When to install the air conditioner during repair: the best period for installing the air conditioner

Alexey Dedyulin
Checked by a specialist: Alexey Dedyulin
Author: Vladimir Reshetnikov
Last update: January 2020

The timing and sequence of repairs should be planned as carefully as possible. After all, is it true that without a clear calculation it will turn into an endless natural disaster? It is important to determine such a time period when it is reasonable and profitable to install air conditioning when repairing an apartment.

Significantly save your budget, determining not only the optimal time, but also the season for the acquisition, installation of equipment. We will make this task as easy as possible by equipping you with the necessary modern knowledge.

Having carried out painstaking research work, we highlighted the most important aspects of installing an air conditioner. They will help you to enter the order of purchase, installation and inclusion of the climatic device in the individual schedule of apartment repair.

A brief introduction to the climate system

The main task of the air conditioner is to provide a comfortable temperature and air circulation in the room. Models differ in power, method of moving airflows, price, brand of the manufacturer and other characteristics.

In order to properly plan the buying season and the time for installation of HVAC units during repair, you need to have an elementary idea of ​​their structure and principle of operation.

Unit classification

The main components of the air conditioner can be placed in a different number of buildings.

Depending on the number of such blocks, the devices are divided into:

  • Monoblocks. The most expensive of all types of structures are combined in a single unit. They are characterized by ease of operation, durability, ease of maintenance and repair.
  • Split systems. They consist of an external and internal block, interconnected by a tube with freon.
  • Multisplit system. The advantage is placing several blocks inside different rooms. All of them are connected by pipes to a single external unit.

Choose desired designbased on the amount in your estimate for the purchase of air conditioners. Usually a compromise between price and quality is split systems.

Home Air Conditioner Constructions
Indoor-mounted design includes an evaporator and fan. All other nodes of the split system are located in the external unit, fixed on the facade of the building

The cost of installation in a monoblock is minimal, it boils down to possible work on wiring and in an electrical panel. The longest and most expensive work will be during the installation of multi-split structures or several split systems.

The principle of operation of the air conditioner

All are functioning climatic appliances according to one algorithm. Their work is ensured by the property of the refrigerant liquid to absorb heat during evaporation and to give it away during condensation. The substance Freon is usually used, changing its state under pressure from liquid to gaseous and vice versa.

Split system diagram
The external and internal blocks of the split system contain heat exchangers operating in different modes - a condenser (for heat) and an evaporator (for cold)

The room is cooled during the transition of freon to a gaseous state. In heating mode, freon passes into the liquid.

Laying communication lines

Split system blocks are interconnected by wires, metal tubes. This connection is called the communications route, which is desirable to hide in the wall. We analyze the individual stages of installation work. To understand how best to install air conditioning in the apartment, combining the process with the simultaneous repair of the premises.

Freon line circuit

Stack the track under the guidance of experienced craftsmen. Mistakes are especially expensive here. Highways can be simple and non-standard. The length and cross-section of the components of the route materials are calculated individually.

For the usual installation option of a split system, you must:

  • Mark the dimensions of the indoor unit on the wall of the room;
  • Determine the place of drilling in the wall for the exit of the road to the street;
  • From the lower left corner of the block to the hole mark the strob;
  • Prepare pieces of tubes, interconnect cable, drainage hose.

Combine all materials into a single bundle. Put a flex on metal pipes, wrap part of the route, which will be located in the hole in the wall and on the street, with protective tape.

Indoors, carefully lay all conductors in a shtroba. A 50x70mm groove size is sufficient for laying the tourniquet. Protect the ends of the tubes in the bundle from dust and moisture. Slope the drain hose all the way.

Stacking harness
Take a picture of the layout of the indoor unit drawn on the wall with the fixed materials laid in the stroba. Keep printed photos in a file with documents on the conditioner. They may come in handy already in the process of this repair or the future.

The plasterers working on the decoration of the room, and the air conditioners connecting the devices, are required to know all the subtleties of their craft. Choose the best representatives of these professions for laying the highway. In the hottest spring-summer season, finding them is especially difficult.

Electrical wiring inside the apartment

It is important to have an idea about the power supply of the air conditioner from the apartment panel. The device does not require extraordinary power, but does not like power surges.

Electricians work indoors, demand and prices for these services are stable at any time of the year. Therefore, it is better to deal with the electrical circuit before starting the construction repair.

Air conditioning machine in the shield
Ideally, it would be nice to lay a separate cable to the device during the repair of the apartment. And in the electrical panel, power it through your machine

If you decide to install an air conditioner after finishing work, then laying aesthetically new cable will be difficult.It is better to find the least loaded line closer to the split system in the apartment wiring. And to include the climatic device in this network branch.

