Over the years I have been asked many, many times by homeowners if they should try installing a heat pump themselves. The answer has always been and always will be a NO. There are many reasons behind why you should seriously consider hiring a licensed professional to install your whole home ducted heat pump or a ductless mini split.
First and foremost, most manufacturers will claim that you don’t need special tools to install their equipment in most cases this is false the most common tool needed is the flare tool. This tool will allow you to make the connections necessary on the copper lines that hold the refrigerant. These lines need to be connected between the indoor unit and the outdoor condensing unit and they typically run inside slim duct, which is plastic raceway used to hide the electrical and refrigerant piping and wires. Most homeowners do not have the capability, knowledge or skills required to make this connection without causing a problem with the flare that will eventually lead to the refrigerant leaking out which will cause the unit to fail.
Another reason to hire a professional is the warranty, usually these do-it-yourself brands do not come with a warranty so when you are finished installing your mini split, turn it on, and it doesn’t work properly or not at all, who can you turn to? Most companies offer an installation warranty which will guarantee their work for a specific period of time. Most contractors can offer extended periods of manufacturer warranty for an extra cost or due to their status with the manufacturer. By hiring a licensed, certified contractor you are putting the burden of a proper install and efficiently running heat pump in the hands of a professional who does this kind of work to make a living, probably a smarter bet.
If you are like me and an individual who places a tremendous amount of attention to your carbon foot-print and the eco-impact your existence makes on the world. Consider this. One single CFC molecule, the chemical makeup of most refrigerants inside the heat pump systems, can destroy up to one hundred thousand ozone molecules. So for every splash, ounce, squirt or oops with refrigerant is extremely costly to the environment. So again, leave the handling of materials that destroy the ozone to professionals that are licensed by the EPA to handle such chemicals. (Most HVAC technicians carry this valuable certification.)
If we haven’t made enough points on why you should consider hiring a licensed professional to install your minisplit, let us explain a few more key points and one that is extremely important. Craftsmanship… It seems these days its rare to find that “old guy” that has been in his trade for 30-40 years and is a true professional, having dealt with every aspect of things that can go right and wrong with an install. At Metrowest MiniSplits we have over 50 years of combined field installation experience with heating and cooling equipment and we are licensed professionals ready to help you with your project and ensure it goes according to your plan. We have seen the mistakes, we have made them, we have corrected every conceivable problem that a heat pump or heating system could have, and we are here to help you serving Southborough, MA and the surrounding Metro West communities.
Mass Save Whole Home Heat Pump Rebates Up to $10,000 Massachusetts program Mass Save is offering homeowners up to a $10,000 residential rebate by installing electric heat pumps (minisplits). The program is offered through the Mass Save residential Heating and Cooling Program and is through Eversource, National Grid, Liberty Utilities, Cape Cod Light and Berkshire Gas. The equipment must be installed in the home by a licensed contractor in 2022. The install can include replacing existing heating systems, or by covering the home with 1-4 units. Home Energy Assessments must be complete prior to heat pump installation for Whole-Home Heat Pump Verification From must be completed, Signed and submitted. Visit MassSave.com to see specific terms and conditions. It’s time to replace that aging furnace, inefficient HVAC equipment or simply add a primary source of heating and cooling to your home that is 3-4 times more efficient. Heat Pumps provide both heating and cooling to your home and are more efficient than an old fuel burning furnace. Now you can provide heating and cooling to your home with more efficient equipment, saving you money, and making the environment and your home safer by eliminating fuel emissions which means cleaner air for both the environment and the inside of your home. Turning to heat pumps means you will have more control over the temperatures of the different parts of your home and you will have greater flexibility to provide heating and cooling to those areas of your home that were previously had problems with under heating or under cooling. So rather than making the entire home one temperature, you have the flexibility to individually control the temperature of each living space to the perfect temperature. The heat pump compressors are variable-speed and reduce energy consumption compared to conventional systems by up to 40% Heat pumps run on electricity so they do not burn fossil fuels which is far better for the environment and most Heat Pumps have an Energy Star rating. A Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating SEER and other scientific evidence to prove that heat pumps are the energy source of the future for residential and commercial environments. Call for your free in-home heat pump estimate today!
A heat pump is able to transfer thermal energy from inside to outside and also from outside to inside. A heat pump works as an air conditioner by transferring heat from inside to outside. Heat pumps can also be used for heating. When heat pumps are used to heat a building the energy or heat is transferred from outside to inside. Mini Splits are commonly ductless and for this and other various reasons they are highly efficient and rely on electricity to provide heating and cooling thereby reducing the demand on fossil fuels. Typically it has been measured that 1kWh of electricity can transfer 3-6 kWh of thermal energy into a building, this is amazing and highly efficient as opposed to an oil boiler or a window AC unit both of which minisplits are 3-4 times more efficient over. Heat pumps are filled with refrigerant, this gas/liquid is highly controlled by the EPA and you must be licensed by the EPA to purchase and handle the current models on the market. Most of todays heat pumps are currently working with 410-a refrigerant. The heat pumps produce heat by taking the liquid outside and compressing it, making it hot. This hot liquid is transferred inside through a series of copper tubing that must connect the indoor and outdoor units. This hot liquid passes though a coil and is blown with or without ductwork. To cool your home, the heat pump works in the opposite, by compressing the indoor hot liquid and sending it outside to be cooled by the large coil and fan at the outdoor compressor. It is possible that heat pumps could be used in the future to replace most oil and gas fired heating equipment to create a lower carbon footprint. Air sourced heat pump minisplits are relatively inexpensive to install and historically have been the most widely used type of heat pump, modern heat pumps with a low temperature designation are able to provide heat inside your home even when the outdoor temperatures reach down to -15 degrees. In traditional air sourced heat pump systems, the system has a vapor compression device, a compressor and the system includes a reversing valve so that the direction of thermal energy, heat, or cooling, can be reversed. The energy efficiency of a heat pump is measured in SEER – Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating a heat pump must meet a SEER rating of 14.5 to qualify for an Energy Star rating.
If you’re faced with a Minisplit that is flashing an error code at you and you’re unsure how to determine what the code is or what to do here’s how to tell if it’s actually normal flashing. Right now with the cold winter temperatures and the freezing rain and snow and sleet and driving winds that we have been receiving here in our area it’s been putting a tremendous amount of stress on the heat pumps as they try to produce heat for your home because the outdoor condensing unit is located outside and in some cases is not protected from these types of elements. Above is a good example of an install that is protected from the home yet is still far enough away from the house to allow for proper airflow behind the machine which is wheddsd If you have only one single flashing light at you and it is steady and constant this might be a defrost mode. Defrost mode occurs as part of normal operation when the coil outside gets too cold the outdoor condensing unit stops and send a signal inside to have the fan slow down sometimes the fins will close up and the light will start the flash to indicate the unit is in defrost mode outside this might be in the state for 6-8 minutes. During the 24 hour period you may not notice but the unit could do this maybe four times a day or more.
