Contractor with 25 years of experience here (I've personally worked for 2 different HVAC companies for over 4 years as well). DIY mini splits are by far the best bang for your buck. Don't go with a offbrand that won't be in business 3 years down the road, and don't do a half-assed rush job on the install. You'll be fine. Plumbers were crying the same way HVAC guys are now back when PEX, and sharkbites hit our market 20 years ago. They realized that the average person could handle the work themselves reasonably well in most cases. Most companies, and many contractors are charging entirely too much for their work. There are many reasons why this is happening. There isn't a "smoking gun" as to why this is happening. Some of it is the price that materials has gone up (not as big of a chunk as you might think), price of fuel, insurance, etc. If they're a large company they have a lot of overhead (office, shop, utilities, maintenance, staff, advertising, ect). BUT a lot of it is just old fashioned greed. Many are charging hundreds of dollars a hour simply because they can. It's shameful. Your best best is to find a honest independent contractor in your area, and develop good business practices with them. I can assure you they do exist. They are out there.
It's hard to find honest contractors without having them come to your house though. I had tried to diagnose my fridge ice maker and couldn't find anything wrong with it and finally gave up. I called a refrigerator repair man and when they found the problem they told me it would be an additional $200 for an additional electrical diagnosis fee on top of the 120 minimum for them to come out. Long story short, they charged me $320 to plug in a cable that they had seen was disconnected after it came loose. I hadn't checked the wire behind a screwed on cover.
@@captainvlogl had a friend suffer $650 HVAC bill for nothing(no parts). He left her with a fan that wouldn't work and a $6000 quote for a new unit. I took the outside cover off and spotted a swollen capacitor. $35 buck later she was back in business..........GREEDY CROOKS!
You are so correct.. These Hvac contractors are licensed to steal. For instance I want a12000 unit put in. Quoted like 5-6 thousand dollars. Takes 4-5 hours to install some time a little more. I when on line and they had Goodman splits made buy Daiken now. Paid $661 out the door with the raceway piping and wires for communication between the units. Granted it doesn't have all the bells and whistles but so what it cools just as good. I can put one in in a heart beat. Just flat outrageous. You-tube is gonna kill these greedy guys.
The main reason is that everyone went into computers starting in the 80s when we were at school districts tearing out wood shop, metal shop, welding shops and installing Apple computers. Everyone then went into computers and decades later they are dime a dozen and we have a huge shortage of trades people. I was there and saw it happen. Now trades people are killing it with their wages. turning into a real rip off generation.
Finally got it up and running. The only delays we had was because we realized we needed some extra parts (I’ll list that below) ru-vid.comUgkxihMYiJNXcHdbH-7ihymsLz61l7jVyb5O . So we have a loft where our current hvac just couldn’t seem to keep cool during the summer. We have been using a window unit since we bought this house over 6 years ago (all the houses in this neighborhood were built in the 80’s and majority of the houses built like ours use a window unit). I hate window units because they are just so noisy and the one we had really only cools one side of the loft. I had contemplated upgrading our current HVAC, but with all the rising prices these days, it would take years before saving up enough to do that. With the advice of my father-in-law (used to run an HVAC business), he recommended we get an inverter instead. We thought we bought everything we needed, but there were just a few other parts we didn’t anticipate needing (which is what caused most of our delay). My friend and father-in-law did all the work to get it installed and running and now we have nice cool air circulating nicely throughout the entire loft. It is very quiet and even the outside unit is much quieter than our main HVAC unit. Saved ourselves thousands getting this.
The only way to alleviate the mode switching problem is to install only single head units. Honestly, as an hvac professional, that is my normal recommendation if there is not an excessive number needed. It simplifies things when each indoor unit is independent. Also if there is a leak or a problem with the outdoor unit, you don’t lose heat or cooling in the entire house. Not a criticism, just an observation.
@@TheRenoBros without knowing layout of the building, you likely have it pretty close to ideal. Anything over three heads and you almost certainly have to use multiple indoor units per outdoor unit. Whatever area you set condensers in just gets crowded. Normally I would install a typical forced air system, ducting heat to wherever it is needed and running off of one unit. The Gree flex and Bosch ids systems offer much the same efficiency with proper ductwork. Returning to the con with your system, I was trying to say that the problem is not unique to Mr.cool. With any minisplit system you will have the changeover issue. Some like Fujitsu are worse in that when you mismatch modes it creates an error requiring a hard reset, as in cycling power to the outdoor unit.