The interconnect cable is laid with a margin. On the outside, its length is approximately 30 cm longer than that of freon tubes. The core section is enough in 1.5 mm2, you can mount a cable type VVG 5x1.5.

Electricians recommend connecting a spare electrical conductor, for example, 3x1.5 PVA, to the line between the external and internal units. It can be useful for connecting sensors when repairing the power supply of an external unit.

Calculation of the power of the apparatus

It is short-sighted to save on purchase by purchasing a cheaper model of air conditioner due to low cooling power. A weak device will not cope with the cooling of a large sunny room.

And you expect such "surprises" as:

  • mismatch of the set temperature and the actual;
  • quick breakdown of the air conditioner due to overheating;
  • useless costs for maintenance, repair.

Determine what is required for a particular room air conditioning cooling capacity You can, from a simple calculation, divide the room area by 10. This is with a standard ceiling height of 2.5-3 m. If the ceilings are higher, increase the power in proportion to the height.

Room size with people
Buying too powerful an air conditioner cannot be considered rational. It will be loud for nothing, will require large installation costs

For example, for an area of ​​15 m2 and a height of 3.5 m will be enough device 1.8 kW. The attic will require more power, increase by another 2-3% in proportion to the number of people constantly in the room. For the sunny side, add another 10 percent. As a result, the maximum cooling capacity of a home air conditioner should not exceed 4 kW.

HVAC equipment purchase

You can purchase air conditioning at any time of the year. Different seasons in ordinary stores are characterized by the degree of filling of the shelves.

From which selection criterion is decisive for you, you should take into account when planning a purchase:

  • In the spring You can buy the most modern models. The peak of the largest assortment happens before the start of demand growth.
  • In summer suppliers and sellers keep maximum prices. In hot weather, split systems are dismantled without regard to price tags.
  • Fall and winter sales of air conditioners are in a restrained mode. Sellers try to attract buyers with discounts.

If you are planning air conditioner installation during the repair of the apartment, then nothing prevents you from buying it in advance. In order to save, it is better to do this in late autumn or winter.

Climate system storefront
In online trading, the time of year does not particularly affect the range of split systems. But seasonal pricing is also present on virtual shelves.

All kinds of seasonal promotions, sales, liquidation of stock balances make it profitable to purchase climate equipment in autumn and winter at all trading floors.

Air Conditioning Warranty

When buying a device, you should not consider the lowest cost as the main guideline. Air conditioning is not the most affordable of technological advances. You need to save on it, taking into account the time perspective.

Think about why different firms offer almost the same prices for selected model? Is any one seller significantly lower? It is possible that he has poor-quality goods and is not going to work on the market in the near future.

Remember about the warranty, they are always required to fulfill the company that sold the equipment. And if she stopped her work, then climate system repair the buyer will spend it himself or pay out of pocket.

Warranty service card
The warranty period for a split system is calculated from the date of purchase, which is indicated in the warranty card, check, contract. One of these three documents is enough to require repair from the trade organization in case of device breakdown in the warranty period

The usual air conditioning warranty is one year. It does not depend on the date of installation and on the wizard performing the installation. In individual outlets, the warranty can be extended up to three years. As a rule, in this case, the installation is performed by the representative of the seller. And the second prerequisite is the annual maintenance of the air conditioner.

Its cost per installer exit is approximately 1-1.5 thousand rubles. The scope of service work includes inspection of pipelines, inspection, cleaning, diagnostics and other operations. If you plan on your own serve a split system, valuable recommendations from our article will help you.

Service companies, including those from the state of a trading company, provide a separate guarantee for the installation of equipment. Its term usually does not exceed one year from the moment of signing the act of the contractor's work accepted by the customer.

Choosing a season for installation

You have decided on the purchase of the model, calculated the installation time. It remains to decide at what stage of the construction repair it is better to put air conditioning.

You can break the installation into separate operations:

  • Laying a split system We recommend that you perform between the outdoor and indoor units before finishing work. This process is associated with gating walls, drilling holes in the walls. It is accompanied by dust, debris.
  • Indoor unit installation advisable to do after finishing. It is possible to lay highways in special boxes without gating. Then the installation of the entire split system is best done simultaneously after repair.
  • Outdoor unit mount usually along with laying the track. The cost of installing it is about 70% of the total amount of installation services. You can agree with the masters about the installation of the external unit at any time convenient for you.

In spring and summer, the highest prices for installation and maintenance of air conditioners.

Maintenance of the external heat pump unit
In the heat, installation rises in price due to an increase in the number of orders, in rainy and cold weather - because of the reluctance of the craftsmen to perform facade work at heights

Many owners call service workers to check the climate equipment in the spring, before the start of the warm season. Increased demand adjusts the cost of services upward.

Choices for installers

Manufacturers of HVAC equipment claim that 90% of breakdowns in the first year of operation occur due to poor installation of devices.

