mharris2007
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2012
- Messages
- 91
Hi,
I wanted to pass along my experience with my garage single zone ductless mini split installation. I researched the topic here and the hvac forums for about 6 months. My application is a 500 sq ft attached garage with R13 in the walls and R30 in the ceiling in coastal Southern California. I am 2 miles from the water. The garage door is uninsulated and there is one 4x6 window in the north wall. I park two cars in the garage. The function is primarily for cooling when building furniture or working on the cars as I have never once been too cold in my garage even with nights in the 30's. My garage just cooks for some reason!!
My first decision was which mfg to go with. Since my primary function is cooling and I am going to be running it maybe 4-6 times per month for a few hours at a time, I decided not to invest in a top of the line unit. My best friend bought a pioneer 12,000 unit off amazon and loved it. I couldn't find out who the mfg was so didn't go with them. I decided on gree (blueridge) because of their large presence in the mini split market world wide and the good reviews here. Blueridge is the branded gree that alpine home air sells.
I did the install myself minus running the 220v and pressure test/vaccuum. I watched the electrician run the 220v circuit and it really didn't look too difficult to me. My friend from church does cryogenic refrigeration for academic and private labs and has worked on quite a few mini splits over the years. N2 leak test was good, and he did a triple evacuation/vaccuum down to 30 microns. He used leak lock on the flares which I've seen mixed reviews on but I deferred to his experience on that. I had some nylog and poe ready to go but he likes leak lock so I let it go. After that, Let the refrigerant go and it blew out 40 degree air. I used the heat function a few times already just for fun and that works great as well.
Cost breakdown: Blueridge 18k btu mini split kit plus lineset cover delivered to my door $1150. Electrician: $250. Hvac leak test and vaccuum free (but I insisted he take $200). Tools for install including yellow jacket 60278 flaring tool, small and large crow laws foot kit, UV tape wrap, etc were $200. Total: $1800. I had three quotes from hvac companies here that ranged from $3800 to $5000. So I saved roughly $2-3k diy'ing it. I also can't say enough good things about alpine home air. Their tech people are great and their customer service is awesome.
The hardest part for me was getting the wall sleeve into the wall at the correct angle. What I still don't understand is they want the hole in the wall angled down for condensate drainage, but the sleeve in the kit doesn't have an angle on the flange so how is it supposed to aim down 100% like the hole?? Smh.
All in all it was a great learning experience and so far so good with the gree/alpine home air/blueridge unit. Time will tell how it holds up. Here's a few pictures.
I need to take a final picture with the lineset cover on and everything tidied up. I'll try to get that up here soon.
I hope his helps someone as much everyone else's posts helped me.
I wanted to pass along my experience with my garage single zone ductless mini split installation. I researched the topic here and the hvac forums for about 6 months. My application is a 500 sq ft attached garage with R13 in the walls and R30 in the ceiling in coastal Southern California. I am 2 miles from the water. The garage door is uninsulated and there is one 4x6 window in the north wall. I park two cars in the garage. The function is primarily for cooling when building furniture or working on the cars as I have never once been too cold in my garage even with nights in the 30's. My garage just cooks for some reason!!
My first decision was which mfg to go with. Since my primary function is cooling and I am going to be running it maybe 4-6 times per month for a few hours at a time, I decided not to invest in a top of the line unit. My best friend bought a pioneer 12,000 unit off amazon and loved it. I couldn't find out who the mfg was so didn't go with them. I decided on gree (blueridge) because of their large presence in the mini split market world wide and the good reviews here. Blueridge is the branded gree that alpine home air sells.
I did the install myself minus running the 220v and pressure test/vaccuum. I watched the electrician run the 220v circuit and it really didn't look too difficult to me. My friend from church does cryogenic refrigeration for academic and private labs and has worked on quite a few mini splits over the years. N2 leak test was good, and he did a triple evacuation/vaccuum down to 30 microns. He used leak lock on the flares which I've seen mixed reviews on but I deferred to his experience on that. I had some nylog and poe ready to go but he likes leak lock so I let it go. After that, Let the refrigerant go and it blew out 40 degree air. I used the heat function a few times already just for fun and that works great as well.
Cost breakdown: Blueridge 18k btu mini split kit plus lineset cover delivered to my door $1150. Electrician: $250. Hvac leak test and vaccuum free (but I insisted he take $200). Tools for install including yellow jacket 60278 flaring tool, small and large crow laws foot kit, UV tape wrap, etc were $200. Total: $1800. I had three quotes from hvac companies here that ranged from $3800 to $5000. So I saved roughly $2-3k diy'ing it. I also can't say enough good things about alpine home air. Their tech people are great and their customer service is awesome.
The hardest part for me was getting the wall sleeve into the wall at the correct angle. What I still don't understand is they want the hole in the wall angled down for condensate drainage, but the sleeve in the kit doesn't have an angle on the flange so how is it supposed to aim down 100% like the hole?? Smh.
All in all it was a great learning experience and so far so good with the gree/alpine home air/blueridge unit. Time will tell how it holds up. Here's a few pictures.
I need to take a final picture with the lineset cover on and everything tidied up. I'll try to get that up here soon.
I hope his helps someone as much everyone else's posts helped me.