Seems like it at first but when you actually think it through it's a pretty poor business model because each of these tickets is going to be pretty low dollar just to start and diyers are cheap kind of by definition so you're going to get constant pushback on your already low prices so it's not going to be worth your time to actually go out to places
@@xedden2 some people become diyers as a result of being constantly overcharged. HVAC guy wants 5k for product + install of 18k btu mini split. a day's labor for ~3k? yeah i'll just try to do this myself. 1k for labor and i wouldn't think twice and let a pro install
@@bobsondugnutt7526 except that 5k is not 3K of profit just for the person's labor. That's paying for most likely a better product than you can get as a consumer, That's paying for all the training that they have to actually do this and make sure it's up to code which you're not going to meet as a diyer, it's paying for their licensing and insurance, their transportation time, their equipment, their gas, all their taxes, their other staff members that schedule the appointment for you, their office, all the softwares they have to pay for, their transportation, etc etc etc. People like to assume that every business is just out to screw them but unless you run a business yourself you don't actually rise how many other costs there are
If you live in the south do not use the crappy insulation given for the Freon lines. Just a little of exposure to summer UV here in Dallas where there was a small gap exposed was disintegrated by one full summer of sun. The foam at $3 for 6 feet is much better than that provided.
One more annoyance, local utility companies offer nice size rebates! But ours only gives rebates to units that are installed by approved A/C contractors! WTF😢
Looking at a larger MrCool split system to replace my central air system with a leaky coil. Was quoted $4500 to replace coil, $13,000 to replace with like-for-like. Insane. Or I can get a MrCool 3 or 4 ton system for half the price with a higher SEER rating. I feel like HVAC companies refuse to work on them because they feel threatened by DIY systems.
I think its not that they feel threatened as much as it is that they really are not as smart as you think they are. Eery unit is different and things change every few years so they like to work on the easy stuff
Yes, I built a house in 2005, shark bites and pex were just getting a start here. I had plumbers quote and they were crazy. Meanwhile they were desparately trying to keep pex and shark bites out of the market. So I decided to do my self, boot legged and saved well over 10k. Sharkbites and pex made plumbing easy for DIY and plumbers hated it. Well quit screwing people! I understand everyone needs to make money, but they do not need to make 500 per hour.
@@option311 I think they are taking advantage of the fact nobody wants to do hvac and plumbing, therefore lack of competition + their customers typically need their home fixed asap. My brother would rather work at bestbuy and live at my parents house in his 30s, even though ive shown him several open hvac jobs with no experience requirement.
Mini Splits are widely used in Asia and Europe. My wife and I lived in S Korea for a few years and used these units exclusively. They were not Mr. Cool's of course but usually Samsung or Mitsubishi. The only issue I had with them was the inside blower getting clogged up with lint. There is a spinning blade in there that looks like the fan blower on a central unit, just smaller and longer. Even if you take the filter screens out and wash them frequently that blower will still get clogged and slow down. Eventually it will start leaking water down the wall from the lint building up and clogging the drain line. The drain lines clog easily. I also noticed the heat pump side of the unit will heat all the way down to fairly low temps. Around 10-20 degrees F. Below that it may start icing up at the outside condensing unit. You MUST keep snow from piling up around the outside unit or it will not heat. You can pour water on the ice to get it to melt quicker. Overall I love these units and I plan to put several in my house so I don't need to run the central air units. Good video!
@@TheRenoBros We had the same issue with my parents house. They put one in the living room / dining room area. The drain line blocked up and leaked into the room.
Good advice on the electrical, these diys are much better for those that know how to be comfortable with electrical . I’m a retired electrician and my five year old 2 ton unit in my large 3 car garage, Mr. Cool has been great .
@@nothingface0xx Yep, that's the nasty part you never hear of. I noticed air force was way down. I took unit apart to get to the squirrel cage blower, it was full of mold and fungus.
Highly recommend taking the condenser unit apart and taping over the holes for wires going to the board. We had a frog climb in there and short out the board, and since that was an "act of nature" it wasn't covered under the warranty. Still waiting for the replacement board after 4 weeks...
Daiken, LG, Mitsubishi, Carrier/Bryant..same wait..china manufactured controls. I talked to mrcool diy sometime (5or 6 Yrs) back, was tolg all parts available in Kentucky..so I pushed the product..then recently I found out the parts were actually just freighted in from China..
Loved the video. Your integrity is outstanding!! You could have made things up to make yourself look flawless...you owned up to the good and the bad. I really appreciate the fact that you ask for critics. It teally helps everyone. Thank you so much. Getting ready to do my second unit...
Last winter was my first with a 27k two zone in my garage. Mr. Cool's defrost I believe is 3 min long and NOT long enough for a New England winter. The defrost runs long enough to create a bubble around the fins outside. It's still crusted with ice, but there's a space between the ice and fins. This starts a defrost cycle hell where you have no heat for hours. Make a COVER or shelter for your heat pump outdoors. I spent so much time outside in the cold trying to "defrost" it manually with heat guns and picks. Not fun. I believe there's a way to prolong the defrost cycle, but this requires opening up the heat pump cover, and Mr. Cool does not provide info on any of that, and I haven't found any info thus far. Aside from that, great unit so far all DIY
Amen! Good advice! Especially if your area is prone to lots of snowfall, always build a little roof over it big enough to keep snow away from the unit so it can breath and do what it needs to.
