In today's video I Want to talk about accessories or upgrades that you might add to your heating and air system And what we're going to talk about is the ones that can be added after the installation and the ones that you should probably get them done during the installation. So for example, some of the things we're going to go through, it's no big deal. Have your system installed maybe a year later, you've given it some thought and now you're ready to add that upgrade or accessory? The question becomes should I get it done during the installation I'm having my system installed now Should I go ahead and get that done? We're going to talk about that and let's go ahead and dive into that. The first one would be some sort of surge protection or phase monitor.

These electrical devices that are meant to protect your heating and air system from things like surges, brownouts, and things like that. Most of these products. it's no big deal to add them after the fact. Now little disclaimer: I would say that in a lot of cases, if you're having the system installed and you want it to be protected right out the gate, then you should probably have it added during the installation.

But if you've already had the system installed and some time has gone by and you're wondering, is this something I can add Now in most cases, yes, a lot of these units Mount right on the external disconnects or things like that, there are surge protectors that it's just a simple knockout and then wiring it in. It's not a big deal to add it later, but I will say that some of these especially phase monitors and things like that. It is probably good to go ahead and get it done during the installation because in some cases you know it's replacing something. it's replacing the disconnect.

You're bringing your line voltage into some of these compartments and your load out and adding it after the fact. Maybe a bear, you know. Go ahead and get it done during the installation. Next, let's talk about thermostats.

I Would say in most cases it's not a big deal to upgrade your thermostat later that if you have a you know a simple thermostat that you're going to have it installed during the installation and then you've got a heating and air company that wants to charge you thousand dollars to upgrade to a Wi-Fi thermostat or something like that. you might wait till after the fact and just get the system installed. There are exceptions to that rule, such as communicating thermostats. You're probably going to want to go ahead and get that thermostat installed right away during the installation, but there are systems that can go either.

or they can work with a non-communicating thermostat and then later on you can have that communicating thermostat installed and then of course have the system transferred over with the technology. Another exception might be zoning, so if you're going to have another thermostat added to the house somewhere else, well, if it's during the installation, you might need to have dampers added. and of course the zoning module or technology itself, you're gonna have to have that added. And in a lot of cases, it's good to go ahead and have that stuff installed during the installation, even if it's something that is for the future use.

So for example, if you're adding onto your house or you're renovating a part of the house and you're adding it in as a Zone on system. When that system's installed, go ahead and get the zoning stuff installed with it. Go ahead and get your zoning module mounted and all that good stuff. So that way, when you do renovate that area and you add the thermostat and you get everything put in, it's not as big of a deal, you're just adding a Zone Next, let's talk about some of the air cleaning products on the market: UV lights and things like that.

In a lot of cases, that stuff can definitely be added after the installation. A lot of the UV lights out there have a magnet, so as long as there's some sort of metal in there, you can just kind of stick that light anywhere. And you can even add more UV lights or air cleaners to that system. So maybe you had one done during the installation on the return side of the coil, but now you want one on the other side of the coil to hit the drain pan better and things like that, they can always be added.

Usually not a big deal and of course other air cleaning products on the market or air purifying products. Whatever verbiage you use such as ionizers and things like that, those can also be added usually after the fact. The only exception I can think of is maybe if it was a communicating system, you might want to go ahead and get some of that stuff done during the installation. But even with a communicating system in a lot of cases, that's still something you can add after the fact, especially if you're adding it just to clean the system or protect the system, not so much clean the air in your home.

Point being, if you want a UV light on, say the drain pan to inhibit microbial growth in the drain pan of the air handler or evaporator coil, well, if the system's new, obviously, hypothetically you shouldn't have anything out the box anyway, right? So again, you could add that air cleaning product after the fact. And then finally, let's talk about things like alarms. maybe a smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, or even some of the Technologies we're seeing come out today. With the leak detection technology, there's something wrong.

It's going to notify the system, there's a leak here, or something like that. In a lot of cases, that stuff can be added after the fact, it's just a matter of wiring it in and making sure the system is compatible. And so in a moment we're going to go through some of the accessories that you want to go ahead and get get added during the installation. but before I do wanted to touch on.

