MrCool DIY-24-HP-230A Air Conditioner

I had my doubts about these simple DIY units, but after installing two of them, one of which ran very well for the entire summer, I'm a convert now.A year ago, I "gambled" on a smaller unit (Gen1 DIY 12K BTU unit) and managed to get it to work (and it works well). After an almost entire summer of using it, I felt confident enough to get another one, this time Gen2 DIY 24K BTU unit. As simple as these are to install, good preparation is never a bad thing, so here are some things I also purchased to get them installed. There are million different ways to do this, so consider my experience as a reference only.First, you'll need two fairly large crescent wrenches. Some sort of a reasonably powerful power drill is needed as well. I managed with an old battery powered DeWALT unit, but I literally ran down a full battery pack getting through the wall. I had an extra battery as well as a corded drill as a backup, so no big deal. Of course, it'll all depend on how strong your wall is.I used DiversiTech UC3636-3 UltraLite Concrete Equipment Pad as the base. I picked up some expansion bolts and washers at a local hardware store to secure the unit to the pad. Although the new unit came with rubber pads, I added some of my own Rubber Vibration Absorber Set for Ductless Mini Split Systems. Not strictly required, but I wanted it raised a little so I could get the condensate pipe (for the heating mode) hooked up.If securing it to a concrete bed, I'd use something like The Hillman Group 370980 Wedge Anchor, 1/4 X 2-1/4-Inch, 40-Pack. Of course, you'll need some drill bits specifically meant for drilling into concrete. There are wall mount options, too, but I've no experience with that.After using Bosch HB25M Bi-metal 25-Piece Hole Saw Master Set to drill the wall hole (3"), I used THERMO 44002 44002 ROUND LINESET WALL THIMBLE to keep the hole nice and clean. I did trim away the flared portion since I wanted the contacts to be flat against the wall. Add some caulk and you should be good to go.It was quite difficult to push 26 feet of the piping through the little hole because I did it by myself. I highly recommend you get at least one other person to help. Pushing out the last part while hooking the indoor unit to the wall was a feat. I do think it's a good idea to slant the indoor unit ever so slightly so that the condensate drains better. One interesting note here. The old 12k BTU unit had quick connectors on both sides, so I didn't have to push in long lineset through the wall then, but the new unit had the lineset pre-attached to the indoor unit. Two less connections is certainly good for reliability, but boy, pushing the lineset out the little hole wasn't easy.On the outside, I used Rectorseal 3.5" 12' WALL DUCT KIT WH 92 White. For this unit, it's barely wide enough, so maybe 4" one would be easier to work with. The 3.5" one worked fine for me. Obviously, one set wouldn't be enough to cover the whole thing, but in my case, I ended up with leftover piping at the outdoor side, so one set of duct was barely enough. I didn't use the 90-degree duct at all. From my understanding, the straighter the pipes are, the better. Also, I read that if you have leftover, you should loop them horizontally, but that wasn't practical for me, so I did one giant vertical loop against the wall. I don't believe my big loop will cause lubricant to pile up at the bottom. Multiple tight vertical loops are supposedly bad for the system.I punched a hole at the bottom of the duct cover right outside the indoor unit and dropped the condensate drain straight down, then pushed it into a PVC pipe I picked up at a local hardware store, along with a 45-degree bend at the bottom to direct it away from the wall. I fastened them all up with hooks and painted the whole duct & PVC pipe so it blends in with the wall.For the magical refrigerant quick connections, I went out of my way by using some Refrigeration Technologies RT201B NYLOG-GASKET/THREAD SEALANT to clean and lubricate what I could before hooking them up. There are o-rings (I believe neoprene type) in there, so as long as you keep them straight and tighten them well enough, they shouldn't leak. Funny, this was the easiest part of the install.Now for the electrical connections. Mine was relatively easy because I was reusing the connections to the old unit. However, the old unit was hooked up to 60A fused disconnect, and there're no lower value fuses to fit that disconnect, so I purchased Siemens WF2030 30 Amp Fusible AC Disconnect to completely replace the disconnect. It doesn't come with any fuses, and for some strange reason 20A fuses are really expensive from Amazon, so I picked them up at a local hardware store. I also picked up some THHN/THWN 12 AWG wires (black & red for the lines and green for ground) and made my own liquidtight connection using end connectors also picked up from the LHS. I made sure to get everything right and double-checked. I even replaced the breaker from 50A 2-pole to 20A 2-pole even though it's not necessary because the wires from the breaker box to the disconnect are proper 6 AWG and the rest are protected by 20A fuses. I used a 90 degree connector for the power and straight one for the control wires into the outdoor unit. No, the plug for the control wires won't go through the liquidtight conduit, but I redid the wire so I could use the nice liquidtight connection. I really wanted this one to be as perfect as I could get it.I used some foam cover + HVAC specific duct tape to cover as much of the exposed refrigerant line as possible (right down to the connections at the outdoor unit).It fired right up and is cooling my big master bedroom like Mr Cool (for about 2 weeks now). I used a clamp meter to measure the current while it's running (cooling