I had this same problem except the ice only accumulates at the bottom of the condenser fins. To solve this i ordered a 6ft piece of heat tape(120volt) off Amazon and routed it so its touching the bottom of the condenser fins all the way around the bottom. This helped tremendously. Actually spoke to a contractor who said they do something similar with Daikin units they install. The unit has a heating element to help the water drain out of the bottom (after its melted off the fins) so be careful your heat tape doesn't touch the factory installed heat element. This thing was pushing out hot air down to -5° this last winter. Lower than that it and starts to struggle. But its saved us so much trouble & money keeping the house warm or cool. Had it about 15months now. Amazing pieces of equipment and crazy efficient
I'm not sure I'd use any mini-split as a primary heat source in any far northern climate. But perhaps building the shelter and using heat tape makes it doable.
I live in Arkansas, hot humid summers and cold winters. About 80 degree diff in seasons. I've owned mine since 2021, they have had the motor noise for at least 6 months now and I had to clean the fan out as it was clogged and not blowing very well. Other than that they remove humidity very well and on 100 degree days keep my not so well insualted house around 71 inside!
I purchased a log home with a 6 head mini split system. Right away we noticed we barely need to run the AC. Even the past week it's hit 100° outside the system barely works the outside unit rev's up a few times here and there. We turn on the AC periodically just to get humidity out it's pretty amazing how well insulated a log is.
HVAC contractor here. You can’t cut your refrigerant lines on a minisplit set up. They come pre charged with the exact amount of refrigerant for the size system it is on. If you need to add a longer line set, the manufacturer has a chart to let you know how many ounces to add. But there is a bare minimum, and it’s typically 15 feet linsets.
If you cut the pre charged lines you no longer have a diy install. Have to vacuum the lines and probably should recover and weigh in the proper amount of Freon.
In Europe and in Norway where my wife’s family is heat pumps are the top standard for old & new construction and the tech is getting better all the time.
The main problem is the terrible house you purchased. No matter what heating system you install, it's going to struggle. You can hardly endure the five or ten minutes it takes to occasionally defrost? Jeez....honestly, I think you need to sell this clunker and buy a better home. I'm up in British Columbia, Canada, on a freezing day, and I let the woodstove (our only source of heat) go out hours ago. I won't be relighting it until tomorrow morning. Good video, by the way!
$80/ month electric bill is heavenly! I have central heat and air and mine was $350 last month.😡 Heck I’d be happy with a $150/mo bill let Ali e only $80 average.
really simple fix for the extra coil I saw on another vid is to build a box under the condenser and place the coil horizontally on a shelf in it. Problem gone for a few pieces of wood or metal. Plus raises the unit off the ground away from insects and animals, wind blown and lawn mower launched debris, rain splattered dirt, puddles and especially keeps it above the snow drifts, and generally increases the ventilation. It also makes it easier to service and if you enclose it reduces heat or cold loss from coil. win win win. Also I recommend putting a nice little roof over it. Anything that gets wet attracts dirt, insects, corrosion and heat loss. Things that live under cover last forever. Hopefully no bears make their home there. There's also less expansion and contraction of components due to cyclical moisture evaporation.
Idk where that would be, but it's not here. We get up over 100 degrees sometimes. Generally our summer temps are not much hotter than 85, but that is by no means the max.
Great video. Sums up my experience after 4+ years with two Mr Cool DYI installs in my house. One of them has become noisy and Mr Cool sent me a replacement motor. I watched the video they suggested and… I'm working up to the task. You mentioned that after three motor replacements, you have the task down to about 2 hours. Is there any chance you may have videoed your experience swapping out the motor? Or, any chance you have tips to offer on the task? My experience has been that most of these mini split, air handlers develop some sort of noise after time. I'm not deterred by this and I'm about to install a third Mr Cool. I never had the option of any other systems anyhow. Also, I've saved so much money doing the DYI thing, that even if I had to replace each unit after time, I would still be ahead. I was quoted $16K by an HVAC guy for two units that cost me $2,500 combined (plus the day it took to install them and $600 for the electrician to be sure the hookup were up to code). So… That's $3,100 vs $16,000. Do the math, it's a no brainer. BTW: I asked the HVAC guy how long it would take to install the two Mitsubishi units in his estimate. He said, a full day. That means 5-6 hours to me. The units cost less than $1,000 (to him). So let's just say his cost was about $2,000 + another $800 for parts and wear and tear on his tools and truck and cost of doing business (insurance, etc). So… rounding up, let's say his cost is $3K, which leads me to believe that he's be paid $13,000 for a days work. Convert that to by-the-hour at 6 hours total and you have $2,167/hour. When I asked him if that seemed fair… he told me to take a hike. Hell, I would have been happy to pay double his cost ($6K) and he would have been making $500/hour. Anyhow, I'm glad I'm handy and was able to do both installs in a single day. The electrician came the day prior and had everything ready to roll. BTW: The lowest of three bids I received was $12K and that guy didn't return my call! $16K was the highest of the three. Thanks for your great videos.
