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How to install an air conditioner?

How to install an air conditioner?

Summer: time for holidays and vacations, time for total relaxation for many. But also sunny, hot and muggy weather. Hot which, if excessive, risks becoming very annoying. And here people begin to run for cover: terms like “air conditioner offers” and “air conditioner prices” flock to the internet. After all, the air conditioner is our best ally to fight the heat and the summer heat.

The problem is that doing things in a hurry and looking for a good air conditioner based only on the price, does not always lead to the desired results. It is true that air conditioning can greatly improve the habitability of a home in the summer; but to have an excellent result you need to find the model that best suits your needs.

By doing a quick search on the web, we often get more confused than clearing them up: dual split air conditioners, fixed air conditioners, portable air conditioners, inverter air conditioners, and so on and so forth. In this guide on how to install an air conditioner, we want to take a good step back and show you how it is possible to find the ideal model for your needs, without complicating your life too much and spending hours and hours in useless research.

Where to install an air conditioner: BTU air conditioner and square meters, standards and energy class air conditioners

The first step to know how to install an air conditioner is to identify the characteristics of the environment to be air conditioned. Only in this way will you know your needs, and you can accordingly choose an air conditioner suitable for the room you want to cool. The BTU unit of measurement for air conditioners must therefore be considered. BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, and is used to measure the power of air conditioners.

Below we have listed, approximately, how many BTUs of power an air conditioner needs to cool a room of X square meters (with an average height of 2.7 meters):

  • 7000 BTU air conditioner: 10-15 square meters of room
  • 9000 BTU air conditioner: 15-25 square meters of room
  • 12000 BTU air conditioner: 25-40 square meters of room
  • 15000 BTU air conditioner: 40-50 square meters of room
  • 18000 BTU air conditioner: 50-60 square meters of room

Obviously, there are other important factors to consider, such as the exposure of the room to sunlight, the thickness of the walls (the internal perimeter walls are thinner and tend to make the air disperse more easily), the shape of the room and also the neighboring environments.

As for the consumption of air conditioners, pay attention to the choice of the energy class. For example, by choosing a class A air conditioner we could save about a third compared to a class C air conditioner, and we would spend almost half of what we would do with a class E, F or G air conditioner. In short, with a slightly initial cost. higher we can ensure a better energy class air conditioner, which will allow us to save on bills over the years.

Fixed air conditioners or portable air conditioners

To simplify, we can divide air conditioners into two broad macro categories: fixed air conditioners and portable air conditioners. Fixed air conditioners are the most common and are divided into two parts:

Air conditioner outdoor unit: the part that is installed outside the home, includes the air conditioner motor and the radial fan.

Indoor air conditioner unit: also called “split”, it is connected to the outdoor unit by means of pipes through which the fluids flow; serves to diffuse the conditioned air in the room where we want to regulate the temperature.

The most installed air conditioner is definitely the wall conditioner, followed closely by the floor conditioner (which emits air from the bottom up). As far as false ceilings are concerned, the cassette air conditioner is often chosen, while the console air conditioner is excellent for ceiling installations. Often in these cases they are mono-split air conditioners: i.e., air conditioners with an outdoor unit and an indoor unit.

But there are also dual split air conditioners. A majority of the 1.5 ton split ac in India are of this type. In this case, there are two indoor units connected to one outdoor unit. If, on the other hand, there are more than two indoor units, then we are talking about multi-split air conditioners. Air conditioners without external motor are now also installed, i.e., without external unit: they are air conditioners composed of a single unit that includes the functions of the indoor and outdoor unit. Air conditioners without outdoor unit are an expensive choice, which has a lower efficiency than classic air conditioners, but which is used in case of difficulties in installing the external units of air conditioners (such as monobloc air conditioners).

Air conditioner installation: look for the most common mistakes

Unfortunately, although you can more or less easily find the right air conditioner for your needs, often installing an air conditioner risks becoming more complicated than usual. So, pay attention to the technicians you are addressing: make sure they are certified professionals with a lot of experience behind them.

Therefore, carefully choose a technician to install the system, otherwise you could risk running into one of the following installation errors. Here is a list of the main errors: check it carefully, to be sure that the technician you choose is a true professional.

  • The outdoor unit must have at least 15 cm of free space on the sides, while there must be no obstacles in front of the fans
  • If you need to install more than one outdoor unit, there must be at least 30cm between each unit (to avoid thermal interference)
  • The outdoor unit must be sufficiently protected from external agents, such as high temperatures, heavy rain, gusts of wind, and so on
  • The outdoor unit, as well as the indoor unit, must be easily accessible, both for repairing any damage and for normal maintenance operations
  • The outdoor unit must be positioned horizontally, using metal supports (dampers) suitable for absorbing the vibrations of the fans (in this way, the noise level of the appliance is reduced)
  • The pipes must be insulated and of the right size (just check the air conditioner booklet to know them), in addition to avoiding bends that are too tight or tortuous
  • The condensate drain pipes must be made with a spiral corrugated pipe (and not with makeshift rubber pipes), so as to avoid potential deformations over time; when the pipes run through walls, they must be well protected to avoid breakages and therefore cause serious infiltrations into the masonry
  • Always remember to notify your condominium administrator of the installation of the air conditioner, to avoid potential disputes afterwards (there is always the risk that the position for the outdoor unit you have chosen will be annoying for another tenant of the building: here because it is good to inform the administrator, who will make sure that everything is fine)
  • Always test your air conditioners for at least a week

 

 

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