As has been said almost all units, for home instalation come pre-charged, however you do need to note that they are pre-charged a set amount to fill a set length of pipework between the interior and exterior units.
All details are in the manuals, but basically if you use a different length of pipework than the recommended length, you will need to alter the amount of gas in the system to get it to work at its most efficient level.
If you need the refrigerant level altered, you will need to call in an F-Gas certified engineer to do the necessary alterations to the amount of gas within the system.
Also if you are extending the pipework, for instance you need the exterior unit further away from the interior than the set length supplied with the kit will allow, you will need the extended pipework and any joints correctly brazed and cleaned and vacuum tested and pressure tested before attaching the extension to the kit system, as any impurities could seriously damage the compressor or other parts of the system, so you will most likely need to call in an installer for that.
The only thing I would add, is that since the change in the law in April this year, I really do not know where the legality of these kits stand now.
Under the new laws, it is illegal to sell any amount of any refrigerant to anyone who is not a certified F-Gas engineer. It is also illegal for unqualified people to work on any equipment filled with any kind of refrigerant, whereby that work might cause some refrigerant to leak out.
These kits come pre-filled, so they are selling refrigerant to unqualified people, and unqualified people will be fitting the kits, and might possibly leak some refrigerant during install, even if by accident. So a few legal pitfalls could occur.
Personally i would not take the risk now, but I guess it is up to the individual.
All details are in the manuals, but basically if you use a different length of pipework than the recommended length, you will need to alter the amount of gas in the system to get it to work at its most efficient level.
If you need the refrigerant level altered, you will need to call in an F-Gas certified engineer to do the necessary alterations to the amount of gas within the system.
Also if you are extending the pipework, for instance you need the exterior unit further away from the interior than the set length supplied with the kit will allow, you will need the extended pipework and any joints correctly brazed and cleaned and vacuum tested and pressure tested before attaching the extension to the kit system, as any impurities could seriously damage the compressor or other parts of the system, so you will most likely need to call in an installer for that.
The only thing I would add, is that since the change in the law in April this year, I really do not know where the legality of these kits stand now.
Under the new laws, it is illegal to sell any amount of any refrigerant to anyone who is not a certified F-Gas engineer. It is also illegal for unqualified people to work on any equipment filled with any kind of refrigerant, whereby that work might cause some refrigerant to leak out.
These kits come pre-filled, so they are selling refrigerant to unqualified people, and unqualified people will be fitting the kits, and might possibly leak some refrigerant during install, even if by accident. So a few legal pitfalls could occur.
Personally i would not take the risk now, but I guess it is up to the individual.
It is amusing that the retailers do not seem to have caught onto this.
