Last week I completed installation in my 2-car attached garage, which is in the process of being purposed as a wood shop. Mine is a typical tract-home attached garage, about 21 x 22, roughly 450 sq ft, located in Northern Virginia. The back and side walls are insulated as is the attic and I have a single garage door with insulated foam core. I installed the indoor component of the split on the back wall with the compressor directly behind it on the outside.First the positive I gave it 5 stars for functionality. There are a couple of "cons" below but I''m so thrilled by how it works, the pros (for me) totally outweigh them.
I love this unit, did I say that??. While I may be the butt of a few jokes in the neighborhood... it is AWESOME to have air conditioning in the garage!! This weekend it was in the 90s and humid and my garage was, get this -68 degrees!! I wont run it down to 68 normally but I wanted to see if it could do it.. and it was no problem. Yesterday my wife was doing yard work and opened the garage door several times. I was amazed! Once the temp gets near the target setting, the unit backs off to a (very) quiet level just maintaining. The wife opens the big door to get the mower and for 4-5 minutes the door is open. When she leaves, I notice the Klimaire automatically kick it up to make it up. I was working in the middle of my garage and while I obviously felt the heat encroaching when the door was opened, because of the automatic speed increase, I could also feel the cold air blowing from the back and it never got uncomfortable in the middle of the garage. Once the door was closed it only took a few minutes to recover.
Now the "cons" (or at least warnings)...
These may be a bigger deal to some than they were for me. After researching it, none of this surprised me. And considering the money saved going this route vs buying a marked-up unit from an AC dealer/installer was worth the risk to me.
1. The Mini-Split Warranty Myth
After looking at a lot of product literature, poking around HVAC contractor forums, etc... one thing I have taken away is this: Though all the mini-split systems on Amazon and Ebay are promoted as "simple to install" and within the scope of an experienced do-it-yourselfer [which I agree with], the fine print clearly states that if you do, you will likely void the warranty. Most warranties require that the installation be done by "certified" HVAC technician. The supposed work-around to this is to do all the installation grunt work yourself (hang the inside unit, cut the holes, run the lineset, etc), then call your neighborhood AC guy to come out and hook stuff up, leak test, evacuate the lines, then VOILA!.. you are in business for a couple hundred bucks with a full warranty!.. NOPE... Every warranty fine print I''ve read (including this Klimaire) wants you to register the warranty with the particulars of the installation tech/company who will then be responsible for performing any warranty repairs down the road. Good luck finding any decent HVAC firm that will do that, they won''t. It doesn''t mean that you can''t find an HVAC tech to do the check-out and evacuation as a side job, and I recommend that. But your not likely to find one to sign up for being responsible for the warranty when they don''t supply the system and get the mark-up they are legitimately entitled to. So, resign yourself up front to no warranty or buy from a dealer/installer. You''ll have to decide for yourself if it''s worth the risk.
2. The DIY Installation
Again, after much surfing and reading I decided to tackle the installation myself. It seemed to me to be within the grasp of most competent do-it-yourselfers. Mine was pretty straightforward with only a 4inch frame and siding wall separating the two parts. I only used a 16ft line-set and frankly I wish it had been 10ft. You''ll notice that these systems are packaged with different lengths of line-set. The variety is obviously to fit different install scenarios, but an important thing to remember is that the amount of refrigerant charge shipped in the compressor is matched to the line-set length. Altering the length of the line-set after the fact technically changes that balance. So in my case if I shortened the line-set to 10ft I would be creating an overcharged condition and conversely if I had a 25ft line-set lying around and used it... it would be undercharged. I''m not certain how big a deal either of those scenarios might be, but I decided to try to make sure I installed the line-set it was shipped with without alteration. Not wanting to have the line bundle running vertically down the outside of the garage, I ran it inside the wall and had it come out a hole down about 12-15 inches off the ground, then I had to run it 4-5 feet horizontally before bending out to the unit. I wasn''t thrilled to have a 5 ft run but its low enough that the plants easily hide it. The lesson here is to put some serious thought into how long a line-set you''ll need. When I started planning the install (after receiving the unit) I cut a piece of Romex to the length of the line-set and played with different configurations before deciding the best place to park the outside box. I was pretty surprised how long 16ft was.
The inside and outside parts were pretty straightforward to install. As several reviewers of other units mention, the trickiest thing with the line-sets is bending the larger diameter tube. I spent the money on a fairly good tubing bender, the one that has the two handles and has sized channels for 3-4 different diameters. I think it cost me about $60 on Ebay, but it was worth every cent and the bends went flawlessly. I will probably just re-sell that on Ebay. I also picked up a flaring tool which I never used and will also resell.
So now I was at that "certified tech" part. For those whose successful install reviews I''ve read, I''m certain I must look like an idiot to you. But really, I have done some fairly sophisticated DIY stuff... lots of electrical, some major plumbing, several tile baths and couple of decks... but this humbled me. From all the reading I did, I was certain that I could do this myself if I was just careful. So I invested in few necessary tools. I bought a cheap vacuum pump on Ebay for about $100, a digital vacuum gauge for about $110 (required to read the necessary deep vacuum down to 200 microns), a set of manifold gauges for about $90 I think and a 410 adapter fitting (on Ebay for about $14). And trust me, you will need that adapter, no matter what the manifold gauges say. Mine said they were specifically for 410A (and that usually means the gauges cover a higher pressure max than the older refrigerant required)...but they did not fit the service valve out of the box. So... do the math... I am out close to $300 for tools I''ll likely never use again. Pretty sure I could have found a Craigslist HVAC guy looking for side-work for that, but some of us just like to try to do it to see if we can do it... anyway that''s me.
