DELLA Vario Series 18000 BTU Mini Split AC,21 SEER2,230V,Energy Efficient

I'm delighted with this 2-ton mini-split! It is installed in a seasonal cabin and I'm soooo happy to have AC and not have to listen to that awful buzzing from the window units I had before. All said and done, installation was relatively easy. If you are handy, you likely can do it. I made installation a bit harder by installing on an inside wall instead of an outside wall. But with some effort, I got it to work. I built a small platform to sit the outside unit on since I was unsure I wanted to hang it on brackets on the building. But now that I see (hear) it running, I'd have no hesitation putting it on brackets. I'm no longer concerned about the outdoor unit transferring noise to the building. The outside unit is very very quiet. I had bought crow's feet sockets, planning on using a torque wrench to torque the tubing connections. But, none of the english or metric fit. Nothing in my toolbox fit. I ended up using the adjustable wrenches. I have no idea what size the fittings are. Warranty... first off, the company handled shipping damage quickly and without question (I did show pictures of the problems). Warranty ... more ... register right away. I started installation in the fall, and finished in the spring. After I finished I noticed that you get MUCH better long term warranty if you register right away. But I didn't notice that until spring (it was buried in the manual). Plus the warranty registration link didn't work. Hint ... the indoor unit pulls air into the top side of the unit. I may run ductwork through the ceiling from adjacent room(s) and terminate above the unit, such that it can pull air from those rooms. I think this would help circulate air better to those rooms. Cooling seems great. Temperature control (which is sensed at the air at the wall unit) is pretty good. You can sense air temperature at the remote but note that this is not a long term continuous option for room temperature control. So I'm comfortable, happy and delighted.

The units arrived in good condition on a pallet. There is a lot of packaging, but it protected the unit well. I watched several videos about self installation before doing anything, which was smart. I also ordered the wall bracket kit and the tubing cover kit. Both the wall bracket kit and the wall pack unit come with several different types of anchors. You will not want to use anchors if you wall mount the outside unit, you will need to find wall studs to attach to. The outside unit is fairly heavy. Once I had those brackets attached (there are only three possible attachment holes so use them all) I had a friend help me lift it up. The mounting bracket for the interior wall pack was pretty easy to install with the template. Once again I highly recommend finding wall studs. Even with finding studs I was only able to attach in two places, but this is far better than using sheetrock anchors of any kind. There are sleeves and grommets with the tubing for the hole through the wall. Getting the wall pack hung and snapped in on its bracket was a little tricky and the unit was a little awkward to handle. Once I had the power done and everything hung I had an HVAC tech do the final connection and testing. He shortened the hoses, pressure tested the lines and vacuumed them out. You can rent the equipment to do this from Della, but the best warranty option is available when you use an HVAC tech. Also, he pressure tested the lines with nitrogen which is better for leak detection. For incoming 220 VAC power there is a grommet that will only accommodate SO cord. In many locations I don't believe this will meet code. I used flex conduit to power it and had to drill a different hole for the conduit attachment. This unit is for a large shop space, 21' wide, 40' long with a 13' ceiling, so technically the unit should be larger than 36,000 BTU's, but that was the amp draw limit I had. I started it up on a 98 F degree day and it cooled the building perfectly. I do have insulation in the walls and ceiling which really helps. There is an electric heater in the building which is very expensive to run in the winter, so I'm excited to see how this unit does. The control app for the phone is much simpler to use than the remote btw. Caveat, it has only been installed for a week, so no reliability data yet, but so far so good.

