I ran into the same thing when I built my house, where I couldn't find anyone local to take care of installing my split mini units without a wait of six weeks or more. I ultimately ended up purchasing a 25lb refrigerant tank, guage set, and vacuum pump to commission the units. I wasn't trying to DIY or save money per se, but this seemed to be the path of least resistance. Five years later all five heat pumps are going strong, this market dynamic doesn't seem to have changed much (here in Virginia USA) as I helped my neighbor bring her two heat pump units online in October 2022 after she couldn't get any of the local installers to schedule her either. I'm still puzzled why heat pumps are not dominant in the US market and why natural gas furnaces of any efficiency are still being installed, given that you can't power them from rooftop PV which is everywhere these days.
Watch the "Home Performance" channel on YouTube (see https://youtu.be/1Iiho2cm2LY) and note that there is a community of builders and installers who follow these practices and are likewise supporters of this channel.
Yeah I've considered this route... Mr Cool makes some precharged linesets for their heat pumps that are a still lower resistance path, but I'm at a bit of a loss how to take care of the refrigerant in the existing AC if I do end up DIYing it and swapping that unit out for a HP.
If the unit is still operational, it can usually be 'pumped down', which essentially means closing the 'out' valve and force-running the compressor to pull all the refrigerant back into the main compressor unit. You then might be able to take it to the waste facility, where they have people licensed to recover the refrigerant (for a fee).
I have my EPA cert, and I'd still probably go that route. The recovery pumps are expensive ($500+) and you need a recovery tank ($100), and then you still need to find somewhere that will take it from you. For a single job, it might be better to pay a HVAC company/moonlighting tech to do that part and do all the manual labor yourself.
Oh nice, that pump down process is something I hadn't heard of. I do have a good plumber and electrician, and our County has really good waste disposal options so that may work for me. Appreciate the heads up there.
