Hard Start Kits VS Soft Start Kits | Which Is Better?

Thanks for the video and thanks to the posters for all the helpful comments.

I subbed bro, I like how you try to educate homeowners in plain terms and show people how to do things in an easily understood way

Thank You, sir. I live in southern Florida where hurricanes and power outages happen frequently. This video is very informative. 👍

Thanks for all the great content! Really helped me understand the difference.

The ICM870 9amp is perfect for RV’s, the ICM870 16 and 32 amp is good for your home AC units. They’re 159 for the 9amp and the 16 and 32 amp is about 179. Half the price and it’s been around in the hvac industry for years. We’ve used them in server rooms with UPS on the server and AC units cooling the servers that will run on battery back up before the generator start up and some just run on ups systems till you can get power back up and running.

This explains what i was asking about in other video. 😅 Thank you! Your vids are great at explaining things to us knuckleheads. 😊

Nicely done!

Running a 3.5T Honeywell from 2011 with a hard start. 13kw Generator with gas does fine. 😮

Thank You. From Fort Myers, FL.

I installed the Micro-Air EasyStart on my 2.5 ton heat pump back in August 2021 and been very happy with it. Living in a subtropical zone and dealing with frequent summer storms tripping out the grid extension cord. I have generator power and no A/C for several hours can make things uncomfortable really quickly. The $400 price tag is abet steep, but the ability to run my 800 ft² home in "normal" mode including a 30 gallon electric water heater on a 9,500 Wp inverter generator in economy mode and not skipping a beat when the compressor kicks on is a godsend. The onboard diagnostics and compressor protection has saved me at least two $125 service truck roll calls plus parts. Having the EasyStart unit intervene in a fault event is way better than having the thermal overload tripping out. I've ran into one by the time someone realize what is happening the compressor housing was hot enough to fry an egg on it. As for the ICM870, I think it is a great budget friendly version for those who don't want the geeky bells and whistles. According to their specs, using the 16 amp version might be pushing the limits on a 4.5 ton OSU. Can't wait for them to release the 32 amp version soon enough since my neighbor wants one installed, but not $400 interested. If my memory serves me correctly the LRA is around 100+ amps definitely stall out a 20 kW natural gas generator and maybe not so much on a diesel version. The power head might not like it, but it'll muscle through it. Pricey investment as it may, but in the long term when your HVAC is at the end of its service life. The soft start unit is still good to transfer to the new replacement unit if it doesn't already have one already. Even the basic one has enough smarts to relearn to the operating characteristics of the new compressor.

I put a 521 hard start on my 20+-year-old 3-ton A/C unit, and the starting amps dropped from 41.9 to 26.7, a 35% decrease. My 8750 inverter generator easily starts it. After running for a few minutes, I gradually flip on the rest of the breakers so the refrigerators and freezers don't all start at the same time. We often have a week or two each storm season where the power is off. We get power after all the businesses and rich people's homes get reconnected. Welcome to Floridaaa.

I put a 521 hard start on our new 4 ton, LRA dropped from 107 to 48., Easy for a generator to start

Just installed 2 micro air units on my 4 ton ac units. Had to call customer service and they resolved the issue pretty quickly. Went from 129 to 30 amps on my downstairs and similar to up. Very nice and definitely like the Diagnostic app as well. My 5500 generator will run these no issue now.

Great video.

Just ordered a soft start for AC unit. This is being added for the home backup power supply being added to my solar panels.

Well done video, learned a lot!!

Getting ready to add solar panels with battery backup and my solar installer wants to install a "soft-start" device so I can run my home AC even during a grid outage. Now I know what he's talking about.

Thank you for the information. I put one on my shopping list. I'm not very good with electrical stuff but I may be able to install. I watched your installation, and probably review it before attempting my installation. I used your link so hopefully you'll get credit if it's a few days before I purchase.

Always great thank 😊 you

I've had an EASYSTART on my 3 ton pack for a year now, and my power bill has gone down every month. The power saving has Allright payed for it self