Mr Cool DIY or Advantage 18k

[vavet]

I’m looking at buying a MR Cool minisplit for my 24x32 garage. It seems experience here points to buying form Ingrahams.
Comparing the two

DIY vs Advantage
$1356 vs $867
5 year parts vs 2 year parts
7 year compressor vs 1 year compressor
DIY installation vs requires licensed contractor installation
25 foot line set vs custom made line-set (I need about 12 feet, I’d have to serpentine the 25 feet on the side of my garage)
16 SEER vs 19 SEER

I have a coworker who does HVAC work and is willing to help me with making the lineset, checking pressures, and adding refrigerant as needed. He's certified to handle the refrigerant, but he is not a licensed contractor. I would essentially have no warranty on the Advantage unit. I end up with a better unit and a better installation for $500 less.

I’m leaning towards the Advantage unit. I’m thinking with the savings, I can self -warranty.

What says the collective wisdom of GJ?

 

[Jon In Tucson]

I went with the Advantage. Install was straight forward, and used my A/C guy to draw the vacuum and make sure that I didn't do something silly. I have a 24X30X12 stick built garage, insulated and finished. All in all, I'd do it again.
Jon In Tucson.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[jjrbus]

Looking over the warrantys and seeing peoples experience with them and I have no qualms with self warranty. The failure rate for new mini;s is extremely low. However the main cause of mini failures is faulty installation. So need to be dam well sure it is installed right.

Don't assume that someone with a vacuum pump knows what they are doing!

 

[strutaeng]

I was going to get the DIY, then found the Advantage at considerable lower price...at some point the Advantage got a slight price bump, but still good deal.

I settled on the Olympus, which is the higher version. It is Energy Start rated. Mine is going into an addition, so on 24/7. My BIL is a HVAC tech and installs these, so not a huge deal for me.

For a shop use I would got for the Advantage. The price is very good.

 

[polizei1]

My 24k DIY comes today. I chose the DIY because the price difference was only $250 more and I wasn't confident that the 16' lineset was going to be long enough. I don't really think it matters, aren't they the exact same unit?

 

[Jon In Tucson]

My 24k DIY comes today. I chose the DIY because the price difference was only $250 more and I wasn't confident that the 16' lineset was going to be long enough. I don't really think it matters, aren't they the exact same unit?

Other than the precharged lineset, probably so... Your price difference is about what my A/C guy charged.
Jon In Tucson

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[3rdgendslmech]

I went back and forth also....me buying 410 a set of guages, micron gauge, and core tool added up to more than the DIY unit.
A friend of mine who owns his own HVAC co was going to get me a 24K Daikin and do the install for me working on 2 of his vans.

 

[MattT]

requires licensed contractor installation

The installation manual states "authorized technician". In my State that is anybody with a 608, and the job is way under the dollar threshold for requiring a contractor. So your buddy should meet their requirements, at least here.

Might be worth emailing Mr Cool or Ingrams for clarification if you're concerned about warranty.

I went back and forth also....me buying 410 a set of guages, micron gauge, and core tool added up to more than the DIY unit.

Not sure you should cost the tools as one time use. I'm at 3 installs with mine with three more in the foreseeable future. Then after that probably another 6 as units wear out and need replaced. Will probably use gauge set for servicing at some point too.

Also the core removal tool isn't really needed for DIY use. All it does is speed up the evac. Personally I rough vac, pressure test, and start the final pulldown. Then hook up all the electrical while it's pulling down. By the time I get done so is the evac.

 

[jjrbus]

I went back and forth also....me buying 410 a set of guages, micron gauge, and core tool added up to more than the DIY unit.
A friend of mine who owns his own HVAC co was going to get me a 24K Daikin and do the install for me working on 2 of his vans.

Not an AC tech and can't prove this but Daikin appears to be #3 quality wise behind Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, which are # 1 and # 1 depending on who you talk to. Much of it has to do with the thickness of the copper in the coils, according to the net.

