Ac unit suggestions

[Jaging547]

Been thinking about replacing my ac unit and looking at DIY ing it and wondering if folks on here have ever done it?
I'm descently handy and trying to get an idea on how to do this

Last quote we got was north of 13k for a replacement with install

Not about to pay that.

 

[crazymonkey]

I'm in the same boat. Just got a quote for a Carrier at just under 11k or a trane just under 13k . Not a cheap investment and sure will cut into my toy/ gun money. Then you add the ac guys out here are saying there's a 10/ to 25 percent price increase on the way as the mandate for some new type of refrigerant us coming.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

I'm not saying that either of you are not capable of installing a conventional AC unit. But in most cases you need the unit installed by a licensed hvac technician for the warranty to be valid. I'm not exactly sure how that works but I'd be willing to bet that trane or GE isn't going to warranty parts installed by "some homeowner" down the road.

That being said I've installed a half dozen mini splits for a fraction of the cost of a central unit and im not an hvac guy. Most kits come with enough refrigerant to make it AC in a box. Plus if one does take a dive you have other units to fall back on to get you by.

It's not a solution for everyone but definitely something to consider.

 

[dfanonymous]

I have installed mine on structures on the property.

Not sure if there's a question in there.
I can tell you if you don't know a guy, you'll be paying someone to get the refrigerant. My brother in law is a HVAC dude. So, that's my source. And how I learned.

Be good at using a multimeter.

You'll need other special tools as well, like manifold gauges and vacuum. Depending where you live you might need a crane if you're area code and more importantly your current ducting is on the roof. I've lifted some of those 600 lb units to do roofing repairs. 1 star. Would not recommend.

Lastly, size the unit correctly. Start by identifying if you have split system or packaged etc

if you do it, you're responsible for sourcing replacement parts and repairs. You become the warranty.

 

[crazymonkey]

Definitely not in my wheel house to replace it myself. I'm more of a I can make all the parts for it kinda guy. Anything but electrical and I'm good . I can machine parts and turn wrenches no problem. Then there's that climbing in the attic when it's already north of 100 outside . So I'm sure I'll be paying for installation soon.

 

[Lee7588]

I just purchased a portable AC on wheels for my bedroom. When I sleep I want it as cold as my wife will allow. I bump it up when I leave for work and drop it back down via wifi about an hour before I get home from work. I figured in the 1 week of cooler weather we get I can just move it.

Toshiba 8,000 BTU (12,000 BTU ASHRAE) 115-Volt Smart Wi-Fi Portable Air Conditioner for upto 350 sq. ft. PX0811CWRU - The Home Depot

The Toshiba portable air conditioner has the cooling power you need to cool, dehumidify or circulate up to 250 sq. ft. while removing up to 2.5-pints of moisture from the air each hour. You can control

www.homedepot.com

 

[HSmithTX]

If you know an HVAC guy that will check it over, vac it out, charge and tune it for you after you install then it's worth it I think. If he does that work he should also register it for warranty, or you can register it for warranty yourself. The manufacturers won't deny warranty to the homeowner, but you need to know what you are talking about when you are ordering warranty parts. If you don't have the answers to the questions on their screen you won't get parts. There is nothing hard about it other than it's darn hard work and darn hot work when you get in the attic. Replacing the evap coil and the compressor/condenser is all that needs done, the wiring and the piping should be fine. Just make sure the evap coil you get will fit in the ducting you have. A reasonably skilled guy can do both, I have and it has saved me 60-65% on a replacement. If your AC guy can buy the parts you can save more yet, you won't get wholesale prices as a homeowner. I'm not saying there is collusion on the part of the AC companies out there, but they all raise their prices until they see it slow down and keep a few weeks of work queued up at whatever price the market will bear. When you price out the components even at homeowner cost and subtract that from the total bid it's a shocking number considering a decent AC guy and his helper will be in and out in a day.

 

[cohunt]

Check your local permitting/code office --- in my area a homeowner can not get a permit to install their own unless they have the proper licensing --- when it comes to selling your house if it's not permitted it will cause some issues if the buyer is financing ---- lenders are getting very strict about this in my area--- had several calls into our company to get homeowner Installed wayer heaters permitted after the fact...home sale cant/won't go through without it --- I'm sure a homeowner installed a/c without permits would be the same way

In my area a home owner can construct/build, do electrical, do plumbing permits, venting etc on their own home but can not do a/c installs with out an epa 608 and journeymans license due to local codes--- each state and county may have their own requirements though-- a quick call to your local building department will give you more info

 

[dfanonymous]

In my area a home owner can construct/build, do electrical, do plumbing permits, venting etc on their own home but can not do a/c installs with out an epa 608 and journeymans license due to local codes--- each state and county may have their own requirements though-- a quick call to your local building department will give you more info

epa 608 and hvac contractor license is the requirement for the freon like I said. That's nation wide.