at low setting) and I got 2.5A, so with 240VAC, it's only 600 watts. The only time I saw it go past the low setting was when I first turned it on with the room temperature past 90F. I don't feel the need to test the turbo mode. Maybe when we hit 115F, I'll see it kick up to medium. I'm not so sure about the extra-quiet mode. I don't want to run the compressor at too low of a setting because I'm afraid of lubricant getting trapped in the pipe. I haven't tried the heat mode. Maybe I should before the winter comes, but if I found it it doesn't work then, it probably won't make any difference because from my understanding, there's no warranty unless a licensed HVAC technician signs it off. Oh wait, my neighbor is a fully licensed HVAC technician and he liked my install after looking it over. Maybe I can get him to sign the thing for the warranty. ;-)With it all done, I'm not sure which makes me happier, the big $ savings or the satisfaction of doing it yourself (and a darn fine job at it if I may say so myself).I guess I can't really finalize this review until I keep using the system for at least a few years, but so far, I'm impressed with the package.UPDATE after one cooling season and one heating season:General complaints:* Indoor unit's scroll fan bearing isn't the best quality. It makes some noise, especially at the super-low speed (silent mode for cooling or stand-by mode during heating).* Indoor unit creaks and cracks due to the plastic pieces not being padded against the big temperature swings. This is particularly noticeable in heating mode. Probably not a big deal for living rooms, and I have mine in the bedroom. I might be able to do something about it using some foam insulation. We'll see.Cooling season:* No complaints. Excellent cooling capacity and efficiency (as rated).Heating season:* When temperature falls below around 37-38F (3C), the efficiency drops noticeably. At the same power level, it produces luke warm output vs. nice toasty output when the outside is 40F or higher. In the climate I live in, I can count the number of freezing mornings in a year in one hand, so it's not a deal breaker, but if you have many freezing to near freezing days during a year, you might want to consider units that are rated higher for heating or think about alternate means of heating.* The unit has no back-up heating element, so when ice forms on the coil, it runs the compressed gas into the outside coil to heat it. Obviously, there's no heating the indoors during this cycle. Indoor unit's fan will stop and you'll hear some slushing sound during this.I'm still very happy with the unit. It is meeting my needs very nicely.

This is more of a review of the company that sells this unit. If you are worried that a company won't stand behind this DIY unit rest assured. John and Ray at Ingram's are the best! These folks went above and beyond providing service on my unit. I did have an issue with my heat pump but Ingram's made it right and made it right fast. Anyone can have a problem but Ingram's was there to make sure that I was satisfied and completely happy. I have bought a lot of things over the internet and you always have that feeling that you hope that the company will stand behind there products, this should never be a concern with Ingram's!The unit was relatively easy to install but you need to do some upfront work. You'll need a pad or wall mount to set the outdoor unit on. I used solid concrete blocks grouted together to form a 24" x 36" pad to mount too. I drilled into the blocks and used lead anchors with 5/16" lag bolts to hold the unit in place. I had run wiring when the house was built so all in needed to do was install a breaker in the panel and a disconnect switch on the outside of the house. I think that a outside disconnect is mandatory all across the US. This provides a place for service tech's to turn off the power if your not home to let them in to turn off the breaker. Then a I ran flexible waterproof plastic conduit from the disconnect to the outside unit with my wires inside.Mounting and installing the inside air handler is straight forward. Using the supplied template, mark and drill your holes. I had to buy a large hole saw blade for this protect since my set didn't have the specified size. Attach the air handler bracket with supplied screws and anchors. Once that's done slip the supplied plastic thimble thru the wall and then carefully roll out the refrigerant lines on the back of the air handler and thread them thur the wall thimble (this step really needs two people). And hang the air handler on the supplied bracket.Now all that's left is to connect the refrigerant hoses to the outside unit and open the valves in the correct sequence. Then test!If you are comfortable drilling holes and installing the correct electrical service for this unit its very easy and well within the reach of an average DYI home owner. On a DIY scale of 1 to 10 its a good solid 5 or 6. Just take your time and follow the steps. If you have any problems Ingram's is there to handle those and they will do it fast. Super happy with this unit! its 97 degrees today and I am sitting in a window lined room at 72 degrees! Love it! Plus, you can't beat the cost savings on this DIY unit. I would have had to wait until late September and pay over 2X as much for a commercial install.One note: I didn't want to use a wall mounting bracket just in case there was any vibration from the compressor. Silly me this thing is very quiet. Both the inside and outside units are very quiet. If you can think of falling rain as a noise this unit would not get even close in noise. I am glad that I used a concrete mounting since I needed to turn the outside unit 90 degrees to the house so the prevailing wind would not interfere with the units operation.Joe C.