Thanks for the comment! Here’s the video I watched to feel confident about the motor replacement: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WkdUJz5IMdY.html
Someone has to pay for the HVAC guy's new truck! Finding someone to pay $16K gives him a nice down payment for sure. I'm all for everyone making a decent living. But that's just price gouging.
I recently purchased a MrCool DIY 4th Gen 12K BTU 115V single-zone mini-split from Costco online as it went on sale. it will be installed in my garage. I already had an electrician put in the dedicated electrical for it with a disconnect switch. After it was delivered by UPS I contacted a multi-state MrCool authorized dealer - Sta'bl-Power to inquired on the installation cost but after they heard that I purchased it from Costco they weren't interested in doing the installation. So I will do the installation myself, since after seeing several installation videos on RU-vid and reading the installation manual it's fairly straightforward. Advice is to make sure to have all the proper tools to do the installation, such as a torque wrench, 3.5 inch hole saw, power drill, etc.
The way I solved the lack of insulation and drafty windows in my cinder block home was to build a wood-frame wall inside the house along the exterior walls. Basically I built a house inside the house with the insulation right up against the cinder block, and tight seals around the windows. Now it is insulated and the drafts are gone. And now I can hang a picture on one of those walls, since it is a standard drywall wall on the inside.
I just picked up a 1.5 ton mini split mirage brand in mexico w heat pump.....installed myself....under 900 bucks.....contractors are ripping you off....run away
I would caution your HVAC contractors that they're putting themselves out of business by discriminating against DIY setups. My brother-in-law was quoted $30k to replace his central AC/furnace. He did it himself with a DIY heat pump unit from Pioneer for less than $7k. Nobody with a brain is going to pay $23k just for the privilege of calling a repairman. A few years ago, I was quoted $13k just to add the AC option to my existing furnace. The furnace is 30 years old. Do you think I'm going to pay double for AC on my old furnace when I call replace the entire mess with a new system like my brother-in-law's for half that? If you're a contractor too high and mighty to see the writing on the wall, then in a few years, expect to get no calls. AC isn't that hard...
Problem is when the unit leaks you can’t do anything about it unless you call a licensed hvac contractor. The refrigerant used may be phased out and he will have absolutely no choice but to replace the condenser as no company sells the older refrigerant needed. A pinhole leak may take an entire year to empty a unit and it can be pretty hard to fix said leak aswell especially with mini split systems. Hvac is a trade for a reason. Hvac techs get paid good money because the work they do can be an absolute headache and customers like you are part of the problem. Your ignorance is gonna cost you $ and the hvac tech an unnecessary headache down the line
@oscar6846 You raise good points, and I certainly don't begrudge anyone an honest, productive living. But as someone who has worked in the trades, and often ends up redoing the work done by professionals, I know when I'm getting gouged. AC is one of those areas where there's a lot of gouging. I remember people paying $2500 to get their auto ACs converted from R12 to R134 after the ban in the 90s. That job involves, what, $200 in materials (in today's prices)? Maybe $500 if you overpay for a compressor? That's gouging. Eight hundred dollars to replace a thermostat is gouging. For $23k, I'll do what i did with auto AC, I'll get educated, buy the right tools, and fix it myself. For $23k, I'll get an HVAC license and fix my neighbors' DIY ACs as well. It's no knock on you, and I'm sure you do good work, but $23k is an enormous sum of money. For most people, the choice isn't whether to go DIY or professional. It's whether to go DIY or simply do without AC altogether. I think most people will put up with a wonky DIY install before going without. My advice to you licensed AC guys is to see the opportunity here. If someone has a DIY install, then you already know they're handy. Offer to provide phone consultations when they have trouble. They turn the wrenches, and you offer technical advice. I'd even suggest you offer rental tools, like the auto parts stores do. Become the local go-to guy for the DIY crowd. We're in the age of RU-vid now. People aren't beholden to professionals who use licenses and secrecy to justify unreasonable markups. You can't protect your fat margins by ignoring DIY AC systems. You either get in front of this or find a new line of work. Sorry, I hate to be so blunt, but that's just how it is now.
@@drsnooz8112Damn! I couldn't make a better argument than this one! A point to mention is that there are two types of people the doer's and the ones afraid of grabbing a screwdriver, which makes no sense in this era, I grew up without the Internet and still I learned to work on many things, today's day I see the youngsters don't get the motivation even with all the tools at their disposal and that is the why you end up with someone asking 23k for an a/c system 😂. People and companies prefer to throw and replace anything instead of properly servicing the equipment, The landfill is loaded with equipment that probably has over 10 yrs left on them if you just change a capacitor. I purchased a house and the air handler stopped working I called a company and they offered me a new system instead of repairing the old one, that night I disassembled the whole unit, cleaned it and fixed $0 money vs $11k new system, 10 yrs later ac still cooling like an artic blizzard. At one point maybe..just maybe tradesmen may realize they are losing money by not offering repairs as the diy community growth.