 

[vavet]

Not an AC tech and can't prove this but Daikin appears to be #3 quality wise behind Mitsubishi and Fujitsu, which are # 1 and # 1 depending on who you talk to. Much of it has to do with the thickness of the copper in the coils, according to the net.

Your post really got me thinking. Why is Mr Cool so much cheaper than other brands? Is this a “you get what you pay for” and “if it’s too good to be true” scenario?
I hate to spend $2000 on a Mitsubishi if a Mr Cool will work just as well for just as long. It seems plenty of other people on GJ use the Mr Cool unit, but how many have been using them for 10 years?

 

[jjrbus]

Your post really got me thinking. Why is Mr Cool so much cheaper than other brands? Is this a “you get what you pay for” and “if it’s too good to be true” scenario?
I hate to spend $2000 on a Mitsubishi if a Mr Cool will work just as well for just as long. It seems plenty of other people on GJ use the Mr Cool unit, but how many have been using them for 10 years?

The big 2 Mitsubishi and Fujitsu are much higher quality units and have more bells and whistles. Some of the quality we cannot see like thicker copper in the coils. According to what I read Daikin is also a high quality unit, without the bells and whistles.

The big advantage I see to Mr Cool is not needing a tech or special tools, I have $100's of dollars worth of tools for my DIY installs. Another advantage I see is there will be lots of DIY repair support for Mr Cool.

One thing I did notice when researching this the bulk of pros making videos were installing Fujitsu, Mitsubishi or Daikins. Almost none of the other brands!

 

[polizei1]

The high end units will more than likely have better components, but I personally think the cost is in the efficiency. You can find 24+ Seer units on the high end models, the MRC DIY is 16. I just installed mine, took my dad and I about 6-8 hours. Pretty straight forward.

 

[jjrbus]

The high end units will more than likely have better components, but I personally think the cost is in the efficiency. You can find 24+ Seer units on the high end models, the MRC DIY is 16. I just installed mine, took my dad and I about 6-8 hours. Pretty straight forward.

I looked at higher efficiency every way I could. I did the online calculators and believe most are designed to show higher seer ratings are worth the cost.

In my case I have low electric rates and as near as I could figure going higher seer would be at least a 10 year payback. I am in Florida and use AC alot.

I could be wrong and possibly I missed something, my summer electric was averaging $140 month and now for more comfort the bill is around $90 with 15 seer.

I am sure I made the right choice for me, your situation may be different??

 

[fatjay]

When I did mine, I bought a set of ac guages from amazon for $55, and a vacuum pump from amazon for $60. Set the vacuum pump on for 20min, turned it off, waited an hour to see if the gauges moved. They didn't, so I closed the service port, released the freon, and boom, ice cold air.

 

[polizei1]

I didn't care all that much about the seer rating because I won't run mine all the time. In fact, I'll only run it when I'm working in the garage (also my wood shop). I average ~$130 on my monthly utility bill (gas/electric) for the whole house, so we'll see how much it increases over the winter. It certainly will be worth it either way.

I did originally plan to purchase a Reznor gas heater, and even plumbed my house when I built it, but I kept looking at mini splits and couldn't ignore the fact that the Mr. Cool does both, and is significantly cheaper.

 

[vavet]

I decided on the Mr Cool Advantage unit. I found the lowest price on homedepot.com and I had a 10% off coupon to boot!
I ordered it last week. It should be delivered to the store next Wednesday. I also added the electrical whip, the lineset cover, and the equipment pad.
Once it's all on hand, I'll get my buddy to come over to help me mount it, draw the vacuum, and then open the valves to let the refrigerant flow!

 

[vavet]

Closing the loop on this thread: the mini split is installed. It’s awesome. Maybe I’m just getting soft by wanting to work in a climate controlled shop, but I can afford it and it’s oh so nice!

We cut the line down to about 12 feet because we could. It’s a very clean installation when you’re able to customize the line length.