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Thread: Split Systems

  1. #1
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    Default Split Systems

    Looking at replacing my container sized Email wall unit with a modern wall split system...

    I was reading about a 3.5KW Daikin when I realised the obvious...ask here.

    Anyone got any problems with Daikins?...or recommendations for another brand. I want reliability....

    The heat in this place in summer, coupled with my house aspect means it would need a bit of mumbo.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.



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    Hard to pick reliability these day mate, they are all cheap and nasty
    (but not as cheap and nasty as the no name brands)

    Daikin (i had 3 units all fail within 4 months)
    Fujitsu
    Mitsubishi (Heavy Industries or Electric)

    All reasonable machines

    Honestly, today, i'd just find the unit the looks the most attractive and specs up right for your application.

    A little tip here, if you go a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, get a price from Sparky Direct online store, then take that price to Bunnings and they will beat it by 10%.
    You generally save around $600
    (on a smaller 3.5Kw machine, the saving will not be as big, but still a healthy amount)

    The Good Guys just had a $200 Visa Card rebate on all Fujitsu Splits too, but it only just expired.
    Look out for similar deals this time of year.

    My experience is based on the 7Kw machines
    A deciding factor for me was also having a Wifi connectability, so you can control your AC unit from a Smart Phone App, allowing you to turn it ON/OFF and Control Temp when you are away from home (or in the home).
    Last edited by ol' boy; 03-03-17 at 08:29 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    Had a few Fujitsu and Panasonic splits over the years both at home and work that have all given good service.
    Last edited by mandc; 03-03-17 at 03:54 PM.

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    If you're in Canberra, will you be using it for heating as well as cooling?

    I'm in Tasmania, where many people use reverse cycle air conditioning for heating. Once it gets below zero, there's a big difference in heating performance between different brands. I'm happy to elaborate on my experience if you indicate that you're interested in heating with it.

    I've had a couple of Daikins at different houses - we currently have a 14 year old 5kW Daikin and a 1 year old 7kW Mitsubishi Electric. Both work well and are reasonably quiet and efficient. The ME one is beautifully quiet. The Daikins have a good reputation and the premium price that reflects this. Unfortunately, I know quite a number of people who have had Daikin split systems fail just outside the five year warranty... and when they fail, the outrageous spare parts prices mean that you throw them away and buy a new one.

    The place I'm in now used to have a 14 year old Panasonic. It worked well enough, but was horribly inefficient when heating with an outside temperature that was below zero and the noise was dreadful. I hated getting rid of something that was functioning as well as the day it was installed, but the noise was incredible and I couldn't live with it. It shrieked - even on the lowest fan setting I couldn't hear myself think, let alone watch the TV news. I guess Panasonic must have improved, or nobody would buy them.

    My research last year indicated that Mitsubishi Electric make a pretty good all round unit and that spare parts for them are reasonably priced. A former work colleague is from a family of air conditioner mechanics (he's the black sheep - went in to IT, while his father and three brothers are fridgies). He installed multiple ME air conditioners when he bought his place in the early 2000s and won't consider anything else. The Mitsubishi Electric split systems generally seem to have larger outside heat exchangers than most of their competitors (larger heat exchanger generally means greater efficiency and a compressor not having to work as hard).

    When buying, check that it has a seven day timer. The older Daikins didn't have this - if you wanted it to turn on of off at given times, then you had to program it every day. It got old very quickly having to (re)program it to turn on and off at the same times every single day. I think they've fixed this now and you can tell it to come on at time X and turn off at time Y every weekday and so on, but make sure when you're shopping around.

    I'm a bit wary of the wifi remote control stuff. At my old place, I used an Arduino with an infra-red remote control library to control the Daikin I had then (mostly because of the insane timer mentioned above). I don't need that where I am now, but when I looked at the WiFi remote control stuff, most of it worked by having the air conditioner continuously "phone home" to the manufacturer and wait for commands. Your smartphone or PC then sent commands to the manufacturer's server to tell your unit to turn on / off or whatever. I wasn't too keen on that setup, so I gave it a miss.

    There's a slightly weird thing that you'll notice when you are shopping around: low capacity split systems have much higher efficiency than big ones. Generally in engineering, bigger things are more efficient. The best explanation of this phenomenon that I could find was that the size of the internal heat exchanger is usually dictated more by esthetics than good engineering. With a small capacity system, the internal unit's heat exchanger is close to the ideal size. When you scale up beyond about 5kW capacity in a split system air con, the internal unit is under-sized, because very few consumers would put up with the massive sized internal unit that would be required for ideal performance... hence the drop in efficiency.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shred View Post
    If you're in Canberra, will you be using it for heating as well as cooling?
    At times, but not so much. I have ducted gas heating. My wife and I treat the extremes differently to a lot of people. I like the whole house heated, but only an area cooled, namely living and kitchen.
    The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.

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    I have no idea why someone would install a Cooling only split system these days?
    Or for the passed 20 years

    They are essentially the same price and no matter where you live, we all get Hot days and Cold days
    (with the exception of FNQ or Darwin i guess)
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    i just had a Mitsubishi (Heavy Industries or Electric) installed at our unit
    and very happy with it so far also very happy with their 5 yrs all parts
    and labour warranty .
    dont say linux if i wanted it id install it

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    Costs. I live in the country, so that is a mitigating factor. My firewood is free, so that's heating taken care of. All I needed was a swampy to take care of cooling.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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