@@SPUTNIK6996the only thing easier than HVAC is electrical. Both are overpaid generally. There are tasks that require expertise in HVAC, like you said, changing out a compressor or charging a system (a DIYer just needs to get EPA 608 certified, not hard). However, installing these mini split systems is nowhere near worth what an HVAC tech will charge. It is absurd what they charge for mini split installs. Like the OP said, AC isn't hard.
@@brontoab1 mini split installs are easy compared to actual hvac installs with duct work. HVAC installers are the backbone of the hvac trade, those are the ones with the talent
@@hundred.billion I converted an 18 by 18 ft garage into an office. There were no A/C ducts going to that room. I put in the mini split that both heats and cools. My increase in Electric bill was $20.00 a month but well worth it.
The humming is not the motor. It’s the holder sub-assy lack of lubricant so the axis of the cross-flow fan rubs against the hole of the holder sub-assy and makes the humming noise. You can put some lubricant or just WD40 in the hole of the holder sub-assy, the the noise should go away. The holder sub-assy is on the left end of the indoor unit. You should be able to find it on the service manual. 80% of the noises of the high wall indoor unit of mini split are because of this.
Thanks for commenting! It actually was the motor. The noise was only coming from the right end of the inside unit. After removing the old motor and replacing it, that fixed our problem entirely. And with the old motor removed, I could split the drive shaft manually and it made the same sound as it did when the motor was inside the unit. I would however be interested to know if perhaps some WD40 would fix the motor issue. I’ll have to try that next time one starts acting up.
@@RyanHarris77 We would have had to take the motor apart to figure out what was making the noise exactly, and it didn’t look like it was made to really be disassembled, so we just opted with the free replacement part. But do you know how to take the motor apart? When it goes out of warranty, that’s the kind of solution I’d be looking for!
If you think changing indoor evap motors in year two (100) Friday nights is ok or normal or acceptable you’re in for much more. Black balls shooting out in year three. Computer board in year four. Freon leak year five. Then complete new indoor and outdoor unit. And no I will not service a mr cool crap.
On a multi head mini split condenser, all heads have to be in the same mode for it to work properly, because their is only one compressor and one reversing valve. If you have multiple single head units, you have to properly address the remotes in the program menu for each zone.
Yeah, I don’t remove them very often but I just shared that detail because it’s a poor design. Worthy of a con in my opinion. Homeowners shouldn’t have to file down any ridges to make something function correctly
You got help from Mr Cool because they know you’re an influencer and you can give them negative reviews and many people will listen to you. So it’s bad for Mr, Cool
@@TheRenoBros - FYI - the extra length of line set that is roped up outside should be in horizontal storage (like a garden hose rolled up and laying down on the ground flat or underneath a metal bracket horizontally if wall mounted bracket is used ,instead of being in a vertical setup. You will get more efficient flow of refrigerant through the high/low lines. Additionally, at the time of setup, you could have shortened the lineset by cutting, deburring, and flaring the copper lines prior to hooking them up to the outside condenser unit. You have to use a vaccuum pump to empty out the lineset through the service ports and then finally open up the ports to let the refrigerants flow. If you want to do this now you will have to hire a HVAC service tech to pump down the system or evac the refrigerant all together, shorten the lineset and then repeat the vaccuum and refill with refrigerant over again. If you are handy and have access to a vaccum pump (you can buy one for $125 from Harbor Freight) and a copper line flare kit, you could do this yourself.
I clean the blower wheel by removing the outer case then the black protective grill at the bottom. A small soft brush gently brush off the blower wheel while sucking with a vacuum near or close making sure the unit is shut off of course. Works well If careful
Not being able to heat on one unit and cool on another is a design flaw of the outside unit but also a great feature. ABSOLUTELY NO reason should you have one room heating up and the next room over cooling down. Thats just wild.
My MrCool unit is 3 years old and used continuously with it running whisper quite. I also purchased mine from Ingram's Air. I has a exterior unit control board burn up that was honored under their warranty. I had to provide the labor.
I've heard or seen others with leaking DIY linesets. Otherwise, if they do leak, you can pump them down, then cut off the ends and make them into any other flare sets if you remove the adapters on the unit itself.
Sounds like a great idea! Thanks for commenting! If I have an issue with leaking, which I have not yet in the last 2 1/2 years, I will definitely take that opportunity to remove the excess line set as well if it seems easy enough.
Doing the same thing because of leaking line sets. Where do you get the adapters to replace on the unit ? We have 1/2 in line going in the adapter on the unit is much smaller.
