AC installation in Alexandria: first fix, installation and commissioning

First-fixing air conditioning during finishing, before gypsum and paint

Air conditioning is first-fixed before the gypsum, plaster and paint, because the copper pipes, drains and power disappear inside walls and ceilings, and any change afterwards means breaking out and repainting.

1. Positions first

   The positions of the indoor and outdoor units, the pipe and drain routes and the power point for each unit are marked on the drawing and on the wall. An indoor unit should not blow straight onto a bed or sofa or be blocked by a curtain or wardrobe, and its air should be thrown along the length of the room.

2. Type and capacity before the first fix

   Even if you will buy the units later, decide the type and approximate capacity for each room now, because the copper pipe sizes and the maximum route length vary from one unit to another under the maker’s instructions.

3. Copper pipes

   Two copper lines for each indoor unit, each with its own insulation, inside the wall or in a gypsum board bulkhead, on the shortest route with the fewest bends, with the interconnecting cable in conduit. The ends stay capped until installation day, and the pipes are pressure tested and vacuumed before the refrigerant is charged.

4. The drain line

   An insulated drain pipe with a fall of at least 1:100, that is 1 cm in every metre, ending at a real outlet: a floor drain or a drain stack with a trap, never a ceiling void or open air.

5. A circuit for every unit

   A dedicated circuit from the board for each unit, with its own labelled breaker, cable sized for the unit’s rating and the length of the run, and a power point next to the unit, not a spur off the nearest socket.

6. Gypsum and paint, then the units

   Then the gypsum is closed and the walls painted, and the units go in at the end, away from sanding dust. Concealed units get an access hatch at every unit.

Split or concealed air conditioning?

A split unit is simpler to install, service and replace; a concealed ducted unit is invisible in the room and quieter, but needs the ceiling coordinated from the first drawing.

You can mix the two: concealed in the reception, splits in the bedrooms. With a multi-split, one outdoor unit serves several indoor units.

Choosing the capacity: the room, its orientation and the sun

A unit’s capacity is worked out for the room itself, not from its floor area alone, so two rooms of the same size can need different capacities.

• Orientation and sun: a west-facing room takes the afternoon sun, large glazing facing the sun adds load, and double or solar-control glazing reduces it.
• The floor: a top-floor flat under the roof gets hotter, especially if the roof is not thermally insulated.
• Height: the high ceilings of older Alexandria buildings mean more air to cool.
• Use: how many people are usually there, appliances that give off heat, and a kitchen open to the reception.
• Bigger is not better: an oversized unit cools quickly and switches off before it has removed the moisture, leaving the room cold and clammy at the same time, which you notice in Alexandria’s humidity. An undersized one runs all the time and never reaches the set temperature.

So we calculate the load for each room and tell you what capacity we arrived at and why, instead of picking a size from an area chart.

The outdoor unit: sea air, the façade and condensate

The outdoor unit is the first thing to suffer near the sea, and the first thing neighbours complain about if it is badly fixed or drained.

• Sea air: near the Corniche, salt eats the coil fins and the fixings, so we write anti-corrosion coated coils and stainless fixings into the quotation. If you are buying the unit yourself, ask the supplier about coastal protection for the coil before you buy.
• Brackets: galvanised or stainless and rated for the unit’s weight, fixed into concrete or brickwork, not plaster, with stainless bolts, anti-vibration rubber pads, and clearance around the unit for airflow.
• The façade: many buildings have rules on where outdoor units go, in the light well, on the roof or on a service balcony rather than the main façade, so ask the building management or the owners’ association before the first fix. The pipes run inside the wall, not clipped across the façade.
• Narrow light wells: an outdoor unit in a narrow, enclosed light well draws its own hot air back in and cools less, so check the clearance the unit’s instructions ask for.
• Condensate: it must not drip onto the neighbours’ balcony or the pavement. The drain line runs to the balcony floor drain or to the drain stack with a trap, and where there is no natural fall, a small condensate pump is fitted with the unit.

Electrics in older buildings: can they take the air conditioning?

Test the electrics before adding any air conditioning to an older building, because a lot of Alexandria wiring is still aluminium, on boards extended again and again.

• Aluminium wiring and old joints heat up under the steady load of air conditioning, especially with coastal humidity at the terminations; replacing them is a safety job first and a convenience second. And never run air conditioning off an extension lead or a shared socket.
• An earth-leakage breaker and a sound earth, which many older buildings lack.
• The meter’s capacity: add up the load of every unit, the water heater and the kitchen before you buy, because increasing the supply needs an application to the electricity company and takes time.
• With us, we open the board, test it and give you a written finding, and if replacing part of the wiring is genuinely enough, we tell you so.

How to check the installation at handover

Do not sign for the handover until every unit has run in front of you, its drain has been tested and its readings written down.

1. Pressure test and vacuum

   Ask when the pipes were pressure tested and vacuumed before the refrigerant was charged, and ask for it to be recorded.

2. Running and readings

   Run every unit on cooling: the air should be strong and even, and the temperature difference between the air going into the unit and the air coming out is measured and written on the handover sheet with the refrigerant charge.

3. Drain test

   Water is poured into the indoor unit’s tray and followed to the end of the line, with no dripping from the unit.

4. Insulation and openings

   Insulation runs the full length of both copper lines up to the unit, no bare copper shows outside, and the hole where the pipes pass through the wall is sealed against rain.

5. Outdoor unit and board

   The outdoor unit is level and firm, with no vibration carried into the wall, the breaker is labelled on the board, and there is an access hatch at every concealed unit.

Air conditioning maintenance: what does it really involve?

Most routine care is simple: clean filters, an outdoor unit rinsed of salt, a clear drain and a check before summer.

• Filters: wash them regularly during the cooling season as the unit’s manual says, and more often in homes near the sea or with a lot of dust. A clogged filter weakens cooling and raises consumption.
• Outdoor unit: rinse it with fresh water from time to time with the power off, without a high-pressure jet that bends the fins, and check the brackets for rust.
• The drain: if the indoor unit drips, the line is blocked or its fall is wrong, and it needs clearing or correcting.
• Before summer: a qualified technician checks the refrigerant pressure, the connections and the fan, and cleans the coils, before the rush for appointments.
• Refrigerant is not used up: a unit that needs recharging has a leak, and the right fix is to find and repair the leak before recharging.
• Switch the unit off and call a technician if ice forms on the pipes, it gets loud, the breaker trips, or there is a burning smell.

Our air conditioning work is the first fix, installation and commissioning, in a flat being finished or one already finished. If your system’s problem comes from the installation itself, such as a drain with no fall or an overloaded circuit, that is installation work: we survey it and write you a quotation.

Itmam and air conditioning in Alexandria

Itmam is a finishing, decoration and supply company from Alexandria: head office in El Ibrahimya, marble and granite showroom in El Deresa, Moharram Bey. We first-fix air conditioning together with the electrics and gypsum board under the same finishing contract, so routes and access hatches are coordinated before the ceiling closes, and we hand over the commissioning readings in writing.

We visit, measure and give you a written, itemised quotation before work starts. On a finishing contract you pay each supplier directly at their price, and the tax invoice is in your name; our management fee for supervision and execution is agreed in writing before we begin, and we add nothing to the price of materials. If you only need electrical materials, supply-only is available.

Itmam was founded in 2016, with 20+ years in the trade. Call or WhatsApp us on +20 106 926 2572, Saturday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00.