You could pull the owner-builder permit usually, you just can't physically buy the materials you needed, and thats why the permitting office might add that. Obviously I can't know how every locality is but usually. That said, you're probably in Denver. I know they do dumb stuff like that.

If you talk to them, you can explain that you plan to subcontract that part out.

That said, for repair/replacement 90% of ACs across the country are not permitted by small HVAC businesses for residential. Half of it is a money grab by the town, but there's no way to really verify that it's a replacement unit. A home inspectors don't know sh** about fu**.

New construction is different, since you have phases of inspections for different trades. Though it's nice to have inspections to verify the minimum has been done, unless the inspector was a prior HVAC guy, high probability he just looks at wants on the sheet, shrugs, and checks off everything. He ain't going to check your capacitors, your manifold numbers and emissions or your low voltage wiring.

He might go in and check to see if it's blowing cold and walk away. Haha

 

[cohunt]

epa 608 and hvac contractor license is the requirement for the freon like I said. That's nation wide.

You could pull the owner-builder permit usually, you just can't physically buy the materials you needed, and thats why the permitting office might add that. Obviously I can't know how every locality is but usually. That said, you're probably in Denver. I know they do dumb stuff like that.

If you talk to them, you can explain that you plan to subcontract that part out.

That said, for repair/replacement 90% of ACs across the country are not permitted by small HVAC businesses for residential. Half of it is a money grab by the town, but there's no way to really verify that it's a replacement unit. A home inspectors don't know sh** about fu**.

New construction is different, since you have phases of inspections for different trades. Though it's nice to have inspections to verify the minimum has been done, unless the inspector was a prior HVAC guy, high probability he just looks at wants on the sheet, shrugs, and checks off everything. He ain't going to check your capacitors, your manifold numbers and emissions or your low voltage wiring.

He might go in and check to see if it's blowing cold and walk away. Haha

I will politely disagree-- in my locality you must jave the 608 and a journeyman license to pull an a/c permit-- but 1 county over you only need the 608, nothing else

As far as "no way to tell if it's been changed"--- my county has a web page where every single permit is listed for the public to see--- all a/c units, furnaces, water heaters etc have a manufacture date on them--- we now see that home inspectors are looking at the manufacture dates on all these products and then looking for install permits around the same dates it's pretty easy to tell that a water heater manufactured date was 2020, but not water heater permits have been pulled for the home since 2008-,- maybe that's just my area though.
You do you, but its a pain and more expensive to have to find someone to pull a permit years after an install and get it inspected than to do it the right way the first time -- if you jave to do that, you'll need to meet the current codes when you pull the permit and may have more expenses to bring it up to code anyway --- example in my area is water heater expansion tanks and venting codes have recently changed and we have recently had several homeowner/sellers need to get furnaces or water heaters permitted- only to find they were in code compliance when they installed them without a permit but now are out of compliance and need to pay extra to bring them up to current code


I agree, like anything in government it's a money grab- but just like drivers license and registration fees, and taxes---it's a necessary evil

 

[martyj]

A guy I shoot matches with said he wont do half the name brands anymore because they are Chinese made compressors and dont last.
I think trane was one of the chinese one.

 

[cohunt]

A guy I shoot matches with said he wont do half the name brands anymore because they are Chinese made compressors and dont last.
I think trane was one of the chinese one.

My local Trane dealer has horrible customer service

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

We got a TRANE and it works very well, it is a two-stage system with a DC motor variable speed to save electricity, but everything these days are made to be disposable after a certain number of years.
You can go with a GOODMAN also!

The older units with R-22 worked the best. Now they have to be 401A refrigerant and in 2025 a new refrigerant is being imposed from the government.

 

[cohunt]

---the new a2l refrigerants will be r-454b and r-32-- they are not propane or natural gas-- they are basically a blend of r410a and other refrigerants to lower the "GWP" ( global warming potential) number for the new epa regulations --- pretty much they can't be lit on fire under normal conditions they are considered "slightly flamable" because their flamabiliry threshold just barely crosses the A1 threshold but does not go up to the A2 specs so they had to make a new catagory--- they really aren't much different than r410a --- but r410a is being "phased down" in production not "phased out" like r22 was, so r22 prices will continually rise as they are not allowed to manufacture it just recycle it--- r410a prices will also rise as over several years the production levels must go down to 30%, the new a2l refrigerants are supposed to be cheaper than 410 or 22 --- we will see