Sorry to hear that! Sounds like an efficiency problem, electricity rate problem, or insulation problem. Perhaps your unit is getting old? Or maybe you need some energy efficient windows
After not receiving a response to a pre-sales email and then a phone call I decided to check Mr. Cool out on BBB. While they have an A+ rating, BBB says the rating in NOT related to the complaints received (which I have a hard time to understand). Based on the number of complaints and the types (including shipping costs) I decided not to buy Mr. Cool.
The AC/heating companies want the profit of the installation. I got an estimate on an exact same syatem pro installed vs my DIY cost. $6000 of mini split system equipment. $22,000 installed. I'll save the $16,000. Thanks. I can replace the entire system twice and still be better off DIY.
I recommend you buy a Flir C5 thermal imaging camera and find out where the heat is coming in and cold air getting out. You might be able to rent something similar. As a contractor you should seriously consider buying a thermal imaging camera to use on jobs. Don't replace the motor. Try using 30W motor oil to lubricate the bearings. It sounds like the bearing are dry.
Great video 👍 i need at least one MrCool for my Moms house right now. But I don't have the $ now. So i had to buy a portable AC unit, because her windows are not even large enough for a window AC. And the portable unit she had just quit, i tried to repair but it apparently leaked off. So... I'm hoping to get her a MrCool next year. I'd like to get one for my house also as I only have a single window ac. And I'd love to have one for my barn, as its insulated but no AC or heat so it gets super hot in summer. Cold but not below freezing in the winter. Maybe someday 🙃
Great series of videos, I watched all three episodes and they are very informative. I’m planning to install a MrCoolDIY unit in my garage/workshop. PS: in three years, I would have thought that you could have used a bit of tape to secure the battery door on your remotes 😂
We have a RU-vid short where we show that, but Mr Cool has a better one that walks you through those steps: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kAY6i8VpTBo.html
If they won't change the design on that plastic wall remote cradle, which they haven't in more than 2 years, and yes that is a crap design that would hack me off too, just buzz that upper lip off yourself. You could use a file, grinding wheel on a drill, Dremel, etc. Won't take but a few minutes. You spent have to do that but at least you won't have to live with that issue. I hate poor designs as well and usually just take things into my own hands when a company won't make an easy improvement like that one. Nice job on your two videos on this unit.
Great question! Lowe’s and Home Depot both sell them. You’ll want the non-metallic kind, and you’ll need the screw-in connectors. The tubing is usually around $1 per foot or less.
Con #5 request to have one touch mode change for all systems would be a good feature request to make to the manufacturer. I’m assuming they don’t remotely update the firmware on the systems, but it should be much easier to implement in the app.
I have a 24k DIY for 2 years now and working good. I however had an issue with temperature. The unit would cool down to 7 degrees below set temperature so I tested the sensor and it was fine. The strange thing it would only start the offset at 5pm and return to normal the next morning. I removed the wifi adapter and it resolved the issue. MR cool had no explanation on why. Does anyone have thoughts on this. Mr cool is by far the best mini split AC in my opinion. great job on the video.
Thanks for commenting! Never heard of that issue! 🤔 Very strange. I’ve heard that Daikin and Mitsubishi are far better in terms of quality and reliability, but I’m happy with my Mr Cool so far!
Mine are under warranty for at least the next 3 years. If they start making noise again I’ll replace for free and save the old ones. Someone told me that it’s possible to oil them without much disassembly of the motor. So maybe if I keep the old motor and figure out how to lubricate it, I’ll be able to fix it and swap it in so I don’t have to buy any new ones once my warranty goes out
On your comment of the unit not keeping up is because you needed a manual j load calculation to know that the units you bought are to small for the room because of the lack of insulation in the house. I get the day thing but a proper load calculation is required before installing any unit to make sure it is sized correctly.
So true! These are sized correctly for the house and keep up just fine. There are generally only one to five days per year that I notice it struggles to keep up, and those are outliers
Drainage..pump up or gravity tube, cleaning drains and also mention filter screens. Also on attic runs, yes cover the comm wires. Squirrels love the taste of the jacket..
That motor hum sounds very much like a dead bearing due to the usage of an unsealed or shielded bearing. This is generally in order to save 3-4 dollars per motor unit vs a sealed bearing which you can expect to last for the lifetime of the unit. A confident DIYer could likely swap the motor bearings for nice sealed bearings
Thanks for the suggestion! We tried that first, and had the same sound. We even pulled the blower motor out and could hear the sound simply when turning the drive shaft. Definitely the bearings
To my knowledge, no. Solar is DC and Mr. Cool wants AC. However, there is a company called EG4 that makes a "hybrid" mini split that will take either AC and/or DC.
I learned a lot about mini splits in South America. brand names are over rated. It’s all about installation and insulation. A cheap brand is just as good
I have a question what does 22.5 SEER2 mean? mainly the SEER2 part? If you might have any idea. What I am getting at is what is SEER2? I have seen seer ratings but not before it is the rating on my Hessaire DIY unit. These were a lot cheaper than the Mr. Cool.
