An installation day, hour by hour, in a Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville country lane
The photo of this project was taken during the day, not at the end: the drill is still sitting on top of the unit, the tool case is open on the pavers, and scraps of copper pipe and insulation remain on the ground. This is the kind of image that is rarely shown, and that is precisely why it tells the story of the trade best.
Here is how the installation of a 3-ton GREE FLEXX ULTRA R32 central heat pump took place in this home in Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville, an agricultural municipality in the Maskoutains RCM, in Montérégie.
7:30 a.m. — We review the plan before taking out a tool
The location of the outdoor unit had been determined during the technical visit several weeks earlier. Even so, we revalidate it on site, with a clear head, before drilling anything. A location decided on in April from a photo and one seen at 7:30 in the morning, with the wall's actual scale, are not always the same.
Three façade features guided the decision: the paver walkway, the downspout, and, above all, what is located a few feet to the left — the home's electrical service entrance.
8 a.m. — The selected wall is also the wall with the electrical meter
This is the defining constraint of this project, and it comes up more often than one might think in row houses, where the electrical service entrance is often located on the side wall, facing the lane.
What the presence of a meter and service equipment requires
- A clear working space in front of the electrical equipment. This space must remain clear at all times, not just on the day of installation. A condenser that encroaches on it is a violation that will be identified during the first inspection or panel replacement.
- Permanent access to the meter. The distributor must be able to approach, read, and replace it without dismantling anything. Equipment suspended in front of it, even partially, creates a situation that will ultimately fall back on the property owner.
- Respect for the service mast and its conductors. No equipment, supports, or maintenance platforms should be located in the immediate vicinity of the service conductors.
When the layout leaves room for doubt, we verify rather than estimate. It's not the glamorous part of the job, but it's what prevents a client from receiving a complaint two years later.
Why we didn't simply shift the unit two feet
Shifting it to the right seemed like the easy solution. It would have directed the unit's discharge toward the raised flower bed and brought the coil closer to the vegetation. Shifting it to the left would have encroached on the electrical service entrance space.
The selected position maintains clear space in front of the electrical equipment, keeps the discharge aligned with the open area of the yard, and leaves the paver walkway usable. This kind of trade-off takes twenty minutes of discussion on-site and prevents years of inconvenience.
9 a.m. — The supports, anchored into the foundation
The siding is vinyl. No anchors are installed in it: vinyl has no structural capacity, and it is hung and expands by several millimeters between January and July.
The two galvanized braces supports are therefore anchored into the parged concrete foundation, below the siding line. Inspection points applied:
- Anchors designed for concrete, installed to the embedment depth required by their manufacturer.
- Edge distances respected — an anchor too close to the top edge of a foundation can cause the concrete to spall after several freeze-thaw cycles.
- Drilled hole cleaned of dust before installation: drilling dust greatly reduces the holding strength of an expansion anchor.
- Anti-vibration pads between the chassis and the support, protected during installation, with controlled tightening — a fully crushed pad no longer does its job.
- Level checked in both directions before final tightening, so the defrost water drains on the correct side.
This places the unit above the probable snow line, above the stone bed, and completely separated from the siding.
10:30 a.m. — The wall penetration, very close to ground level
On this job, the refrigerant line penetration is located low, where the foundation meets the siding. The strip of crushed stone visible in the photo is not an aesthetic detail: it was excavated and restored for two reasons.
- Limit splashing. Heavy rain striking bare ground throws mud and sediment against the wall penetration and the bottom of the coil. Crushed stone absorbs the impact.
- Avoid standing water. A low-level wall penetration that remains in a puddle or beneath accumulated melting snow will eventually let moisture through.
The penetration itself is treated beneath the cladding: sleeving, a slight slope toward the outside, sealing at the air barrier behind the vinyl, and then replacing the panel. A bead of sealant applied to the exterior surface of vinyl cladding cracks within one season because the vinyl moves while the sealant does not.
Noon — The indoor unit and ductwork
The FLEXX is a horizontal (side-discharge) airflow air handler, which greatly simplifies connecting it to an existing duct system. Before the sale, we had measured the static pressure of the home's ductwork — a step we never skip and that many quotes omit.
A modern unit operates at lower supply-air temperatures than an older furnace, which requires moving more air to deliver the same heat. A duct system designed thirty years ago for very hot air may be far too restrictive. When the difference is significant, the duct system must be modified or the equipment selection reconsidered — not simply left to the blower to compensate.
1:30 p.m. — Nitrogen brazing, followed by a deep vacuum
The 3/8 in. liquid line and 3/4 in. gas line were brazed under nitrogen to prevent oxides from forming inside the tubing. These oxides, invisible once the circuit is closed, migrate to the expansion valve and compressor.
A deep vacuum was performed and verified with a standing pressure test rather than a simple timer. The actual line-set length was measured: within the factory charge covering 24.6 ft, no additional charge is required; beyond that, the additional charge is calculated at 0.32 oz per foot and weighed in. Everything is recorded in the documentation — this is the data the manufacturer will request if a claim ever arises.
