Points to note on installation air conditioners

The following are guidelines for correct installation of air conditioners:

• The indoor should be mounted on strong enough wall that can hold its weight and should be well balanced horizontally.
• Air conditioners have their optimum operating temperatures in which they work effectively. An air conditioner takes heat from inside and dissipate it outside. The outdoor unit/outer part should not be installed directly facing the sun or where there is enormous heat, this is to avoid the surrounding temperature being greater than its operating temperature as this will decrease the efficiency of the air conditioner and thereby consuming more power.
• The outdoor unit must be placed on a rigid well-balanced surface. The unit that is not placed on a well balance surface will vibrate abnormally generating a lot of unpleasant noise and will also lead to refrigerant pipe breakage, refrigerant leakage and other components damages.
• The thump rule for sizingan air conditioner (1 ton for 100 sqft) does not always apply. Air conditioners should be installed based on the necessary requirements. While sizing an air conditioner, several factors are to be considered (some cities are more humid/hotter than the other). A small air conditioner in a large room won’t give effective cooling.
• The refrigerant pipes connecting the indoor and outdoor units should be as short as possible. The allowable distance between the indoor and outdoor units can be about 15 meters. This is so to reduce the cooling loss to the atmosphere when the refrigerant in the pipes flows between the indoor and outdoor units.
• The outdoor unit of anair conditioner should be installed in an easily accessible location so that there won’t be a need to use massive PPEs and scaffolding just to carry out maintenance/repair, as this makes maintenance difficult and more expensive. All frequently used equipment will at a point experience Physical deterioration, wear and tear and will require maintenance/repair. Therefore, architects/designers must come up with designs that give room for future maintenance.