So I dive into playing HVAC tech and spent most of a morning realizing I''m not an HVAC tech. I spent a fair amount of time on the internet trying to figure out which ports on the manifold I should hook up to. Then another couple of hours trying to decide where the vacuum gauge should be hooked in there, suspecting for quite a while that someone must have forgotten to include the specific part I needed. Once I did get it connected correctly enough to actually get a reading on the vac gauge, imagine my excitement as I watched the digital display steadily decline from like 1900... 1840...1810...1790...1750...1710...1693...1643...1609...1588...1557 1557. 1558 .1557 .1557 WTF??? It has to down to 200 !!! Messed with the pump, oil, connections for another 2 hours... never got it go below 1200. I finally gave up trying to monitor the vacuum and to get a tighter connection I removed everything but the pump, connected it directly to the service port, let it run for an hour continuously, crossed my fingers, disconnected the pump and turned the control valves to release the gas into the lines. After much additional research, I''m pretty sure my problem was cheap Ebay vacuum pump. So I guess I should have dropped at least another $50-$70 on a better pump.. or maybe donated it to homeless HVAC guys.
The end of the story is so far a good one, the unit came up smoothly and works great did I mention I love it? I''m pretty confident I''ll recover most of the $$ for the tools. But whats eating at me is that I don''t really know how good an evacuation I got on the lines... so after all this.. I am probably gonna have a guy come out an check it out for me.
I am very pleased with this purchase, if I were to do it again, I would pay a pro to do the final checkout for cash, but again resign yourself up front no warranty.
UpdateOct 30, 2012
I am still loving this unit!! It cools the garage in no time and makes summer projects a joy. And on a couple chilly days this fall and all last winter...nice and toasty! No problems at all.
UpdateFeb 20, 2013
(Still in love!!) I thought I would update this since we''ve had some seriously cold days this winter, several in a row in the 20s and a couple of dips into the teens. I was really not expecting much heat output at those temps from a heat pump because, after all, not much heat left in 15 degree air. (And in fact purchased a 220 amp garage heater for those bitter days, not installed yet)
BUT....I have been pleasantly surprised! On a 20 degree day; while it won''t get the garage to 60-70, it does get it fairly comfortable (I''m not sure exactly how warm it got, definitely above freezing. I do know my wife complains when it''s not on and she goes into the garage to gets stuff from the spare fridge!).
The bottom line for me (re: heat) is that having this unit in my garage warms enough to solve two concerns; 1) I added a sink a few years ago and have had to use heat tape to prevent frozen pipes and 2) I do woodworking and have a cabinet full of finishes, paints, etc., that can be affect/ruined by freezing. Now I set this to about 40 and I no longer have to worry about either.
Installed myself, but I''m no stranger to mechanical stuff. I think an installation of this sort for a newbie would be a challenge since there''s so many disciplines involved. The biggest challenge is working with the supplied lineset and making sure you don''t damage it or run short since you don''t want to modify the length. Careful planning always pays off here. After the typical hookup, I vacuumed the lines for about two hours on both units, opened the liquid line a bit to charge the vacuumed lines and evap up to atmospheric pressure, opened both packing valves and buttoned everything up.
At this point checked for leaks with a leak detector solution and found I had leaks on three out of four connections. Some serious tightening solved those problems and I''d say that was the most surprising, it takes more than you''d think it would. I worked with a plumber for several years as a young pup and the answer to "how tight should this be?" was "till it stops leaking."
After flipping the breaker on the disconnects I started each system and have simply been amazed at how quiet and seemingly efficient these units are. I think you could run them both on power from a hamster in a wheel. Matter of fact, I did connect both of these units to my gen-set so we''ll have cooling in those two rooms when the storm hits. Less than 4 amps on the small unit and 7 on the large unit. Amazing.
My thoughts on reviews. Anyone that is considering making a large purchase such as these will do some research and inevitably run across negative reviews and there are those here as well. But, any company that is putting forth the effort to bring items like this to market is not doing it to fail. Sure there are issues and problems that can and do arise, but that''s from any company, with any product. More often than not problems stem from a language barrier, and this is where patience, compassion and persistence will help solve most problems. If you''re looking for trouble, you''ll probably find it. Those with a bad experience will rush to warn while those with a good experience will simply enjoy and move on so one needs to see all reviews in that context.
Of course most AC guys in the states hate messing with something they did not sell you, or something they are not familiar with. Most everyone is biased in one way or another. Knowing that and wanting to learn something new can make a project such as this rewarding if you do it yourself. Of course it''s all at risk, and they''ll be no shortage of people with a God complex to warn you of that fact.
All in all, I''d say that if you''re a good car mechanic and know your way around the construction of a house and have an understanding of home wiring beyond the basics, you''ll be happy.
Of course, mine could fail tomorrow.
Feel free to write me with any questions and I''ll try to help.
All the best, Don