Just wanted to say my experience with support has been pretty good as well. We were having problems with the settings you discussed shutting units off and support guy back to us with the hour and kept with us for a couple of days until we figure out what was going on. First the record, we had set up the app, as well as the remotes and they were fighting with each other. Use one or the other and everything should be fine. Right now I'm looking into the cleaning because we are expecting temps of close to 110 next week, that's why I'm here commenting on your video 🙂
I am 80 plus yrs old, live in a 60 yr old 560sq ft mobile home. they wanted $4500 for a system . My son bought me an 18,000 btu Mr Cool mini split. A couple of guys and I installed. Love, love Mr Cool. Great Video, mine is 3 years old now, no problems but love all of your hints. I need to clean my coils, do keep my filters spotless.
Seems most units come with the 25' line set. They have a 16" you can buy separately. Is it possible to swap the 25 for the 16, order a system with the 16, or return the 25 for credit. I probably won't even need the 16' length for my installation.
Good question! If you’re going through Ingrams, I’d give them a call or send an email to ask. I would expect them to do just that, especially since the line sets come in a different box and each one is sent individually packaged in a separate box.
The thing about cutting the lines to get rid of the coil is that the lines were pre-charged in the first place and the reason that it's DIY. If an HVAC guy did come out he would have to remove the 410a from the system, cut, flare, and reconnect the lines. Then he would need to vacuum the line, then possibly want to use nitrogen to pressure test the new connections, and I'm not sure if you have to vacuum the line again, but would need to recharge the system with new refrigerant (410a). Would they use the stuff you have previously and top up if necessary? If they would be using new stuff then that would be expensive. No one would quote on that because the cost would defeat the low cost DIY system and no one would want to pay for that.
You would definitely need to vacuum again. This is to remove moisture and air from the system, as anything other than refrigerant and oil will impact the ability of the system to condense and evaporate refrigerant, and they would reuse the recovered refrigerant, most refrigerant types aren't allowed to be vented directly to atmosphere. Also, the linesets aren't just a simple flare, they use a proprietary connection made specifically to allow them to stay charged until connected.
Contractors are pissed that they didn't get to supply and install the heat pump. Contractors mark up their equipment 30-40% and are pissed they didn't get the money! In reality they should jump at the chance to do your work they will pick up a life long customer and perhaps get to sell the next heat pump!
As a HVAC service contractor I would say we're generally not upset someone is installing their own equipment. What I see is what you may save upfront by doing it yourself will be eaten up due to having to call in a professional to repair these products that are not backed by legit warranties. Having to tell these customers they have to pay more out of pocket within a year or 2 is common with this particular product. As far as the 30 to 40 percent markup you are correct, what people forget about running a business is their is overhead like gas for vehicles, insurance among many other etc...
@@recipientsaward4489 As an electrical contractor wiring heat pumps for several different HVAC companies, I have noticed the heat pumps get made cheaper and cheaper over the last 30 years. Now many , including the so called best "Carrier" come with aluminum coils, no copper! Most pf the compressors come from 2 different factories, same with the reversing valves, and all of the electronics come from Chinese factories as well, so If the name brands are any better, they are furiously trying to make them as low quality as the lower brands. As contractor myself I fully under stand mark ups.
@@TheRenoBros Inresponse to your question. We gladly service all brands. My coworker just today dealt with a DIY Mr. Cool product that wasnt operating.We tried to reach out for technical support. He said they emailed him back 5 hours later, "time is money". If a business is to be viable they must do more than just email people back hours later. IMHO I would steer clear of products like this that are not supported.
If you buy the advantage series and a professional doesn't install it, they do void your warranty. You bought the DIY version. Advantage series is $600 cheaper, just because you dont get the cardboard template and you have to evacuate the line set, which is easy. Warranty is the downfall
As far as the "filter" goes, these are not what I would consider a "filter" ala the pleated ones in your furnace, they are little more than screens and as such a percentage of dust WILL get thru the mesh into the head unit's COILS, that has to be cleaned out as it builds up, restricts airflow and even develops mold
Just wanted to say, thank you for your video, very helpful for us to make a decision of purchasing a unit... Still a little bit stand offish. I do have a question for you... ? Winter time... We get a substantial amount of snow, like 6 feet at times. The question is were we get so much snow, what to do with the condencer / unit that is out side.. Do we cover it? Do we not cover it ? Do we have to keep removing the snow from around it.. if so that would be a lot of digging snow out from around it.... This might be a deal breaker for me if so.. Thank you Danny B
Thanks for watching and commenting! Great question, first of all I’d recommend to you to consider Daikin or Mitsubishi. The DIY component of Mr Cool is easily accomplished by purchasing Rectorseal fittings to connect the line sets of a pro system. If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t be so afraid of installing a pro system. The Mr Cool DIY needing new blower motors within 3 years isn’t a good sign, and Daikin has the number one spot in most reliable and best service ratings. Check into it! I’m not sorry I bought Mr Cool, but I hope that I don’t become sorry if things keep wearing out before they should. As for the snow, definitely build a roof structure overtop of the mini split condenser. I’m sure you’ll be able to find videos of this on RU-vid, or even how people in cold climates with a lot of snowfall do to protect their mini split investment. I know that some top manufacturers actually require a roof over the minisplit in order for the warranty to be valid. That’s not a bad thing, because they know that they’re offering a great warranty and they want their units to last a long time for their customers.
