I am thinking of buying a mini-split air conditioner for one of my bedrooms. We don't have any other air conditioners, but we have two other thermostats: an Ecobee for Forced Air heating, and a Sinope for in-floor hydronic heating, both pulling heat from the same boiler.
What brands work with Hubitat out-of-the-box? Any?
First, I don't know that I'd purchase a mini-split based on its ability to work with Hubitat or not. Efficiency and reliability are more important to me. That said, we have units from Daikin and Mitsubishi. I'll not buy more Daikins, but I love our Mitsubishi. The Daikins "kinda/sorta" interface with Hubitat in that I can change the mode and temperature setting via a driver. Their app is rather clunky as well, and I find their efficiency so-so. Better than no mini-split, but mediocre. In contrast, the Mitsubishi seems to sip electricity, even in a poorly insulated building. The native Kumo app they offer is outstanding and their cloud service generally reliable (and I don't like cloud services for automation). @sburke781 has a great driver for Hubitat and is working on making that work with Mitsubishi mini-splits via local control. When that's done, it will be fantastic. BTW, Fujitsu also makes a great mini-split. And for DIY installs into a single room, I may try a Mr.Cool unit, as I've heard good things about them. Whatever you decide, good luck!
@john18 For our 3rd floor we have a 2 head LG. But we used cassettes. Better flow of air and more aesthetically pleasing. (They're also heat pumps). You can get a module to hook up a standard thermostat (which we use). You do have to keep the remote though to adjust the louvers. The one in the main area of the 3rd floor is 12000btu while the one in the guest room on the 3rd floor is 9000btu
Mini-splits come with IR remotes and can be configured to work with other controllers made by the manufacturer. As @rlithgow1 mentioned, with an adapter device, control with a standard thermostat is possible, which is also how I integrate Fujitsu mini-splits with Hubitat.
I have a mitsubishi, which works great. I also have the thermostat adapter:
which allows me to connect it to a standard thermostat. Its connected to 1 of 3 ecobees in the house and everything works well together.
My minisplit is actually in the attic and ducted to four different rooms. The ecobee allows me to put a temp sensor in each room and balance things out pretty well. I still have to manually adjust the vents b/c I’ve never gotten battery powered vents to work well for me.
The original poster asked about which Mini split air conditioner to buy... someone else mentioned they used IR controllers.... I asked if one could be recommended....
I appreciate its not specifically about which mini split to buy....but not quite sure why has generated confusion?
I have a number of devices that require IR to control them, including an air conditioner. Perhaps I worded my question poorly, If so I apologise.
Yes I mentioned IR controllers for mini-splits. I was referring to the handheld remote controls that come with the systems.
It sounds like you’re looking for a device that can control multiple IR-based devices (like mini splits, TVs, space heaters, etc). And can pair to the hub with zigbee.
Still seems like a bit of a digression to me, but I think your best bet would be one of the broadlink controllers supported with this community-developed integration.
That connects to the hub over the LAN, not zigbee. I don’t think a zigbee-based device with similar functions exists.
And the integration with Hubitat goes through the Flair cloud (because that’s all Flair offers).
A cloud-dependent solution for HVAC control is pretty much a non-starter for many people (myself included).
That’s why you’re seeing recommendations for the thermostat adapters that most mini-split manufacturers make for their systems.
Those adapters are manufacturer-specific, tie into the mini-split’s control board and allow pretty much any thermostat (including smart thermostats that connect to Hubitat) to become the point of control for the mini-split.
As @Madcodger said, that would allow you to focus more on the core aspects of the mini-split system itself like performance, efficiency, reliability, when choosing a system.
Remotec zxt-600 or 310. I believe the new ZXT-800 will do it as well. That said, as mark said this was what to buy for a mini split that can use a regular thermostat. For your question you should start a new thread. Not being mean or anything, but it keeps the original thread on topic
