Project Location: Coral Gables, Florida
Completion Date: December 2015
Challenge
Selecting a remotely controlled cooling and heating system to even out the temperature in an older homeSolution
Zoned Comfort Solutions® from Mitsubishi ElectricResult
Even temperatures and reliable comfort—all controlled through the kumo cloud® programmable controller app
Maria Anderson grew up in an 1,800-square-foot home built in 1960 in Coral Gables, Florida. Almost 60 years later, the house is still there, as is Anderson along with her husband Ted Evangelakis. The bones of their home may have stood the test of time, but its mechanical systems and décor needed an update. Recently, the couple completed a significant renovation to modernize their home. That project included installing Zoned Comfort Solutions® from Mitsubishi Electric and using the kumo cloud® programmable controller app.
The home’s previous cooling and heating setup was a 20-year-old traditional system. Evangelakis said, “We were having some issues with duct leakage, humidity and day-today comfort. Our master bedroom kind of juts out with windows on three sides, so it was either too hot or too cold in there depending on the outside temperature. Likewise, I work from home and my office’s computer gear is always generating heat. So when we had central air, we basically had to freeze or overheat the rest of the house just to get these rooms comfortable.”
He continued, “We did an analysis and found out that we needed to replace the ductwork since it was still from the 60s. At that point, I was thinking I wanted something more configurable, so we could cool different parts of the house differently. We settled on not just fixing the ductwork, but overhauling the entire system.”
Thinking about their needs for the new cooling and heating system, Evangelakis named “zoning and the ability to control all the zones via a device” as the couple’s top priorities. Evangelakis had heard about Mitsubishi Electric and its zoned technology on Tv: “We watch the golf channel a lot, and they have a lot of ads. We figured, hey, let’s take a look at this.”
He continued, “We looked at other brands, as well—Fujitsu and some others. But we liked the ability to mix and match Mitsubishi Electric’s units. This way we could do ductless wall units in some parts of the house, and then in the public areas hide the technology with ducted units; we just thought it was nicer that way. And then with Mitsubishi Electric we could use kumo cloud. So I found contractor through the Mitsubishi Electric site, and set up an appointment where we went through different scenarios.”
That appointment took place with Terry Zarling, president, True Cool Air Conditioning Service Inc., Coral Gables—a Diamond Contractor™. Zarling suggested a whole-home solution that combined ductless and ducted indoor units to cost efficiently meet the needs of each space. “The idea of lowering electric bills while maintaining comfort was a draw. And there’s almost nothing else—let me correct that, there is nothing else—that can give you zoned comfort than a setup like this.” The ducted unit Zarling suggested is the relatively new MVZ multi-position air handler. He said, “The MVZ is a true game-changer; it loaded my arsenal of ways to solve problems for the homeowner. Now I’m not just another contractor entering another bid, I’m an expert on comfort.”
Beyond just zoning capabilities and the MVZ’s benefits, Zarling said he prefers to work with Mitsubishi Electric because “they’ve had 30 years in the U.S., and they’re the forefront leaders. Plus the support from their call-in center, in addition to their online information through mylinkdrive is phenomenal. So is their distribution. We work with Gemaire Distributors, and my territory manager is fantastic. I can call him up any time and he’ll offer me assistance. Gemaire also has an online ordering system, so they’re using technology to assist the efficiency of the contractor.”
Zarling designed a four-zone setup for Evangelakis and Anderson. The core of their house—the living room, dining room, kitchen and family room—would be a large, central zone. The three bedrooms would then each have their own wall-mounted unit. All of it would be controlled with kumo cloud.
With the system selected and designed, installation began. It lasted 2.5 days and, as Evangelakis said, “was fine. We’ve been running on automatic pilot since, just using the kumo cloud application and cleaning the filters as required. The zoning has been good. The house finally feels good; you don’t have that temperature variation when you go into the bedroom or office. And because it’s more modern equipment, the air appears to be cleaner. It’s just a feeling I get.”
He continued, “We use kumo cloud on our phones, and we use it a few times every day. So if we’re sitting in the family room watching Tv and feeling warm, we just use kumo cloud to change the temperature. Or if we’re coming home and want to have the house cooled down before we get there, we can do that.”
Additional benefits of the couple’s new Mitsubishi Electric system have included energy savings of about 10 percent, scalability and reduced sound. Regarding scalability, Evangelakis said, “We may get another small unit for the garage, so the ability to scale the system is great. I like that you can do it incrementally instead of replacing the whole system. As for sound, the sound is good. It’s quieter than our previous system due to the multi-speed fans. It’s kind of like white noise.”
With the system up and running for over a year now, it’s safe to say that the project was a success. The bedroom and office are now comfortable—as is the rest of the house. And all of it is easily controlled thanks to kumo cloud. The house might not be new, but the comfort is. And they’re both here to stay.
Project Team
- HVAC Contractor: True Cool Air Conditioning Service Inc., Coral Gables, Florida (State License CAC050366)
- Distributor: Gemaire Distributors, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Mitsubishi Electric Equipment Installed
- (1) MXZ M-Series Outdoor Unit
- (3) MSZ Wall-mounted Indoor Units
- (1) MVZ Multi-position Ducted Indoor Unit
- (4) PAC Wireless Interfaces
- (1) kumo cloud® programmable controller app