@@Battleneter Any recommendations? I’ve heard Daikin is absolute number 1 when it comes to reliability, customer service, and availability of replacement parts.
I am considering a minisplit to improve the temperature in my master bedroom (around 400sq ft including master bath minus closet) which is the furthest room from my forced air furnace / AC. The room gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. I believe one could easily solve both problems however my largest concern is noise. I would say my temperature range is similar to the video but goes down to around -5F for 1 to 3 days a year and doesn't really hit 100 but gets close on the hottest days.
If you have easy access to the ducts that feed it, you might consider adding a concealed duct unit by putting a return opposite the registers that currently connect to the whole house system in that room. Instead of having a wall mounted head, you'd have a regular wall mounted thermostat and the air handler would be in either your attic or basement/crawlspace, just with a dedicated system only for that room.
I installed a Mr Cool several years ago and it is working great in the winter. It was only rated for -5 below but it has gotten tp -20 here and the Mr Cool worked great. Generally the temp is 0 to -5 on average. So I recommend them. The newer ones would work much better.
All heat pump's defrost. We have Trane heat pump central unit and it defrost in the winter there is no way to get away from that no matter what brand you have!
Indeed! Necessary feature, and it mostly just defrosts on the coldest days of the year. The bummer for us is that when it’s defrosting we notice a significant temperature change on those coldest days of the year… thanks to our great insulation…
My Motor is making that "spaceship" noise. When you replaced your motor, did your efficiency go up? Also, my inside unit ices up frequently.... filters are clean. What can I do about that? Thank you!!!!
Mr cool great product,installed 2 on my own with no DIY experience 8 years laetr still running great ;no leak ,no rust, like many others cheaper brand.. with seal problem ,rust problem..
I actually prefer the Mr Cool mini-stat. I don't like the capacitive buttons but I use that as my main interface. The remote just sits there unused. So I haven't had that issue.
Normally you'll have a back up heat source during cold spells. This is usually your old hvac system. Refrigerant just wont cut it anywhere below 20 degrees
Contractors/service monkeys are crybabies. If they cant make 500% profit on the sell and install so they are going to punish you when/if you need service. I was quoted 3K per head to install Mr Cool units on a SIPS project that had all the panels pre-engineered for the effort (wiring/drain/line) portals. They wanted 9k to install 3 heads. Wife and I did the whole instal in a weekend. We are still laughing today.
2 месяца назад
Gree based in China makes the Mr. Cool. If you have a couple extra bucks go for a Japanese brand like Daikin, or Mitsubishi it will last alot longer and less issues in the long term.
Chane it on one remote, change it on all ... Well. Good luck with that. Did you wired up a separated communication (IO) line to all of the units? No? Well. There is your answer ... It is cheap, and just did not get designed that way ...
Regarding contractors working on DIY systems, I get their concern about being liable for future issues. But could they not just have the customer agree to terms that say, we will happily perform your requested work but it comes with NO WARRANTY?
This is why youll have a shortage of workers in the residential hvac trade.....the DIY, the companies that do installs for free. Its just not worth any younger guys going into residential work.....
Complaining about a 5 minute defrost cycle and having to change a setting that only occurs occasionally to keep your system running correctly. Kinda paints a picture of someone who is really focused on instant gratification. Especially when one of them doesn't require you to do anything, and the other you can do from your phone while sitting on your couch. I dont think i would actually call those cons personally.
That remote battery cover is incredibly annoying. I've got that same unit. It's about 3 years old and the interior unit is emitting a pretty annoying sound when running. so I probably will need to replace the blower motor and/or clean. Hopefully Ingram will be helpful.
You need to repair the mortar between the bricks and then seal it, this should stop all your air problems going through the bricks themselves. Then you need to caulk around those windows in order to make sure it's sealed as well. This job is easy enough that you should easily be able to figure it out even if you have zero experience.
That's not the whole story...not even close. Brick transfers heat VERY well. Once the brick is cool, that cold air, relative to the warm air in the room, will sink to the floor. This really creates a remarkable draft. That big brick wall is basically a huge waterfall of cold air, creating a drafty situation. No amount of tuck pointing will fix it. You get the same effect on windows. Sometime this winter, go to a window and put your hand near the top and the bottom of a tall window. The difference is remarkable....literally a breeze of cool air falling on your hand.
You should build interior walls on all the exterior brick walls so you can properly insulate and airseal. Yes you’ll lose some living space but the comfort level will go through the roof.