The unit arrived well packaged with no damage. I bought the 24,000 BTU SEER 19 model. It can be powered from a 20 amp or 30 amp protected 240 Volt 2 L1+L2+GND power feed. The unit uses 15 Amp or less at 240 VAC which is impressive efficiency for a 24,000 BTU unit. Both indoor and outdoor units are a lot quieter than I expected. Neither has any strange vibrations or noises coming from them when running. I did self installation and you must have a second person to set the 90 lb. outdoor unit and to hang the 60 lb. indoor unit for the 24,000 BTU size. Be sure to wrap the line set tight so it moves freely thru the 70 mm thru hole you pass the line set, drain, and indoor power cable thru. I did the default piping mode 2 where the thru hole is directly behind where the drain, lineset, and power connection is located on the indoor unit which maximizes the amount of lineset and power cable you have on the outside to reach the outdoor unit. IMHO it also makes installing the indoor unit easier. I used a single stage vac pump and a manifold gauge with R410a adapters to self evacuate the line set. The instructions are very clear for what steps to follow. I used a standard automotive 3/8" socket drive torque wrench with 3/8" crowfoot adapters. I'm sure there's some error in the actual torque but it gets you in the ball park so you don't under or overtorque the flare fitting connections. The huge price difference between Della and Mr Cool Mini-split systems made up for spending $ 100 for a vac pump and manifold gauge set so I could avoid paying a AC tech to come out and do the Della as a self install. The manual said mount the bottom of the indoor unit 98" ( 8' 2" ) from the floor. I called the Della install support # and they said NO it does not have to be mounted that high, and just needs to be mounted so that the top is at least 8" from the ceiling. I followed standard mini split indoor unit install practice and mounted the bottom of the unit 6' 0" above the floor which put the top of the 24K BTU unit 7' 2" above the floor. This model has WiFi based internet connectivity and a good smartphone app that gives control over all the important functions. It also allows you to pre-program daily schedules for when to power the unit on or off and what temps and fan speeds to use. I used the iPhone Della+ app. Was able to connect it to my WiFi only by using the manual connect method, but the Della+ iPhone smart phone app led me thru it. The CON items I'll note: You remove all the protective packaging from the indoor unit in order to connect the electrical cable that goes to the outdoor unit. It is not connectorized. So you have to be careful not to mar the plastic on the indoor unit as you continue installation after connecting the electrical cable. The unit modes are not displayed with words, only with small icon symbols that are not obvious to me. You will want to make a copy of the Remote Control Display manual page for reference until you get used to it. The unit is close to worthless without the remote - be SURE to not lose it. There is a wall holder so you can put on the wall right next to the indoor unit. The unit has an Alexa skill set but the current one for this "TL" series mini split ( as of July 2024 ) is close to worthless as it only allows the unit to be turned on and off from Alexa. One final CON: The US federal government changed the requirements for getting the 30% federal tax credit for 2024 and this unit does not meet the criteria. There is a new series of Della mini-splits that does meet the criteria but they are not yet listed for sale on Amazon. The new requirement to get the 30% rebate for 2024 is a Heat Pump HSPF2 rating of 8.5, and an AC SEER2 of 15.2 . This unit's HSPF2 heat pump rating is slightly less.

Been using this for a few months in my 2200sq ft shop and it’s performed exceptionally well. We’ve had a very Hot and Humid summer in Nebraska, and this was by far the best addition to my shop! Install was straight forward, and there were a couple good YouTube videos on install as well. Highly recommend.

Bought the 21 SEER 12,000 BTU for 700 ft upstairs living area. Worked great to keep in the low 70s all summer. Bought the 19 SEER 12,000 BTU and the 24,000 BTU for the 4-car garage/workshop areas. The only difference between the two 12,000 BTU units was the length of the refrigerant lines. The 21 SEER has a 6 ft line, the 19 SEER has a 25 ft line. We needed longer lines for our garage units. The 21 SEER seemed to work better in keeping the area cool, but the house insulation is better than the workshop. The units did a great job keeping us cool for the 100+ 4-month long Texas summer this year. The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is because we did not know about the yearly maintenance required to keep these units mold free. There are videos on YouTube that explain how to clean these units to remove mold. The one we liked best was DIYJIM cleaning a Mitsubishi unit. Our unit was harder to clean as Della's blades that move air up and down do not come out. The Mitsubishi's easily slide out to give better access to the side to side airflow blades and water pan. Della should follow Mitsubishi's air flow blade design. I had to wrap a wet cloth around a long thin stick to clean the horizontal airflow blades and surrounding area. I used a 50/50 vinegar/water solution to do this as vinegar kills mold. We used the unit for four months so were happy to only have minor spots of black mold on the horizontal blades. There was no mold on the "hamster cage" cylinder fan so we only had to vacuum it. We did discover that one should leave the unit on 24/7 to allow the unit to remove standing water. We often turned it off if the temperature became too cold. We now will just adjust the unit to a higher temperature. As said before, the units work great and are easy to install/use; however, I do not like the idea of mold growing in the units. I don't think this is a problem with central air conditioners. A couple times towards the end of our 4 months continual use, we had water dripping inside the house off the airflow blades. We believe this was because of excess water due to outside humidity and the unit not draining the water effectively. The a/c man that installed a friend's duckless unit installed it at a slant so the side with the hose line for water removal is slightly lower. Our units were installed level as shown in the instructions. If we were to do it again, we would install them slightly tilted towards the water hose end. They do use less electricity than central, but not as much as we had hoped. Maybe 40% less. The price they are showing now is much lower than what we paid. Our 12,000 units were around $1,000, now it shows them at $700.