3 p.m. — The electrical work, rechecked rather than assumed
Dedicated circuit compliant with the 30 A MOCP on the outdoor side, disconnect switch within sight, control wiring 24 V routed separately from the power supply, and grounding verified.
In a row house, the electrical load calculation is done before the sale. Between electric supplemental heating, the water heater, and sometimes a well pump, the service entrance is often more heavily loaded than in an urban area. A customer who learns on the morning of the installation that their electrical panel needs to be upgraded has lost the day.
4 p.m. — Commissioning and handing over the documentation
Complete readings: pressures, entering and leaving air temperatures, delta T, current draw, airflow, a full check of the defrost cycle, and inspection of the A2L leak-detection sensor.
This last point deserves clarification. R32 is classified as A2L, slightly flammable. The FLEXX includes a detection sensor whose position depends on the indoor unit's discharge direction. On a unit configurable for left- or right-hand discharge, a field conversion without repositioning the sensor renders the protection ineffective. We verify the position and test the associated shutoff logic.
The customer leaves with the commissioning report, the AHRI number, maintenance instructions, and the documents required for the rebate application.
What a rural home requires beyond a townhouse
Agricultural dust
This is the most tangible difference between Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville and a Longueuil neighborhood. In August and September, harvesting operations and gravel roads suspend a quantity of fine dust that does not exist in urban areas. This dust settles on the coil face, sticks to it with the first dew, and gradually reduces heat exchange.
Three instructions given to the homeowner:
- Rinse with clean water at low pressure, from top to bottom, after the harvest season. Never use a high-pressure jet: the aluminum fins will be permanently flattened.
- No vegetation within two feet, including the nearby raised flower bed.
- Inspect the coil at every annual service, in addition to the indoor filters.
The fact that the unit is suspended rather than placed on the ground already helps: it draws in less dust stirred up by vehicles driving into the driveway.
The unit: GREE FLEXX ULTRA R32, 3 tons
The FLEXX series, distributed in Quebec by Dettson, operates at 24 VAC with a conventional thermostat. The configuration installed here:
- Indoor unit: GUD36AH2/G-D(U) — Outdoor unit: GUD36W2/NhE-D(U)
- Rated capacity: 34,000 BTU/h for both cooling and heating
- Modulation range: 18,000 to 37,000 BTU/h
- Efficiency: 18 TRÉS2 (SEER2), 12 TRÉ2 (EER2), 10 CPSC2 (HSPF2), COP 3.2
- AHRI number : 217120760
- ENERGY STAR certified
- Heating range: down to -30 °C; cooling: -15 °C to 54 °C
- R32 refrigerant, factory charge of 2.9 lb
- Maximum piping length: 98.4 ft; maximum elevation difference: 49.2 ft
- Electrical: 208–230 V, MCA 5.3 A indoors, MCA 27.7 A and MOCP 30 A outdoors
- Outdoor unit: 39 x 37 13/16 x 14 2/3 in., 187.5 lb — Indoor unit: 21 1/4 x 48 1/5 x 21 1/4 in., 163.1 lb
- A2L sensor and Wi-Fi installed at the factory
-30 °C is the number that matters most in a rural area of the Maskoutains RCM, where wind sweeps across unobstructed fields. A heat pump that stops producing heat at -15 °C leaves the auxiliary heating to work alone during the most expensive weeks of the year.
Mistakes to avoid
- Positioning the outdoor unit without checking what else is on the wall — meter, service equipment, exhaust outlet, downspout.
- Anchoring into cladding rather than a structural element.
- Sealing a penetration from the outside on vinyl siding.
- Skipping static-pressure measurement of the ductwork.
- Selling before performing the electrical load calculation.
Rebates
The Chauffez vert program ended on March 31, 2026, and only applied to conversions from heating oil and propane. Hydro-Québec's LogisVert program remains the reference incentive for a central heat pump: an ENERGY STAR unit with a valid AHRI number that exactly matches the installed indoor/outdoor pair, a contractor holding an RBQ licence and registered with the program, and an application submitted within the required period after the invoice. The incentive is paid as a reimbursement, and the amounts depend on the equipment and configuration. The pair installed here bears AHRI 217120760.
Why we travel as far as the rural roads of the Maskoutains
At AirGreen, we install central heat pumps, ductless heat pumps, mini-split systems, air conditioners, and air exchangers in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, on the North Shore, on the South Shore, and in the agricultural municipalities of Montérégie — Saint-Bernard-de-Michaudville, Saint-Jude, Saint-Louis, Saint-Marcel-de-Richelieu, and the rural roads around Saint-Hyacinthe.
A well-executed installation day is not measured by how quickly the work is completed. It is measured by what was checked before drilling and what was documented before leaving. If you are planning a central heat pump, replacing equipment, or installing air conditioning for the first time, call us: we come to your property, calculate the load, measure the ductwork, and provide a clear proposal with actual efficiencies, the AHRI number, and eligibility for available rebates already verified.
AirGreen — Air Conditioning & Heating. RBQ 5645-9605-01. (514) 316-2973