Mini Split Outdoor Unit Between Buildings

5 years ago

I would like to install a mini-split in our house, but the only location available for the outside condenser unit is the area between our house and garage. All of the other walls on our house would be too close to a window and/or too far from the indoor unit (again, only one possible location indoors).

Our garage and house are eight feet apart with a concrete patio between them. There is no roof overhead, and nothing blocking airflow on the sides. Most location guidelines I see recommend 12" clearance on the left, 12" behind, 24" on the right, and about 80" in front. Unfortunately, if I factor in the depth of the outdoor unit, I would only have about 67" or so in front of the unit (96" - 17" depth - 12" rear clearance) .

One oddity is that manufacturers seem to recommend 12" behind the unit when mounting on the ground, or 6" when mounting on a wall bracket. Why the difference? Wouldn't 6" work for a ground mounted unit too?

I thought about turning the outside unit perpendicular to the house, but then it would stick out in the walkway area between the buildings.

Would I be Okay with the 67" distance between the condenser and the facing garage wall, or is a mini-split just not going to work in my situation?

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Comments (3)

sktn77a
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
These manufacturer's recommendations are as much for service access as airflow. You don't need 80" (or even 67") in front.
Elmer J Fudd
5 years ago
Let the HVAC pros you get bids from explain the options you have for the equipment you're considering. I agree with sktn, I don't thing the front clearance requirements are more than a low single digit number of feet.

Carrier/Bryant have a tall and narrow compressor model that blows horizontally. It's for standard split systems where there's not room for the footprint of a more typical upward blowing cube shape. It's described as suitable for a narrow, side of the house location and I think it's larger than a mini-split unit, I can't imagine you'll have a problem with what you're describing. .
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HU-170614194
Original Author
5 years ago
The system I am considering is the Mr Cool DIY 24K mini-split. I have no idea how it compares to bigger brand names, but a professional install is simply out of my price range. I'm very experienced with construction, plumbing, and electrical (we built our own house), so the DIY aspect is inviting also. Finding workable locations for the indoor and outdoor units has been the biggest hurdle. We have a small house but there's very little space that isn't already being utilized with windows, cabinets, lights, etc..

We don't really use the space between the house and garage anyway, so putting the outdoor unit there would work out great if the clearances are acceptable. I also have plenty of room to move the unit side-to-side, so I should be able to avoid the coiled up line set so common with Mr Cool installs.