This is my second Della mini split my first one I've had over a year no issues so decided to replace an existing old mini split with this one which is an upgrade in both features and btus and has an auto mode. It seems very efficient and not noticed power bill increase even though this was 18k btu compared to the old 12k btu one it replaced. Comes with pretty much everything you would need for basic install minus a vacuum pump. You can rent one from Della though if needed. I ended up buying a vacuum pump set for first unit and been reusing that for this install. Remote with remote temp sensor is nice to place where you want it to feel the set temp at. Airflow works great spreading it out throughout the big open room space. If power blips it comes right back on like it was previously. It's easy to clean and honestly a steal for the price. Wiring and the manuals are all very well done as are there video guides. It's also very quiet almost don't know it's on other than that it's working. Very pleased and recently just ordered a third Della mini split to replace the final window unit in house. If on the fence definitely give them a try.

I have mixed feelings about this purchase. I purchased it less than 2 years ago and the main board went out. The replacement PCB was the correct part for my DELLA 12,000 BTU mini-split outdoor unit, and after installing it, it fixed the problem. The part itself worked as expected, and I appreciate that DELLA made the correct replacement available. My disappointment is with the warranty policy. I was told that the part would have been covered 100% under DELLA’s lifetime parts warranty if I had registered the product within the first 100 days of purchase. Unfortunately, I was not aware of the registration requirement. I’ve owned mini-split systems before that lasted 10+ years without ever needing repairs or replacement parts, so I didn’t expect that I would need to register a new unit simply to receive warranty coverage. The unit was less than two years old when the PCB failed. When I contacted customer service, I was told that because I had not registered the product within the required timeframe, they could not provide the replacement part under warranty and I had to purchase it at full price. I understand that warranty terms are established by the manufacturer, and I take responsibility for not registering the unit. However, I feel that if DELLA is willing to offer a lifetime warranty on parts, they should stand behind their product even if the customer did not complete a registration process. A PCB failure on a unit that is less than two years old is disappointing, and having to pay full price for the replacement makes the experience even more frustrating. Overall, I’m glad the replacement PCB was correct and fixed the problem, but I believe DELLA could do better when it comes to supporting customers and standing behind the reliability of their products.

I bought this mini-split unit because it is one of the few that I could install myself. Although it requires having a vacuum pump and a vacuum gauge set the investment in tools is minimal compared to the cost of having a unit like this professionally installed. Please note: the unit itself is very straightforward as far as connecting the inside and outside units together and charging the system HOWEVER there is a significant amount of additional work that needs to happen to actually get the unit fully installed on your house. This additional work may include running new electrical branch circuits through your house, opening up walls with all of the associated drywall, stucco or siding repair, possible concrete work, possible plumbing work, finishing work to cover the refrigeration pipes, etc. Just be certain that you know what you are getting into before starting this project. That said, I did install the unit myself, it turned out great and I am very happy with it but it was considerably more work than I had anticipated. The unit itself is fantastic! It cools my 12' x12' bedroom down in minutes and has enough additional cooling capacity to keep my entire house cool on a 100 degree day just by placing a small fan at the door of the bedroom that blows the cold air to the rest of the house. At night it keeps the bedroom cool while making hardly any noise. The noise that it does make is a quiet ssshhhhhhh sound that is about as loud as a whisper and it works perfectly as a white noise generator. The outside unit is also very quiet. When I first turned it on I didn't even realize it was running. I chose to wall mount the outside unit on brackets as opposed to bolting it to a concrete slab but I imagine it would be even quieter if it was slab mounted. If you wall mount it you will need to purchase brackets separately. There are specially designed brackets specifically for mini-splits and they are relatively inexpensive. So far my only complaints about the unit itself is the lack of adequate protection for the refrigerant lines. The tape wrap that comes with the kit is woefully inadequate in my opinion and I ran out of the tape with several feet left to go. Even with the tape the lines appear unfinished and are poorly protected from the elements. To address the issue I bought a mini-split duct kit to cover the lines which resulted in a well protected, professional looking final installation (see picture). Consider this step an absolute necessity. I decided not to bother installing the wifi control app on my phone. Based on what I could see the only additional advantage of the app is being able to set schedule times which is a feature that I don't use. Considering the immense value for this mini-split unit I would absolutely recommend it as long as you are an advanced level DIY'er. If you are not comfortable dealing with electrical installations and the National Electrical Code and if cutting a big hole through your wall scares you then I might suggest finding a different solution to your cooling situation.