How to Install a Ductless Mini-Split Air Conditioner This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey explains how the pros retrofit a compact cooling unit In this video, This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey explains how the pros retrofit a compact cooling unit. 1. Turn off the electricity to the circuit. 2. Hold mounting bracket to the wall, level it, then mark the screw hole locations and where to bore a hole for the refrigeration lines, condensate discharge line and electrical cable. 3. From inside, bore hole into the block wall with rotary hammer and 3-inch-diameter masonry coring bit. Once the bit's pilot penetrates the wall, finish boring the hole from the outside. 4. Screw the mounting bracket to the wall, making sure it's level. 5. Install the air-conditioning unit to the wall-mounted bracket. Pass the refrigeration lines and condensate discharge line through the hole in the wall. 6. Attach a vertical chase directly below the hole in the exterior wall;

the chase will house the refrigeration lines, condensate discharge line and electrical cable. 7. Extend the condensate discharge line down to within a few inches of the ground by attaching a length of PVC pipe. Secure the discharge line to the pipe with duct tape. Fasten the lower portion of the pipe to the chase by screwing on a metal C-clamp. 8. Carefully bend the copper refrigeration lines down into the chase. window ac units eerUse two adjustable wrenches to remove the compression fittings from the ends of the copper lines.free standing ac units walmart 9. Slide a brass nut onto a new length of copper tubing, then use flaring tool to flare the end of the copper tubing.trane air conditioner condenser cost 10. Hold the tubing's flared end against the end of the refrigeration line coming from the air conditioner.

Hand-tighten the nut to hold the copper tubing to the refrigeration line. Repeat to attach the remaining refrigerant line. 11. Set the outdoor condensing unit onto a level pad adjacent to the chase. 12. Use two adjustable wrenches to tighten the compression fittings on the refrigerant lines. Then wrap pipe insulation around each line. 13. Run weather-tight conduit from an outdoor electrical box to the condenser unit. Feed electrical wires through the conduit. 14. Run a length of nonmetallic electrical cable from the condenser unit through the hole in the wall to the indoor air conditioning unit. 15. Snap the cover onto the chase to conceal and protect the lines and cable. 16. Make all electrical connections at condenser and at air conditioner, then pressure test the system with nitrogen to 300 pounds per square inch. 17. Vacuum out the nitrogen, then open valves to release refrigerant into the system. 18. Turn on the electricity and test the air conditioner.

Tools List for Installing a Ductless Mini-Split Air Conditioner Rotary hammer with 3-inch-diameter masonry coring bit Flaring tool, used to form flared end on copper tubing Pressure gauge and nitrogen, used to pressure-test system Vacuum, used to extract nitrogen from system after testing Electrical wire and cable Duct tape and metal C-clamp Can I Install Ductless AC By Myself? My Thermostat Works And The Outside Unit Is Working, But The Inside Unit Won't Blow Air Into The House. What Can I Do A Couple Of The Bedrooms Are Hotter In The Summer Than The Rest Of The House And Colder In The Winter, What Can I Do? I Replaced A Compressor On An Old 1.5 Ton Rheem, The Compressor Won't Come On And Has Power To It How Do I Remove AC Clutch And Pulley From Compressor?How does air conditioner refrigerant affect our environment? All of us have probably heard about the ozone layer which is located 35 miles above the ground. This upper layer of our earth's atmosphere protects the earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays by reflecting them back to space.

UV rays are harmful to the plant, marine life and human beings on the earth. How does air conditioner relate to the ozone layer? It was discovered in the mid 1980s that the commonly used air conditioner refrigerant has a damaging impact on the ozone layer. At that time, the refrigerants that used then were known as CFC(chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs(hydrochlorofluorocarbons). CFCs are a family of chemicals that contain chlorine, fluorine and carbon. The chlorine content in these compounds cause the depletion of the ozone layer. This discovery prompted the signing of Montreal Protocol of 1987, an agreement signed by 180 nations that target to phase out the production of CFCs by 1995 and HCFCs by 2030. New refrigerants that are being used to replace these CFCs are HFCs(hydrofluorocarbons) and refrigerant blends(Azeotropic, Zeotropic). In summary, the 4 commonly used refrigerants that you can find today are:The future commonly used refrigerants will be in the last two categories.

Among the currently widely used ones are R-134a, R407C and R410A.More discovery on the causes of global warming had prompted many countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The main reason this was being done was to reduce the greenhouse effect caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions.In the field of HVACR, newer refrigerant such as R32 has been widely publicized as a replacement for R-410A and R-407C as this gas has a lower Global Warming Potential. Lower GWP will reduce the greenhouse effect hence reducing the global warming effect. Many manufacturers are beginning to design and develop HVAC equipment using this refrigerant.Do your part to preserve mother nature...These refrigerants were developed more than 70 years ago and are harmful to our respiratory systems and the ozone layer. Their production was stopped since 1995 but are still being used widely in existing residential air conditioning units as many equipments have a lifetime of up to 30 years. Today's refrigerants used are from reclaimed units that are no longer in operation.

The common ones still used are: These air conditioner refrigerant is considered partially halogenated as they consists of methane or ethane in combination with chlorine and fluorine. They are shorter lifespan and are less destructive to the ozone layer compared to CFCs. They are an interim solution to a totally "free from chlorine" refrigerant that are being developed. Their production are scheduled to be phased out totally in 2030. The common ones used are:R-22 is used extensively in residential, commercial and industrial applications. The schedule of phaseout :These air conditioner refrigerant contain no chlorine atom and is not destructive to the ozone layer though they have a slight effect on global warming. R-134a is used in new systems that are specially designed for its use. The common HFCs are:The 1997 Kyoto Protocol puts R-134a as one of the 6 greenhouse gases that must be reduced. There is no phaseout date for this refrigerant and it is expected to be highly used in the HVAC industry.

These air conditioner refrigerant are also known as "azeotropic" and"zeotropic". Their use is increasing as they are environmental friendly. The setback is that the total air conditioning systems production cost is higher. However, as more manufacturers switch to this type of refrigerants, the cost/unit will drop eventually. The common refrigerant blends used in the air conditioning industry are:R-410A are used as a replacement refrigerant for residential air conditioning applications.R-407C are used as R-22 replacement.Recovery, Recycling and Reclaiming of RefrigerantsLaws have been passed to prevent the release of CFC refrigerants into the atmosphere. The steps taken are:The act of removing the refrigerant from a system and store it in an external container. No testing or processing is needed in any way.Refrigerant is cleaned for reuse by oil separation and passes though devices such as core filter-driers. This procedure reduce the moisture, matter and acidity of the refrigerant for reuse.

It is usually done for jobs on the field or service shops.Reprocess the refrigerant to new product specifications which may include distillation process. This can only be done by manufacturing plants where chemical analysis is required. Highly equipped local service shops may have this facility as well.How can consumer like you play your part in the effect to keep our earth green? You can do that by purchasing air conditioning systems that uses new refrigerant such as R-134a, R-407C or R-410A. Most equipment are labelled with stickers that indicate the type of refrigerant used. Examples are "ozone friendly" sticker or "R-410A" sticker.If the HVACR equipment is available, choose lower Global Warming Potential refrigerant such as R32 to help reduce the greenhouse effect compared to if you were to use a higher GWP refrigerant.R32 Refrigerant This newer refrigerant is poised to replace R-22 and R-410A refrigerants as it has zero ODP and lower GWP.Refrigerant Color Codes See the color and color codes of the CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs refrigerants.