Window air conditioner Pros

• Cheap to purchase and install.
• Cools the room.
• One packaged unit.

Window air conditioner Cons

• Can damage your window.
• Loud.
• Electricity guzzler.
• Should be taken out of your window over winter since cold air can squeeze in through their.
• Limited function.

Mini Split air conditioner Pros

• Won’t damage windows.
• Very quiet.  (A lot quieter than central air conditioner)
• One with inverter technology can save you possibly 20% or more energy.
• Never need to detach over winter.
• Lots of automated features are included that window air conditioners don’t have.  Such as 7 day programming, integrated sensors for energy saving, auto maintenance reminder, and more.
• A lot smaller than the window unit for the inside of your house.
• One mini split system can cool and heat.
• High end one have humidity controller integrated.

Mini split air conditioner cons

• Pricey compared to the window units.
• Two pieces like central air conditioning system, except outdoor unit is a lot smaller.

In conclusion, if you are can handle the initial price difference, mini split systems are definitely the way to go.  It is a lot more efficient, looks a lot nicer, a lot more quiet, and it can create more comfortable atmosphere.  If you are looking to upgrade your window air conditioner or give your house a face lift, I would recommend going with the mini split!

Applications for where and when mini-split systems can be used are as follows;

• Convert the attic into a home office.
• Turn the garage into a playroom.
• Make the sunroom a more comfortable room to be in, even on the hottest days.
• Et Cetra

KEY FEATURE

One of the key feature of mini-split system is its zoning capability.  Zoning feature will let the user select different temperatures for up to 8 rooms for residential and 41 rooms for commercial home or building or turn the air conditioner or heat off completely in a room you are not using.  One outdoor unit supports multiple individually controlled and sized indoor units.  This energy efficient system is a great way to eliminate waste and increase more cash in your pocket by decreasing monthly utility bill!

Pros for Mini-split heat pump system

Cons for Mini-split heat pump system

Pros for Traditional air conditioner/furnace

Cons for Traditional air conditioner/furnace

In conclusion, there will be situations when it will be better to use mini-split heat pumps and vise versa per people’s demanded application. However, for the people who are concerned about our planet, I would recommend using heat pumps over traditional AC/furnaces, and it doesn’t necessary need to be mini-split heat pump.  Mind as well leave little foot prints rather than large dents when we leave this planet for our kids and their kids…

You can find more information here.

Even though Mr. Frank Herbert is a science fiction author, and a very famous one at that, his quote is quite true. When you first look at the products that we sell, you see that most of them run a motor or are run by a motor. And most people know that a motor runs when you put electricity into it, but if you look closer do you really know how a motor works? That there are different kinds of motors? If you’re like Mr. Herbert then you have just discovered that you don’t really know how a motor works and that is the beginning of knowledge about Variable Frequency Drives or VFD for short. These posts are going to be full of information that is very technical in nature, but we will try out best to write in laymen terms so that all people can benefit from this search for knowledge.

Magnetism

To understand motors, generators, and solenoids, you first have to understand magnetism and how magnetic force is created. Magnets occur naturally in the form of the mineral magnetite which attracts iron. The attraction force that magnetite produces is called magnetic force. Magnetic force can also be created artificially by sending an electrical current through a conductor like copper. When the conductor wire is looped, a spring shape for example, the magnetic force created in the wire is combined. Therefore, a coil with 100 turns is much stronger than a coil with 10 turns. There are two other ways to increase the force of a magnetic field. One is to increase the amount of current flowing in the coils and the other is to insert an iron core in the center of the coils.

We call magnets who have current running through them electromagnets. Electromagnets consist of multiple coils and an iron core. The iron core causes the lines of magnetic force in the coil to be stronger. Also depending on which way the current flows in the conducting wire determines the polarity of the magnetic field. Making the current flow the other direction switches the poles on the magnetic field. Thanks to electromagnets depending on electrical current for their power, the magnetic force can be controlled by varying the electrical power. There are several advantages associated with electromagnets:

• When an electrical current is sent through a conducting wire, a magnetic field is created around that wire.
• The field is stronger the closer you get to the wire and weaker the further you move away from it.
• The strength of the magnetic field and the amount of current are directly related: the stronger the current, the stronger the field, and vice versa.
• The polarity of the magnetic field is determined by which direction the current is flowing in the wire.
• The more the core material is able to absorb magnetic force, the greater the concentration of the magnetic field.

Solenoids

“A solenoid is an electric output device that converts electrical energy into a linear mechanical force.” In other words if you have two coil cylinders side by side and an iron rod in the middle, when an electrical current is passed through the coils the resulting magnetic field pulls the iron rod through the middle of the coil cylinders. This type of solenoid is called a plunger. There are 5 solenoid configurations that are possible:

• Clapper
• Bell-crank
• Horizontal-action
• Vertical-action
• Plunger

As solenoids don’t figure much in the way of VFD’s, we won’t go into too much detail about solenoids beyond the configurations and characteristics. A quick look through the references for the Wikipedia article on solenoids gives more detail on the configurations and construction. Solenoids are used most widely in commercial and industrial applications such as hydraulics and pneumatics, refrigeration, combustion, and general-purpose controls.

DC Generators

“A generator is a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by means of electromagnetic induction.” Electromagnetic induction occurs when a coil of wire is rotated through a magnetic field which produces a voltage. The amount of voltage produced depends on how fast the rotation is through the field. If the rate is constant, then the amount of voltage produced depends on how many magnetic lines are present. DC generators consist of an armature, brushes, a commutator, and field windings.



Armature

The armature is the movable coil of wire that rotates through the magnetic field. The armature is always moving through a stationary magnetic field which is produced by the field windings.



Field Windings

Field windings are usually electromagnets used to produce the magnetic field inside a generator. Sometimes permanent magnets are used for small devices but the downside to permanent magnets is that their lines of magnetic force decrease with age. Since electromagnets must use current to run, there are two types of generators: ones that are separately excited (current supplied by another generator) or self-excited (supplies current for itself) of which DC generators are usually self-excited.



Commutator & Brushes

A commutator is a ring made of segments that are insulated from one another. Think of pieces of a pie with little dividers between each slice. Each end of a coil of wire is connected to a segment. A voltage is produced in the coil each time the coil or armature cuts the magnetic lines of force. A brush rides along a segment of the commutator connecting the coil of wires (through the commutator) to the external circuit. Each time a brush breaks connection with a segment, the polarity is reversed. For example, take a red colored segment (semi-circle) and a white colored segment (other semi-circle). The brushes (2 of them and are stationary) are placed on either side of the circle; one on the red segment the other on the white. As the segments rotate, a positive voltage is produced. When the brushes reach the end of the segment, they move over off their respective colored segments and touch the other color. When this happens, the polarity of the voltage is reversed. Now the brushes continue around again until they are on their original color. When this happens the polarity is reversed back to positive. This backwards and forward of polarities creates a pulsing DC wave which looks like rabbit ears on a graph.

This is the basis of how a DC generator operates.

Continued next is an explanation of the different types of DC generators and how DC motors work.