No, you cannot.
I almost feel like ending my post there, because that simple answer can save you time, money, and general headaches. But I have a special obligation as an HVAC blogger dog to provide more information—I’m an “explainer,” so when I give an answer, I back it up with the best info. All around me are professionals who handle great air conditioning installation in Knoxville, TN, so when I need to know why it takes professionals to put in a new air conditioner, I have people I can turn to.
And all of them agree: you should only allow professionals to put in that new central air conditioner! Here are some of the reasons why:
Properly sizing the AC
An air conditioning system must be large enough to cool a house, but not so large that it wastes energy. Finding that “golden mean” is a tricky job, and we don’t recommend you try it yourself. In fact, many so-called “professionals” don’t take the same time that our team does when it comes to sizing an AC. We don’t make “guesstimates”; we do a thorough load calculation to discover how powerful an AC a customers’ home needs.
ACs are complex devices
In other words, it’s easy to make a mistake with an air conditioning installation if you don’t have the specialized training to understand what you’re installing. Oh, you need special equipment as well and you need to know how to use it. Our technicians undergo years of training (and keep up with regular continuing training) to do this job. If you try to squeeze all that into a couple days of DIY it’s … it’s going to be a real mess that will end up costing you far more than if you went to the pros first.
Keeping the warranty valid
If you try to install an air conditioning system yourself, you’re probably going to void the manufacturer’s warranty. Most warranties require that only licensed professionals handle work on the system, and that includes installation. Voiding the warranty is bad news because you’ll end up paying for anything that goes wrong, even if it’s due to a factory fault.
Ensuring the AC isn’t damaged
Here’s how you may end up voiding the warranty: damaging the AC when you put in it. If you’re aren’t trained to do this job, there’s a high chance you could end up drilling a wrong hole somewhere or create leaks in the coils. There’s also the concern with refrigerant: you’ll have to charge the AC with refrigerant yourself, and making a mistake with this can mean a short life for the air conditioner. And, by the way, you need special certification to handle refrigerant, so you shouldn’t be doing this anyway.
An AC works best when professionally installed
Finally, when you leave this job to the people who are trained to do it, you’ll have an air conditioning system that performs to expectations, runs for many years, and won’t waste energy. You’ll save time and money, and after only a few hours have a great new AC that will give you a long service life of cool times!
Stay cool,
Olive