Costco Members: MrCool E Star DIY 12K BTU Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump System

As someone who just installed a "non" DIY mini split at their house, I want to encourage people to give them a try. I was very nervous about the install, but ultimately it is not that hard as long as you know the procedure (which I understand is the hardest part). In short, you can buy a non-DIY mini split, vacuum pump, and gauges all for less than a single Mr. Cool DIY setup. The video that helped out with the vacuuming part was from "DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse" on YouTube. You hook everything up and then connect the low-pressure blue side of the gauge to the port on the outdoor unit and the yellow hose to the vacuum. Run the vacuum for 15 minutes and let it sit for over an hour to confirm via the gauge there are no leaks. Assuming no leaks, you release a bit of the freon from the unit into the lines and then disconnect the gauge. Once disconnected you open everything up and you're good to go!

I nearly bought the DIY unit so I wouldn't have to mess with a vacuum, but now I'm glad I went that route to save money and learn along the way. You got this!

I bought the 24k a few years ago and I absolutely LOVE IT. It runs quiet and can chill things out in a hurry. I put mine in the living room as it's a centralized location and use my heat thermostat fan to circulate the cool air through the house (single story home).

The install for this can be very involved but it will really depend on your situation layout and skill level. If you get a 120v/15' hose unit that you can plug in to a standard recepticle, mount the head on the wall, drill a hole and shove the lines outside, then mount the unit on the siding or a concrete pad outside the wall, this install will likely be pretty easy.

It also be a pain as well though once you get into the 240v units if you aren't set up for it. I'm an electrician by trade and it took me 50 hours to install mine. That involved quite a few steps:

-Coring a 3" hole through brick, running lines up and through my garage and out the side wall.

-Setting up a chain-fall to hoist the condenser into the air, plus buying wall brackets and placing backing board in the walls with lag bolts to make damn sure it was solid.

-I bought the line gutter kit to give it a really clean install, highly recommend it.

-Run 1/2" conduit from my panel to a junction box outside the house, through the garage, to a disconnect under the unit.

-Installed 30 amp breaker and pulled 2 circuits a neutral and a ground, 10awg. The condenser doesn't need the neutral but you need a service gfci recepticle within a reasonable distance of the condenser unit. Plus it's been great having a plug out there now.

Sorry for the long ass post but take a few minutes with a pen and paper and a measuring tape before starting a project like this. What length of lines are you getting, how are you going to hide them? (coiling them up neatly behind the condenser is fine) What kind of walls are you drilling through, where is the condenser mounting, what voltage system will you need?

A 3" masonry core bit, wall brackets, gutters, EMT conduit, disconnect, hose and conduit supports, wire, chainfall; that's all things I hadn't anticipated but were made possible by my sponsors Amazon next day shipping and repeated trips to Home Depot heh.

Wish I knew how to host pics because it turned out great though. Good luck and safe installs everyone 👍

Costco has an awesome price adjustment policy. No need to return or even speak to anyone. Just go to costco(dot)com(slash)PriceAdjustmentView and submit the price it is now vs. what you paid for. They will reimburse you.