Badly Installed Air Conditioners (poor clearances)

As a home owner you may not have a lot of knowledge about the work a contractor is hired to do. When this installation was completed it probably looked like a really professional job and money well spent. But was it, our inspection revealed numerous issues with just the installation of the condenser units.

All too often the installer while full of good intentions makes a series of unfortunate mistakes unbeknown to the homeowner.
One of these condensing units, a heat pump is correctly elevated on legs (right), the other one to the left one would incorrectly assume is strictly an air conditioner, because it sits directly on the concrete pad. Wrong, they are both heat pumps (they heat and cool) and are both supposed to be elevated so that the defrost cycle can operate efficiently during the winter when they are surrounded by snow.

Looking at the spacing between the condenser units, which was approximately nine inches or “one third” of the required twenty eight inch spacing between units. This wider spacing is to allow adequate air flow between the two condensers which will maximize their efficiency.

Then space at the rear between the wall and both units is also problematic, again reducing air flow and affecting performance. They were installed with less than the minimum requirement of a ten inch spacing. More space between units or adjacent walls or bushes is not a problem, there are no maximum distances, just minimums.