Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) has been selected by Daikin (the global leader in heat pumps and air conditioning equipment) to kick off their national ad campaign "Likin' Daikin".

NMD was selected by Daikin to be the first contractor "Success Story" because of our leadership in the "green" world - promoting and installing heat pumps as energy efficient alternatives to fossil fuel - and our single-minded pursuit of the best equipment and approaches to heating and cooling.

See NMD on the Likin' Daikin website

Read NMD's 7 Secrets of Success from the Likin' Daikin site

View the full NMD Likin' Daikin ad

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) has been installing the Daikin "mini-split" ductless heat pumps since 2004 but we have noticed that their popularity has greatly increased in the last several years. While the technology they use has been successfully used in Europe and Japan for the last decade, these heating and cooling machines are just beginning to take off here in the U.S.

First some explanation of the terminology - a "mini-split" is a heating and cooling system that is divided into an outside unit (typically called the "heat pump") and an inside unit (the fan coil that moves, heats, cools, and dries air in the room) - hence the "split".

It is "mini" because these units are available in room-sized increments - a single small mini-split can heat or cool a single room while a larger one can heat or cool an entire floor. Because these systems are smaller that the typical American whole-house AC systems, they are called "mini".

The "ductless" term refers to the configuration of the inside unit - it has a fan that moves room air over a coil but there is no duct work - the inside unit is mounted on the wall close to the ceiling. This means that each room can have one of these units resulting in amazing individualized control room by room.

The "heat pump" part refers to the idea of using refrigerant - in this case ozone-friendly R410 - to move heat either into the building in the winter or out of the building in the summer. Amazingly enough, in the winter the outside unit gets cold enough that it can pull heat out of the outside air (even down to 5F outside!) and use this energy to heat air to 110 F - resulting in very comfortable winter heating.

These units are so popular because they are extremely efficient (the same as geothermal - about half the cost of propane to run throughout the year) - which is why they are used in all of the "passive houses" and the most energy efficient buildings being constructed today - and very affordable - a system can be bought one room at a time making it very easy to expand to include other rooms in a home.

Daikin makes the air source heat pumps that NMD installs - they are very well made units that are highly efficient.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed an innovative heat exchanger at the Mansion House hotel in Vineyard Haven that is projected to reduce their fuel oil use by more than $13,000 gallons annually. This savings is developed by a plate and frame heat exchanger that takes waste heat (essentially solar energy that has heated up guest rooms) and uses it to heat the swimming pool. The result is that the fuel oil fired boilers will run much less, the pool will be heated indirectly by the sun, and the carbon footprint of the hotel will shrink dramatically.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) completed the installation of the "Geo Balls" in a West Tisbury residence and commissioned the geothermal system they installed. This home will be the third "net-zero" residence in West Tisbury and the third completed by NMD - each of these houses features a wind turbine and a geothermal system. This project also features the innovative Honeywell indoor air quality ventilation control as well as the new Honeywell display thermostats.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed an innovative domestic hot water preheat system called a "desuperheater" that preheats water before it is heated by a propane fired boiler. This system uses that waste heat from geothermal heat pumps as the source of heat - essentially the solar energy removed from the residence's warm rooms by the heat pumps in their cooling mode.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) successfully "rescued" a geothermal installation from aggressive water that was threatening to dissolve the heat pumps and piping from within. Over the past several years since the system was installed, the water has gotten more and more acidic and system pumps and pipes have started to fail. NMD installed a plate and frame heat pump to isolate the inside geothermal system from the aggressive water outside while permitting energy transfer.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) used a "smart" variable speed circulating pump to reduce the annual propane use of a large heating system. The existing system had constant circulation of hot water to four large air handlers (blower units with hot water coils connected to duct work). This meant that the propane fired boiler was running all the time to keep the constantly flowing water hot at all times. NMD replaced the existing constant circulation pumps with a new Grundfos Magna variable speed circulator and installed motorized zone valves on heating pipes going to each of the air handlers.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed an innovative control system to "fool" a Viessmann propane boiler into turning off the domestic hot water function in the winter when the seasonal home was unoccupied. By "speaking" Viessmann, the new control system was able to shut down hot water production in the winter months and reduce the use of propane.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed an innovative solar hot water system at Brian Nelson's personal residence to test a brand new energy collection strategy - the use of motorized valves and four different storage tanks - each at a different temperature. The use of a cascading control scheme and constant flow circulation through the solar hot water collectors is aimed towards maximizing the solar energy collection throughout the year.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed the Vineyard's second Daikin Altherma air to water heat pump in Edgartown. This innovative unit uses the stored solar energy in the air to heat water in a "buffer" tank for use in a radiant floor heating system.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) constructed an override system for a large residence on the Vineyard to protect the geothermal heating and cooling system from the erratic power provided by the power lines - especially during storms.

Nelson Mechanical Design (NMD) installed an internet based control system that linked four buildings on the property and assisted the caretaking staff in reducing propane use by 30%.