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Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

techprowd.com

11–20 of 173 posts

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#11
post #6

I also live in Japan, and recently bought 3 new air conditioners, but my instinct was the opposite: forego anything "smart". For tech like that I want it to be as dumb as possible so that there are less things that can go wrong with it. As a bonus the dumb ones are much cheaper as well.

Those 2 AC's there almost the cheapest models you can buy for 6 tatami size and iirc they were 39k/ea. I needed to buy those modules extra to make it "smart"

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#12
post #5

What I’d like to know is how they safely pipe gas to all apartments given the occurrence of earthquakes. Does the main valve auto shut off in the event of tremors above M3 of something?

There is heavy measures regarding that topic. One is Gas Meter turns off all the gas when earthquake happens. Second I think all pipes are flexible so it wouldn't break from earthquakes

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#13
post #4

Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?, I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

There are some mini-splits that have a "quick connect" type of tether that don't require a professional to install. Here is one: https://www.forestair.ca/en/serie-mini-anglais

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#14
post #4

Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?, I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

There are units that come with compressors pre-charged with an amount of refrigerant for the units and a lineset length of between X and Y. You can also buy linesets of different lengths that have all the ends pre-fabricated.

After installing everything, you open two valves on the compressor unit to flood the lineset and evaporator with the refrigerant. It's not perfect [the lines are likely to have some water vapor in them], but it works. (The manufacturers also charge a premium for these "DIY" versions, so if you can find a way to do the traditional charging, you can save some money [or apply that towards an HVAC tech to come out, do a quick vac the lines/leak test/charge].

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#15
post #4

Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?, I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

Like are those wall color piping on the left side. The mini split ACs in japan come with precharged outdoor unit which has valves closed so the installers route lines from indoor to outdoor unit (using already packed with insulation lines). The connections are made using flare connectors. After all connected they use vacuum pump to evacuate air from lines and then opened up lines that's basically all in the installation.

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#17

I like that the schematics are included on the air conditioner. I have a few older appliances like this that have it, and it has helped me a few times replacing/diagnosing parts. I laughed a bit where he explains about "Humidity" and the temperature. I know Americans are fat and lazy and love our AC's, but if you spend any time on the east coast, it's a giant swamp. Life is pretty insufferable without an AC when you…

I was more targeting Europeans with that paragraph as I never had any issues with it in Europe (UK, Germany, Lithuania)

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#18
post #4

Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?, I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

> Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?

Look at this image from the blog post showing the post install view:

https://www.techprowd.com/content/images/2020/09/image-24.pn...

Notice on the left edge there is a large white "pipe" running from the evaporator unit down to a hole in the wall (the hole was already present and visible in other photos). The refrigerant lines are running inside that white cover and through that hole to the outside unit.

> I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

As for the refrigerant fill, yes, that is the part of the work that most DIY folks will not have the equipment to perform. The evaporator and compressor units for most of these mini-split units come prefilled with refrigerant plus enough extra for X length of tubing (I forget the length X at this time). The install basically involves installing the lines, evacuating them (refrigeration grade vacuum pump needed here) and then opening the shutoff valves in the two units to release the already present refrigerant.

Since most DIY's will not have a refrigeration grade vacuum pump, and are unlikely to be able to justify the several hundred dollars for one for a one-off install, this is the point where the DIY'er would need to call a professional for the final completion of the install.

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#19
post #18
post #4

Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator?, I thought the biggest issue with AC self install is filling the refrigerant and sealing those lines.

> Where are the refrigerant lines, how did they run them from compressor to evaporator? Look at this image from the blog post showing the post install view: https://www.techprowd.com/content/images/2020/09/image-24.pn... Notice on the left edge there is a large white "pipe" running from the evaporator unit down to a hole in the wall (the hole was already present and visible in other photos). The refrigerant lines are…

In japan there is also way to rent tools, next time I am doing it by myself it costed almost third AC to get 2 installed... When materials and rent didn't even cost more than 1 install cost

Re: Home Office Projects Series: Air conditioner setup

#20
post #9

Should've bought Daikin A/C's - their network bridges speak HTTP with a simple REST service. Highly recommend, it was very easy to integrate them into my home automation setup.

A lot of consumer-grade ACs use IR-based remotes which can easily be connected into whatever automation solution you have with something like a Broadlink bridge.
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