It’s not uncommon for homeowners to get annoyed with the placement of their external air conditioning units. On the other hand, the same can happen with the internal unit as well. It also can be placed on a spot that isn’t optimal for cooling and heating their home. Or maybe you just treated yourself with a nice HVAC unit, and you want to take it to your new home. All of these options are viable. But, what you do if you decide to proceed with relocating an air conditioning unit? What do you need to know about the process?
Well, that what you’re here to find out. Right from the start, we can tell you that this is not a task you can do by yourself. Unless you’re a qualified home air conditioning expert, of course. There are many things involved with moving the air conditioner, and we’ll try to cover them all. So, without further due, let’s dive in.
Inconvenient location is one of the main reasons why people are relocating an air conditioning unit. Alt tag: Air conditioning unit under the window.
Why would you relocate your air conditioning unit?
There are quite a few instances in which you might consider relocating your AC. We consulted the professionals, and as it turns out, the reasons usually involve the following.
- Aesthetics. This usually happens when people buy a property where the external unit has been placed in an awkward position. These are locations like near a dryer vent, or on the balcony where it takes too much space.
- Performance. Updating an outdated unit, new developments in the area or trees around the unit are the reasons why your AC might not be working optimally. Sometimes, relocating it is the only way to save both the unit and your garden.
- Legal reasons. If your local council or owners’ corporation changes the regulations, you might be obligated to move your unit.
- Safety. Keeping the unit away from the children and animals, or adding an anti-theft device.
- Making changes to the building. Adding a pool, fencing, or doing landscaping changes all can result in HVAC having to be relocated.
- Relocation. Sometimes, you just want to take your hard-earned fancy AC unit with you when moving. And that’s perfectly fine. Just make sure to call reputable professionals to take care of this.
Difficulties of relocating an air conditioning unit
One of the biggest problems with moving HVAC units and relocating air conditioners is taking care of the refrigerant lines. These mustn’t be bent under a severe angle, as that could result in a leaky line. Therefore, great care must be taken. Before the relocation even starts, all the refrigerant in the system must be pumped out of it. And then, the copper lines are either replaced or welded to a new necessary length.
After everything is in its’ place again, it’s time to reconnect the lines to the unit and to pump the refrigerant back in. Any moisture or air must be vacuumed out from the system because these prevent the circulation of the refrigerant. The trick here is to stay within the limits of the pumping abilities of the unit. This also means that there shouldn’t be any severe inclines.
The last part of the process is running new wiring for the thermostat and the disconnect box. Insulating and adding a protective cover to copper lines is usually also done in this part of the process, and now all that is left is to restart the HVAC unit. As you can see, air conditioning installation is nothing more than a routine job for a professional. However, you probably wouldn’t have such a nice time trying to do it on your own.
Moving an AC unit isn’t a task that is easy to perform. Alt tag: Man on the balcony thinking about relocating an air conditioning unit.
Moving an air conditioner permanently
When it comes to relocating an air conditioning unit long distance, this becomes more of a task for a reliable moving company like sosmovingla.net. While you still need AC professionals to come and disconnect your unit, there is one difference. Instead of just pumping the refrigerant back into the compressor, it’s pumped into a special purpose-built storage container.
This is done for both environmental and safety reasons. The refrigerant is known to be very expensive, especially if we’re talking about larger AC systems. So, this part of the process must be done right.
The cost of relocation
It’s difficult to find a finite price that will be universal because there’s no such thing. It greatly depends on many factors. The size of your unit, the reason why you’re doing it can change the pricing fundamentally. In essence, you can expect to pay anywhere from $500 all the way to $1,000 for this task. And that does not include the cost of actual transport from one location to another.
However, at the end of the day, it’s not something you can do by yourself. Even the handiest DIY-ers will find themself out of their comfort zone, i.e., the realm of knowledge and expertise. So, choose to trust the professionals, and you’ll end up with an air conditioner that still operates the same, or even better than it was before the relocation.
You can expect to pay between $500 and $1,000 for the AC relocation. Alt tag: A person holding dollar bills.
Is this a worthy investment?
Again, it all depends on many things. In reality, better placement of an external unit, for just a few hundred dollars in some cases, can lead to several benefits. You won’t enjoy only the nicer view, but your external unit will finally be able to run more effectively. This saves you money on repairs while reducing energy waste and utility bills.
If this is a part of a renovation project, you’re further adding value to your home. You’re making the property look nicer as a whole for the time you’re still living there. And you’ll be able to get that money back with the higher selling price.
And lastly, some HVAC units are simply better than others. So, relocating an air conditioning unit makes sense if you spent a lot of money and are pleased with how it’s working. Just make sure that the cost of reinstalling it will be lower than simply buying a new one.
