My understanding is that an HVAC professional will have a couple hundred dollars in specialized tools, plus a lot of expertise to verify your system is properly charged for maximum comfort and efficiency. Also, that if your outdoor and indoor units are further away from each other than on a standard installation, the pre-charge might be insufficient. And of course, due to point #1 you probably lack the expertise to know that with certainty.
Between those facts and the fact that theoretically they should be better able to properly size the unit for your space, I think it’s a pretty compelling argument to have a professional do the work. Unless… they’re trying to make a $2,000 profit off of a day’s work. When most of the work is simple carpentry and electrical work, that really makes me wonder if I should just do it myself.
I’m liking the look of these things a lot. I’ll try to do a lot of the installation myself, I don’t want any old HVAC guy cutting holes in my house, but I’ll go with someone with the tools and certification to make the final connections. It’s pretty much what I do with any serious electrical work as well. I wonder what the Mega-Lowe-mart and Home Despot want for installations.
The reason the shops ask about lineset is two-fold:
To fabricate the lineset
Calculate the amount of refrigerant.
There has also been an EPA-mandated change in the refrigerant used in residential units - and the industry is dumping the old stuff and the tools specific to them. Be careful about buying a dry system and then buying refrigerant and tools for DIY - the old stuff cannot be used in the new compressors.
The installer doesn’t do electrical, but he says the whole job including a unit an estimate of running a line is about $3,000 to $4,000. The electrical guy called earlier, and he doesn’t like fuseboxes. So I’d have to get a new meter to replace the obsolete one, and then have a breaker box installed. That’s about $2,000, and then he can figure out how much it would cost me to string a wire to where we want the a/c. He said I need to upgrade the electrical system before I get a/c. But I’m hot now! Oh, yeah. The electrician is booked up, and the installer wouldn’t be able to do anything for six weeks or so.
Than damned fusebox. It’s the reason I can’t use USAA for my home insurance.
One guy I talked to yesterday said he’d be glad to cut a hole in the wall and put a window air conditioner in. The SO mixed that immediately. ‘Oh, that is so tacky! No.’ And we’d still have to get power to it.
So go with the portable. You can run the exhaust hose through a window insert or cut a small hole. Spend your money on a new electrical service. Too bad this didn’t work out.
Yeah, the SO says we’ll just get a $300 portable and make it work. Again, there’s no opening window available. I can probably get our usual handyman to cut a hole in the wall between the furnace and the chimney for the exhaust.
I don’t have $2,000 to spend right now, but I do need a breaker box.
I’ve ordered a 12,000 BTU portable that should be here next week. A new meter and breaker box would cost $2,000. Running a line to the opposite wall would probably cost about $1,000. (Hundreds, anyway.) Plus $1,000 to $1,600 for the a/c itself. The portable cost one-tenth that, and we’ll just have to make it work.