The refrigeration process is hinged on a clean and even flow of refrigerant between an interior coil and the outside condensing unit (often mistakenly referred to as “the air conditioner” or “air conditioning unit”). If the system is expected to have a long life and operate efficiently, the connections for the system should be done in accordance with ASHRAE standards. This means when the brazing is done, it should adequately hold the pressure of the system, which can easily exceed 400 psi, and it should inhibit contaminants inside the system by having nitrogen flow through while brazing. Failure to execute proper brazing will also allow manufacturers to deny and void standard warranties due to improper installation.

One of the most overlooked problems with an AC installation. If your newly installed air conditioner is not level, it will cause significant stress on the condenser fan motor and will drastically shorten the life of the equipment and cause repeated repair needs. Be weary of installation prices that seem to good to be true, these are the types of corners cut by discount heating and cooling companies. You won’t notice a problem until it’s too late to make a warranty claim.

Once the brazing is complete, the system should be properly cleaned and triple evacuated to ensure all non-condensibles and other contaminants are removed from the piping. This step, if skipped, will go unnoticed at first, but will lead to premature failure and a significantly shortened lifespan of the new equipment.

Another often overlooked item from cut-rate heating and cooling companies. A proper air conditioner installation requires a safety disconnect to be installed next to the condensing unit outside. Not only will this device lower your potential service bills, but it will protect your family and your home in the event of an electrical-related failure. The disconnect is a vital piece of every AC installation.

90% of heating and cooling companies in the Chicagoland area get this wrong on their installations. Given the surges in refrigerant and compressor pricing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this little component is more important than ever before. On a properly installed air conditioning system, the filter drier should be placed properly along the line-set and non-condensable should have already been removed from the system.

Many installers in our field are highly skilled and efficient at staging the new air conditioner components and making the necessary connections during installation, but they are not technical experts. As you can imagine, heating and cooling technology has rapidly evolved over the years and gone are the days where you can “set it and forget it.” Furnaces are designed to be programed to match the cooling equipment they are paired with and our technicians are trained and expected to customize your airflow settings on every air conditioner installation we perform to ensure maximum performance and comfort within your home.

As your system cools the living space, it removes water from the air. If that water is not properly disposed of, it can cause a great deal of damage to your home. On every Paragon installation, we provide a new, clear condensation removal system which facilitates proper maintenance in the future. These drains become clogged over time and should be maintained, but many companies fail to install this feature in the first place. The lack of a condensation removal system leads to inevitable failure since maintenance cannot be performed without it. To help you avoid costly water damage, we always install a proper drainage system.

Failing to verify the breaker matches the new air conditioner installation is perhaps the most avoidable mistake we see other heating and cooling companies make. The principle here is quite simple: the power supply on the breaker panel must match the requirements of the new air conditioner. In order to make the installation seem less expensive, many companies simply cut vital aspects (like this) out of their installation altogether and point to the contract when assured failure occurs. We prefer to educate our customers and address problems like this before they happen.

Similarly to the purpose of the wet switch is the drain pan underneath the furnace. Your new air conditioner installation is guaranteed to produce water and it is also likely to clog and overflow at some point. Failure of the drain system can cost thousands of dollars worth of damage while proper protection adds only a few-hundred (and in many cases less!) to the installation price. Yet another vital component other contractors will eliminate to reduce the installation price, don’t let this very avoidable failure happen to you. Unfortunately, it does not make financial sense to retrofit a drain pan on an old installation but Paragon will install a drain pan on all complete system replacements as part of our “Paragon Standard” installations.