by Gerry Wagner
My first installation of a mini split was 25+ years ago for an older woman…we will call her Mrs. Gillacuddy. It took me about three days to install a single zone system…today that same job would take me half a day.
When I was finished, I was so proud of myself…proud of the job. I quickly invited Mrs. Gillacuddy into her living room to inspect my work for the first time…I couldn’t wait to see her reaction!
I expected her to beam with the same awe inspired glow that I did as I looked at the evaporator on the wall…but that is not what happened. Rather, Mrs. Gillacuddy stood there for a while silent, pale faced and motionless…then I swear she gulped and finally said, “it looks like you took it out of my window and hung it on my wall.”
…and you know what? She was RIGHT!
Prior to my time at Tradewinds, I did some contract work for Heat Controller, Inc. out of Jackson, MI. You know them by the brand name Comfort-Aire.
I had the pleasure of learning the history of the mini split from a man who lived it, Mr. Don Peck, the CEO of Heat Controller at that time and an employee there for over 50 years.
Don was always proud to tell me that the FIRST mini split was in deed developed by Heat Controller… here are his exact words…
“The first introduction in 1965 was the Comfort Aire Twin which was a window air conditioner with a split cabinet design that allowed the window to close into the center of the unit with the compressor and the condenser fan on the outside of the window and the indoor fan on the inside making for a very quiet application.
The Twin Pac, the first mini split, was an offshoot of the Twin and was originally developed for Sears in 1969 and went by the name “Sears Modular Central Air Conditioning System”. They offered two sizes, a 6000 (115 V) and 16000 (230 V). The original units had only 8′ of refrigerant lines and were quick connect and included a double wrench kit for making the connection. In 1971 the Twin Pac were made available under the Comfort-Aire label. Three sizes were then offered, (6000, 11000 and 16000). The line set accessories were also changed to allow for up to 19′ between the indoor and outdoor units. The product went away when the federal government instituted the first EER rating of 8.0, in the late 1980’s as the product was classified as a split system rather than a room unit.”
Now, let’s fast-forward 49 years…
Lets look at the latest mini split product introduction from GREE…the Sapphire.
A 12K Sapphire indoor unit is just 39.9” long X 12.1” high X 8.7” deep and has a discrete clean appearance.
The Comfort-Aire Twin Pac of the early 1980’s left the market because it could not meet the EER of 8
required back in the day…the Sapphire? The 12K Sapphire has an EER of 15.3 and a SEER of 30.5 (the 9K
Sapphire has an EER of 16.7 and a SEER of 38).
Oh yeah…and the Comfort-Aire Twin Pac had a maximum lineset length of 19’, well the GREE Sapphire
SAP24HP230V1A has a maximum lineset length of 164’…now that’s progress!
I’ll keep it real…
I still don’t think anyone looks at a mini split indoor unit and says, “wow, that’s looks GREAT!”…but the
good news is they probably don’t say anything at all!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerry Wagner is the Vice President of HVAC Technical Training at Tradewinds
Climate Systems. He has 38 years in the HVACR industry working in manufacturing, contracting and now
training.
gwagner@twclimate.com
www.twclimate.com
