An experimental study on the effect of room setpoint temperature, and evaporator/condenser fouling on performance of a ductless split type air conditioner

Ductless splits can have several advantages over conventional systems including energy saving, improved thermal comfort, and performance. A deep understanding of the effect of changes in operating conditions of the unit is required to estimate the energy saving in the field. In this paper, a reference guide is created to classify the effects of different parameters on the performance of the ductless split unit. The experiments are categorized into three main topics: 1- The effect of setpoint temperature on the performance and energy consumption, 2- The effect of evaporator fouling on energy consumption, and 3- The effect of condenser fouling on energy consumption of a ductless split unit. Results show that one degree Celsius increment in room setpoint temperature reduces power consumption approximately 57 W and in annually energy consumption about 279 kWh. Furthermore, covering 30 % of the evaporator coil surface area and comparing with the normal case (evaporator coil with no coverage), parameters of Energy Efficiency Ratio, energy consumption, and cooling capacity drops 13.5 %, 6.4 % and 19.1 %, respectively. Likewise, by covering 1/3 of the condenser coil surface area and comparing with the normal case, Energy Efficiency Ratio, and cooling capacity drops 9.8 % and 2.4 %, respectively. The mentioned data indicate that the effect of the evaporator dirtiness on reducing the cooling load of the device is much higher than that of condenser.