- DELLA Motto Series 9100 BTU 19 SEER2 230V Mini Split AC, Cools Up to 400 Sq.Ft, Works with Alexa and Wifi, Ductless Inverter System Air Conditioner, Pre-Charged Heat Pump and 16.4ft Kits

I've had this mini split for about 2 months now, installed and working for a little over a month now. I have a finished insulated work space in my pole barn that I use as my office since I work from home. I bought this unit to cool and heat the space. I live in Michigan and we have hot humid summers and very cold winters. I attempted to do this as a DIY and bought this unit since it was the cheapest one I could find - I didn't want to spend a lot on it since it's not in my house. First word of advice, this is VERY difficult to install as a total DIY. While mounting the unit, drilling the hole in the wall, running the lines, installing the outdoor unit and running the electrical for it isn't that hard, the HVAC portion is tricky and you really need to know what you are doing in order to do this correctly. The lines must be vacuumed before releasing the refrigerant or you risk having moisture in the lines which will ruin these units over time. I ended up doing most of the DIY myself but called out an HVAC company to pressure test and vacuum the lines and add the refrigerant. It turned out that I did have a leak in the lines, one of the connections needed to be reflared. It's been up and running for over a month, and it quickly cools my office space and keeps it nice and comfortable. This unit uses hardly any electricity. I've monitored the usage while it's running and my total usage for my barn was about 800 watts, including the lights and my computer and monitors, so this thing is super efficient. Before I installed this I was using a portable AC unit (one of the ones where you connect an air hose to your window) and my electric bill for my barn dropped by half after installing this and getting rid of the portable AC. Both the outside and inside units are whisper quiet. I will come back and provide an update in the winter months with how well it heats when it gets really cold outside. So far, I'm very impressed with the quality considering the price, and plan to install a few more in my house since we don't have central AC currently. Update #1: Nov 15 - it's starting to get chilly outside and this thing is effortlessly keeping my office toasty warm! The coldest morning we've had so far is around 30 degrees and was still kicking out plenty of heat when it turned on. During the summer I would turn it off after I was done working and then turn it back on the next day when it started to get warm. Now that it's cold all the time, I'm leaving it run 24/7 and still my electricity usage hasn't gone up too much. Still very impressed with this thing. My one (minor) annoyance is that I've noticed that it seems to keep the temp of the room roughly 5 degrees beyond the set point. For example, in the summer if I had the AC set to 75, it would keep the room at 70. On heat, if I have it set to 68, it keeps the room at 73 which for me is way too hot. I've since learned to set it 5 degrees cooler than I actually want it. A little annoying, but not enough for me to remove a star. I still give it 5/5. Will update again in the middle of the winter when it's much colder outside. Update #2: Jan 9 - except for a warm spell right after Christmas, we've had consistently cold weather here, including many mornings in the single digits and daytime highs in the teens and the Della mini split is still kicking out plenty of heat and keeping my office in the 70s. I have noticed my electric bill for my barn increase quite a bit since the winter started, but that is expected as these systems consume more energy for heating than for cooling. I've also seen the defrost cycle kick on quite a few times and it keeps the coils on the outside unit clear of ice and frost. I'd say this is performing better than I had expected and I still give it 5/5 stars after 7 months of use.

Easy to install yourself if you have a vacuum pump with some quick YouTube videos. But either way, it's been about 6 months now and it's still working well. Would be happy to buy again

Very satisfied with our DELLA 18000 BTU mini split AC. Despite Della saying this is a non DIY unit, probably due to it being a 240v system, requiring a new 240v breaker install on the service panel, and also a system that needs to be vacuum purged before first use, I was able to self install this unit with no prior mini split experience. That's not to say I had no DIY experience. So, if you have done some prior DIY home improvements and can make sense of basic wiring then you may be able to DIY it yourself. That said, there are a few tips I would offer. First, buy yourself a torque wrench able to do at least 60 Nm torque along with some crow foot wrench heads up to 1" and use it as suggested in the Della instructions. There are a lot of YouTube videos about DIY mini split installs out there where guys say no torque wrench no worries just tighten it "real good". It pays to get the torque right. The issue is mostly refrigerant leaks if the connections aren't right. Do it. Second, buy or borrow a HVAC vacuum pump and gauge set. You have to vacuum the system before releasing the precharged refrigerant. There is some confusion out there about the pre charged coolant. Mr Cool systems pre-charge the tubing, Della precharges the compressor. You have to vacuum a Della system. Third, get a tubing bender and flaring kit. The lines are "long enough" for most average installations. But the 1/2" copper tubing does not bend easily and is easy to crimp and to make useless if the ruined bend isn't cut out. You may need a shorter line and cutting the tubing, re-flaring it, and bending it here and there may be necessary. Trying to loop or snake the 1/2" copper tubing without a bender is risky. Luckily I had or could borrow all the above tools. But I can see from having installed the kit that not having that stuff would be an issue. Lastly, make sure you install a disconnect box by the outside unit. So, all in all, not a big deal to install this unit. Worked great immediately. Cooling our garage without a problem. Also, although most guys think any wiring from the panel has to be Romex we used 12AWG copper stranded without any issues. The Della interconnect is only 16AWG stranded, so 12AWG is prob overkill. The unit draws a max of about 12 amps and recommends a max 15 amp circuit breaker. Although the unit has a count down timer, in other words you set a number of hours after which it will turn itself off, it does not have a scheduling timer that allows you to set a daily routine for on/off, temp, etc. That is one feature I wish DELLA would add. Although there is a companion phone app for controlling the unit via WiFi I did not use that app. My only complaint is the info supplied by Della on wiring the outside unit could be more helpful. Although schematics are included it would be helpful for the manual to show a photo or illustration of the completed wiring block and which wire from which cable goes where. It's obvious, after you have it hooked up. But having a as completed illustration or indication of which block is for the interconnect and which is for the mains and what is intended would be helpful. All that said, the DELLA 18000 BTU mini split is a great value at the price compared to what, to me, are the very over priced Mr Cool systems. It's super quiet inside and outside and the inside unit has a powerful fan. We like it.

Pros: It's quiet. It can cool quickly when it wants to. It can heat if it decides it's in the mood. If I'm hot, I set it to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 c) and it cools to almost 58 f (14 c) in no time. Great for super hot days. It can still heat when it's -20 f (-29 c) outside, but it struggles a lot and would not keep us warm at all if not for the exceptional insulation. Cons: I'm not sure if the thermostat is just for show. Right now, the thermostat on the system is set to "cool" to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (~27 c), and it cools the bedroom to anywhere between 78 f (26 c) and 67 f (19 c) degrees depending on its mood that hour. When heating, it likes to keep us guessing as well. The blue light on the front is like a midnight sun. I regret putting it within eyesight of the bed. The controller screen is written using invisible ink. You have to hold it at an angle in a bright light just right to read it, and yes, I have changed the batteries twice, just in case. The Wi-Fi has never connected. I would have sent it back, but I waited too long to install it.