Placement of outside unit

[Div Grad]

The picture pretty much shows it all. When the house addition was built at the back of the house the soil was put too close to the finished surface of the addition. So now I'm digging it down and extending the deck at the back of the addition to go down around the side. The thing is that at some point this air conditioner unit was placed on the too high soil.

I see two options on how to get the soil down around the house by the air conditioner unit:

dig away the soil around the air conditioner so that it stands on a column of soil the same size footprint as the air conditioner. Then frame and pour a cement curb around this exposed soil. The deck I am adding would have to stop at this curb since it will be higher than the top of the deck. I would dig away on three sides that are not the brick wall. The cement curb would be three sided and butt up against this wall

An alternate solution would be to build the deck under the air conditioner and then have the unit sit on the deck (elevated though so it remains at its current height).


Both of the above will be a pain to carry out but both are achievable. I'm leaning towards the cement curb because of vibration concerns with the deck. Is that a valid concern?

Don't worry about that weeping tile in the pic, it is coming out.

http://i30.tinypic.com/ddl66u.jpg

[green jumper]

Shiny, I will mourn its early death.

[beenthere]

Bad location for a condenser.

Whats that pipe.

[m kilgore]

That unit needs to be moved out of that spot altogether. It needs a minimum of 18" to 24" around it for proper airflow and service. Call a contractor to relocate to a better area.

[edward301]

HELP, I can't breath.

[Div Grad]

Thanks for the feedback with respect to current placement, I hadn't even considered that. I checked the Installation Clearances in the manual and actually three of the four sides pass, it is just the side closest to the brick wall that fails. The flattened perspective of the picture may be misleading. The width of the corridor the unit is in is great enough to allow me to shift it to the right and meet all four clearance requirements.

What I will have to check is if I have enough wiggle room with the connections. If not then I could look into a contractor disconnecting the unit, moving the unit, and then re installing when I had the deck done. So the question remains, is it ok to place a unit like this on a deck or are there vibration problems to consider if the unit is placed on a deck?

Not sure what pipe is being asked about, the one under the unit is an unused line to a French drain and I will be removing it. The pipe coming out of the wall on the right is the furnace exhaust. I have removed the rest of the associated piping while I am working in that area over the summer, the furnace does not vent onto the air con unit.

[heaterman]

I am feeling a little short on air (flow). If at all possible have it moved to a more un-restriced area.

[Kevin O'Neill]

In that cubby hole, the air that discharges out the top will recirculate back through the coils. I have seen installations that have recirculated air make the condensor air 20 degrees warmer than outside ambient. It makes the condensor very innefficient.

[Div Grad]

Well I looked into getting the unit moved and I know I can't mention cost but I hope I can say that the cost of a trip to disconnect it, and come back later to reconnect was about 1/4 my cost to purchase the unit and have it installed originally.

I agree the unit could be in a better place but...
- I run the unit for about five days each summer
- this year was a particularly heavy use summer and if I use the increased cost on my electric bill to calculate pay back time then it'd take close to ten years to get my money back (assuming relocating the unit made my electric bill costs drop to almost zero).

I called Lennox and double checked minimum clearances and my unit just squeaks by. Where it is now is also the only shady area it can go.

There's also some non monetary considerations. This is about the only place it can go and be out of sight. I'm in a row house with a small backyard and I don't want to be looking at this thing while outside in my yard. I could stick it at the front of the house but it'd be an eyesore to everyone on the street (in my opinion) and then my neighbour would have to listen to it running.

The Lennox person also told me that disconnecting / reconnecting an installed unit also voids the warrenty, no matter who does the work. He also answered my question about deck vibration. Placing the unit on the deck would cause vibration, however the vibration would not affect performance, it'd only be an annoyance to someone on the deck.

[heaterman]

The Lennox person also told me that disconnecting / reconnecting an installed unit also voids the warrenty, no matter who does the work. He also answered my question about deck vibration. Placing the unit on the deck would cause vibration, however the vibration would not affect performance, it'd only be an annoyance to someone on the deck.

So who's gonna tell him? Certainly not me especially knowing how he feels about the whole thing!

[davefr]

Yes, it's a lousy site but if you're stuck with it I'd try support the unit from above while digging out under the unit. (some sort of sling and keep the unit's power disconnected). Now insert a preformed concrete pad and keep the unit at approx. the same height using pump ups.

That way refrigerant lines will not need to be disconnected since it will end up at the same height it is now.

Run the decking up to the new pad.

[beenthere]

It doesn't need to be in the shade.

[heaterman]

Had one of my customers build a deck over his condenser. He was pissed when I took a sawzall to it so I could get to the capacitor. Leave it where it's at, dig out around it if you must and put in a retaining wall to hold it up, I'd use treated lumber instead, cheaper and just as good. When the condenser craps out in a few years, move the new one to a better location and fill in the hole where the old one was. This advice will better coincide with what you really wanted to hear anyways.

[Kevin O'Neill]

The Lennox person also told me that disconnecting / reconnecting an installed unit also voids the warrenty, no matter who does the work.

I am a Lennox Dealer. All I got to say about this is BULL!