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Edited April 1, 2024
at 12:08 PM
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Various MRCOOL DIY Minisplit sale at Costco with F/S - (12k BTU - $1249, 18k BTU - 1699, 24k BTU - $1999)
MRCOOL E Star DIY 4th Gen 12k BTU Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump Complete System 115V/60 Hz
https://www.costco.com/.product.4000043469.html
$1249
MRCOOL E Star DIY 4th Gen 18k BTU Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump Complete System 208-230V/60Hz
https://www.costco.com/.product.4000043443.html
$1699
MRCOOL E Star DIY 4th Gen 24k BTU Ductless Mini-Split Heat Pump Complete System 208-230V/60Hz
https://www.costco.com/.product.4000040670.html
$1999
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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!
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 👍
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Last I heard those patties were still on the terrace watchlist. I would hold my breath lad
My point was, you install this DIY then next year something goes wrong and needs a tech to service. Is it tough to find a tech willing to work on customer DIY equipment?
edit: I realized I wasn't answering your question. I installed multiple units, and while I haven't had one fail, I came to the conclusion from researching that the general consensus is a tech will not likely work on it. But it doesn't mean you won't get lucky and find one that will.
The fans in 3/4 wall units are noisy- usually low variable hums and whirring. The noises are annoying and the motors are buried deep in the machines.
The smart features are sort of hacked together and conflict with what you set on the remote. It's sort of a "use one or the other" kind of thing. You will be messing with it constantly. The basic features work with Google Home, Smart Things, etc. The smart stuff is provided by Cielo Home.
The wall units beep and turn the super bright LEDs on with every schedule activation, even when you explicitly turn them off. So if you set it to keep the room cool then turn down after bed, it farking beeps and lights up bright as hell and wakes you up. Both "comfy mode" and normal scheduling do it. It really sucks, and after warranty is up I will be removing the speaker from the boards in the wall units.
Mr Cool is great for saving some money, but these are a far cry from Daikin, Mitsubishi, etc.
Unless you are adding this to a freestanding building you shouldn't be adding a ground rod.
My point was, you install this DIY then next year something goes wrong and needs a tech to service. Is it tough to find a tech willing to work on customer DIY equipment?
No. You just call someone for a service call. Think about it. If you call a hvac company to service your central heating and air, they don't ask you to show proof that it was installed by a pro. They troubleshoot and fix the issue and you pay them for their services
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My point was, you install this DIY then next year something goes wrong and needs a tech to service. Is it tough to find a tech willing to work on customer DIY equipment?
It's tough to find a tech to work on any minisplit they or their company didn't install.
Define efficiently? Heat from a heat pump below freezing is relatively expensive.
It should be easy for most DIY-ers to install. Just check youtube or some reddit subs.
Good luck getting licensed and insured people off CL.
And if someone tells you they need to pull vacuum on a DIY model, they are lying or something went wrong. The "pros" don't read the manual and treat every minisplit the same.
Good luck getting licensed and insured people off CL.
And if someone tells you they need to pull vacuum on a DIY model, they are lying or something went wrong. The "pros" don't read the manual and treat every minisplit the same.
Yeah count me in the "something went wrong" group… screwed up the flare on my pioneer install and lost the charge, had to vac it. Ran great for 6 years but I think it needs another charge now… working on it this weekend.
Use nylog!
Use nylog!
I nylog'd my DIY. NO flaring required.
It s really hard to compare heat pump vs gas. Heat pump efficiency changes with along with tempatures, the colder, the lower efficiency. Gas price also is different from places to places.
In my case, I live in North Texas, which only have minimal winter, but very low gas price. Gas is still considered to be a bit more cost effective here.
4 years old now.
crazy it is more expensive now than what I paid , $1300 for the 18k DIY at home Depot
paid $125 for install.
$500 for 220v line outside
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