tools, gauge, and a vacuum pump. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably pay a professional to do the install when considering that I spent almost an extra grand for tools and supplies on top of the unit’s price. If you are up for the challenge of learning several trades, I can certainly vouch that this system can be DIY installed.As I write this, I’m *shivering* in a 70 degree house with the outdoor thermometer reading 93 degrees. I am still trying to figure out the best option for thermostat control. The supplied wired programmable thermostat looks nice, but seems to drift around +/- 5 degrees with the slightest breeze near it. In case you haven’t read it yet, there’s a “follow me” button on the thermostat (and IR remote) that tells the unit whether it should use the thermostat’s temperature sensor or one located inside the return of the air handler to control the temperature. Other reviewers prefer to use the thermostat’s sensor, but my experience after a few days is that the air handler’s return sensor is providing the most constant indoor temperature. Because the unit is reading the hot air coming back to be cooled again, I have the thermostat set for 74 degrees and it is holding 70 in all rooms. It is also worth mentioning that the 18,000 BTU unit apparently does not have the automatic airflow learning mode built in. With the ESP set at the default of zero and with the fan on auto, the air handler is slightly louder than a whisper but not quite as loud as the refrigerator. The outside unit is quiet enough where I needed to walk up to it to see if the fan was running at medium speed.My oil-fired hot water heating system uses less than 300 gallons of heating oil per year. Although I have my doubts that the heat pump feature will result in significant savings, I plan to try it out in the fall to project the costs of not running the oil system.In terms of cooling costs, the entire house is using 20.5 kWh per day, with the unit running 24/7 and outside temperatures in the 90’s.Like I wrote as the title, I should have installed one of these units years ago…..

Unit looks great- instructions are vague on some things- but was very clear on what side the refrigerant was. during initial commissioning of the unit and beginning the process of pulling a vacuum- i found the gas side to be pressurized. not having the resources to pull a vacuum without opening the gas side of the unit like it directs you to- i assumed this was charged with air-although with the pipe getting cold- it was then obvious it was refrigerant. - Someone charge the wrong side of this unit with gas- no having to hire an hvac tech to come and charge the unit- Price $640 for the visit- wishing i had a shrader valve to weld in on the piping. this would have solved the whole thing. More to follow on the operations modes.7/11/24 update- Unit is working like a champ- I happily satisfied with this.I installed this in a 40' 5th wheel and i use this in the southern deserts of Arizona to work and live from. Put it this way- it's cold inside. I able to cool the entire 5th wheel including the cargo compartments with ease. I can take this unit well over a 40-degree differential, for example- it was 117 and 118 out just a few days ago. inside was a nice cozy 73 degrees. Unit pretty much runs on low the entire time. If I crank it up to high- I can drop the temp inside the 5th wheel into the 40's when its above 110 outside.looking forward to seeing how she runs when we hit 125 plus temps as we did last year. more to follow on this- plus YouTube videos on how I did it.

I've had this installed for over 2 years, runs perfectly. Great customer support.

I've had the 36k btu unit installed for just over a week, and so far so good. I installed this in a 1000sq ft. home in the deep south that had not previously had central AC/heat installed. Even though I did install this myself I wouldn't consider it good "DIY" project. I installed it in the attic running flex duct to registers in every room. It took me a very long time to learn all the skills to get this done. I didn't even know what a "plenum" was when I started this project, and you need one on the intake (return) and output (supply) side and they are not something you can go out and buy, you have to make them with duct board or sheet metal. You have to run a dedicated 220v circuit to a disconnect box that you will have to mount on the outside of your house near the condenser unit. You will need a vacuum pump and a gauge to vacuum the copper lineset (which was difficult to bend without kinking, you will need tools to do this properly, especially with the large diameter line) before releasing the freeon. And, for me, it took a very long time to learn how to do these things properly before I actually attempted them. They do answer the phone at Parker-Davis to assist with technical questions, which I was very happy about. Still, my recommendation would be to buy the unit and have a professional do the install.Here are my early observations: It is much quieter than a traditional central unit. It is doing a very good job keeping the house cool, the hottest day so far after installing being about 84 degrees. This type of inverter system is multispeed that never actually shuts off, unless you turn it off manually or by setting the timer. I think the goal is that not having spikes in power usage will lead to better efficiency over time. I haven't had it up and running long enough to give a report on its energy efficiency yet. (Note: the outside compressor fan does go off automatically when it's not required, while the inside blower fan will remain on) It comes with a wireless remote that only works if you have the "manual controller" somewhere that you can point the remote to. The mounting spot for the manual controller is on the inside unit which is in my attic. They do provide an extension wire so you can mount it somewhere else, but mine is still in the attic, so I haven't tried the wireless remote yet. I turned the heating function on a couple of times when it was 65 degrees in the house when I woke up in the morning. It switched with out any real noticeable noises or sounds of "struggling." I like that heat pumps don't have a nasty smell when the heat has been turned on for the first time in a while like furnace or electric coils do. It seems to blow the air hard enough to effectively cool the house. Granted it's not July yet, but I've been able to make it uncomfortably chilly in the house (below 70) when it was over eighty degrees and sunny outside. So it blows very cold air when you turn the thermostat down. The thermostat display it comes with is not backlit, which would have been nice. The instructions seem to be lacking a bit in clarity. I think they overlap a little with the instructions that they print for the traditional mini splits that have the wall mounted inside units, which I think is the reason for the confusion. (These are the reasons why I gave it four stars)Overall I'm satisfied with the unit. I'm optimistic that it's going to end up being a good purchase, so far, so good.