We're a Daikin dealer at Griffin Air here in Virginia and Daikin has their ecosystem that if you've never heard of it, it's got all these accessories that can all work together. It's got an air monitor that can tell the Daikin one thermostat. hey, something's wrong here. We need to turn on the humidifier or we need to clean the air better.

And the other thing is with a lot of the ecosystem products, some of them are still being rolled out or updated and those things can be added after the fact. So you've got your Daikin one already installed, you've got your air Monitor and now you know you need better control of the particulates. So you're going to install a better filtration system or whatever. A lot of that can be added after the fact and let's dive into that a little bit deeper.

So a lot of these accessories we're going to go through now are accessories that it's not so much that you need to wait until after the installation to install them because it's you know, something detrimental it will a lot of cases save you money if you just go ahead and get it done meaning you've already got the system jerked out of there. Let's go ahead and fabricate the ductwork for this added accessory or upgrade and then during the installation, have that already in there. Adding it after the fact may actually mean you have to pay more money to have that Pro fabricated in there and such one of those products would be a lot of the filters we see today. So a lot of the whole house home filters that have the thick Media or electronic electrostatic filters a lot of that stuff if there's any duct fabrication that needs to be done to get that added to the system.

In some cases, if it's an upflow system, you may even have the system setting on the product and so adding that after the fact would be I Mean in some cases, almost impossible, right? I Mean nothing's impossible with this stuff, but it would be quite the bear to now have to get that system pulled up. You might even have to uninstall it in a way to get that product in there. So again, a lot of these filters, you want to go ahead and get those done during the installation, so that way it's in there and you don't have to pay more money to have extra fabrication. The next one could have gone either way.

and that's humidifiers. I Think that there are times that a humidifier can be added to an existing system? No problem. But in a lot of cases, depending on how the system is installed, depending on what you're going to have to do to get the humidifier installed, you're gonna have to get water to it in some way. In a lot of cases, it's better to just go ahead and get that done during the installation because in the end it again.

it may save you money having it already in there, and that plays right into dehumidifiers where you might want to be removing humidity from the home. and again I Think this one could go either way. Of course you can add a dehumidifier to your home after the fact after you've had the system installed, but again, in cases where you know you've got to install it in a way that it's better to just go ahead and get it installed during the installation, it may save you money just to go ahead and get it done if there's any duct work involved and things like that. The next one we already tell touched on earlier in this video and that's zoning again.

In a lot of cases, it's better to go ahead and get that zoning installed. It's better to while you're having the installation of the system done, have your dampers installed, have your thermostat everything just done right. Even if there's zones that are going to be added later, you could save money. I'm just thinking about some of the systems we've installed if we installed the system and now I've got to go back and refabricate and get dampers installed.

It's not a big deal in most houses as long as I can get to everything, but if we go ahead and get that done during the installation, you would save money. I've already got everything torn apart and then finally another one that could probably go either way. but in most cases you want to go ahead and get it installed during installation and that is some of these ventilation devices that we see out there that are pulling in fresh air from outside again. In a lot of cases, you're going to have to have some sort of electricity run to it depending on how it's wired in, and then of course you're dealing with the ductwork again, pulling in that air and putting into the home.

In some way, ventilation can be added after the fact, but a lot of cases it's better. Just go ahead and get it done during the installation. and while that ductwork is being torn apart and fabricated anyway. And then finally, pads and platforms and things like that.

Anything to do with the outdoor unit. If you think there's a chance that you may want to have it upgraded in some way, maybe you want to raise that outdoor unit? Maybe you don't want it on a pad anymore. Maybe you want it mounted on wall brackets. In some way, Things like that, you want to go ahead and get that done during the installation.

We have had folks come back later. Maybe they're doing something to their property? The case that I'm thinking of right now. The guy was actually getting some work done and he was grading the property and having some mulch beds added and things like that. and he wanted us to remove the new system we had just installed and then reinstall it back when all that stuff with the platform and so on.

If we would have just had it done right from the get-go it wouldn't have been a big deal. He could have done his work and the system would have been just fine. So anything to do with elevating that outdoor unit. We did a video where we talked about your different options for that and I would say in most cases, go ahead and get that done during the installation.

Did I miss anything? Are there any accessories or upgrades that you can think of that maybe you wish you would have got it done during the installation? Please comment down below. Thanks for watching. Please hit that subscribe button. We'll see you next time.