Fastening and connecting the blocks can be done using:

  • Service from the selling company. A trading company with a long history and good reputation will provide the service, most likely, at the highest price. But then you will have someone to ask in case of breakdown of the unit in the warranty period.
  • Specialized services of installation organizations. They are provided both by independent companies and divisions of construction companies. You can invite specialists to consult and perform the most complex operations.
  • Do-it-yourself air conditioning installation. The most economical way, suitable for technically savvy experienced craftsmen. If you are confident in your abilities - why not. Go for it!

In the process outdoor unit installation and there are no secondary actions inside the appliance. Each very slight negligent deviation from the technical requirements leads to great problems in the operation of the air conditioner.

External unit setup
Minor flaws when installing the external unit of the split system threaten to increase noise due to vibration. An incorrect angle of the drain hose will direct the collected condensate not to the street, but back to the room

Carefully monitor high-quality rolling, do not allow bending of pipes. The correct operation of the air conditioner depends on them. A defect in working with pipes is fraught with a leak of freon, a violation of the cooling process, and breakdown of expensive equipment.

Where to mount?

Wrong choice of not only the time for installation of the air conditioner, but also the location of the split system units leads to a deviation from the standards for the length of freon highways.

Reducing the path threatens to violate the cooling period in the cycle of movement of the coolant. Such an imbalance will cause a compressor shock, will cause the failure of the most expensive air conditioning unit.

Too long piping lengths increase the load on the device. Continuous operation in overload mode will reduce the life of the device.

In case of complex repair with designing, decorating and installation of a split system, the conditions for placing devices are prescribed in the technical documentation.

If the financial issue does not bother you at all, then feel free to place a split system with indoor units in each room on the sunny side of the house. Climate designers will tell you specific places.

In the case of a limited budget for the repair of an apartment, it is possible at the draft stage to conduct communications for the air conditioner. Their outputs should be reliably protected with special plugs. Place of installation indoor unit in the room, choose closer to the window or at the head of the bed. Postpone the purchase and installation of the climate device until a bright future.

Window with corrugation mobile air conditioner
Mobile air conditioners have one drawback - a loud noise at work. But if you opted for such a device, then it is reasonable to make round vents with the planned replacement of windows

Mobile samples do not require binding to the room. Such air conditioners can be moved to any room in the apartment. But even for them, installation of a special hole in the window is required for the discharge of warm air into the street during cooling or cold when the room is heated.

Before starting repairs, think about the aesthetic side of technical devices. There are many design techniques for discreetly placing the air conditioner in the interior of the room.

The most interesting of them:

  • Channel and cassette models are installed in utility rooms, in suspended ceilings. During the repair of the apartment, air ducts are constructed for them.
  • Colored buildings, indoor units in the form of paintings and other artistic examples of climatic appliances are skillfully disguised as the style of the room.
  • White air conditioners hide by the window behind the curtains, behind the shelves, merge with the white wall or door of the room, without attracting attention to themselves.

The cost of installing air ducts is increased when performing cassette masking after construction repairs of the apartment. You can "drown" climate devices in specially built niches. Distract the look from the technique with beautiful decor, green plants.

Channel mounting type
A good solution with a channel device of the climate system. Structures are designed before the start of repair, are mounted at the stage of rough finishing of the apartment

When installing a split system in a room after a repair, it is interesting to beat the placement of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. A wide range of different techniques for this case - from complete disguise to deliberate selection of the device in the interior of the room.

Rules for operating the air conditioner

Regardless of the time you choose to install the air conditioner, at the stage of general construction repair or after finishing, carry out a test run. Check the operation of the device in all modes. Make a test run using the special test program installed on the split system.

Efficiency decreases when the air filter of the indoor unit is dirty. Typically, the manufacturer recommends vacuuming 1-2 times a month.

Indoor unit care
Filter cleaning is not included in the warranty service of the device. You need to independently carry out such a procedure in accordance with the instruction manual

To measure the level of freon, refueling the refrigerant, devices are needed.These air conditioning maintenance operations are handled by service representatives. Invite them every year to preventative diagnosis of the climate system.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Optimal places for placement, selection of installation time, tips for caring for the indoor unit of the split system:

Master class on the neat installation of the split system after the construction repair of the room is completed:

Familiarity with all types of home air conditioners, the pros and cons of various designs:

The best time for installing a split system will help you determine the video materials, expert recommendations. Install the air conditioner before the start of construction repairs or after its completion, you decide based on your new knowledge and personal preference.

Have you already chosen the optimal time for installing the air conditioner during the repair of the apartment? Would you like to share your experience, talk about certain advantages and disadvantages of installing a split system? Post reviews, photos, questions, tips, and comments below.

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