Daikon a/c units - good or bad?

[jacko45k]

have 2 Daikin units, one being the bedroom which gets used a lot. Had good life out of it and only ever needed cleaning.

It replaced a Samsung unit that was a source of aggravation and expense.

[Naam]

8 hours ago, sandrabbit said:

just out of interest do you have a swimming pool pump as well?

yes, we also have

2 pumps (pond filtration and waterfall)

1 deep well pump

1 irrigation pump

1 solar pool heating pump

2 pumps that supply the home with water pressure

[eddie61]

My recent experience of Daikin was very negative. IN April 2017 the 10 year old Daikin air on packed up. IT took until September 13 to finally fix the air con in my sitting room!! Daikin were on the case since may, but spare parts arrived in September. I would definitely not buy Daikin again. They charge premium prices, but do not deliver on service. I live 200 m from the sea. I felt that the left hand did not know if the right hand was pxxxxxg or wxxxxng.

[amvet]

18 hours ago, Naam said:

yes one can detach the compressor/condenser unit by closing it's manual valves but the refrigerant in suction and pressure pipes as well in the evaporator unit is LOST.

You first wrote, "an absolute ignorant and misleading comment as the main part, the evaporator coils, can't be removed for cleaning.

next"

 

So I guess in stead of insulting me you actually meat the evaporator coils can be removed for cleaning but you will have to add a little refrigerant to replace what was left in the pipes after the system was drained. 

[Tofer]

On 19 September 2017 at 6:51 PM, phantomfiddler said:

Daicon or Daikin ? First one sounds like a scam. I always get Daikin and have never had a problem :)

Funny guy, it was the auto spell check that caught me out. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Tofer]

20 hours ago, Naam said:

no, our home is just a modest single family dwelling but to keep it at a comfortable temperature we have besides the two units (one shown above) another 16 units with capacities between 9,000 and 24,000 btu/h installed.

I think you're mistaking your modest family home for a hotel! 555

 

Jeeze, it must be a full time job looking after 18 units, not to mention the running costs....

 

I appreciate all your input, thanks.

[Tofer]

There'll always be some lemons in any purchases but in general it seems the Daikin units are well respected.

 

Thanks again to all contributors.

[JAS21]

16 minutes ago, Tofer said:

I think you're mistaking your modest family home for a hotel! 555

 

Jeeze, it must be a full time job looking after 18 units, not to mention the running costs....

 

I appreciate all your input, thanks.

Mr Naam's ...modest family home is very nice. He does have a few helpers ... Mrs Naam is a very nice lady ... Mr Naam is okay but can be just a little prickly at times ... woops   

[Tofer]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

Mr Naam's ...modest family home is very nice. He does have a few helpers ... Mrs Naam is a very nice lady ... Mr Naam is okay but can be just a little prickly at times ... woops   

I guessed as much :)

[Naam]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

Mr Naam's ...modest family home is very nice. He does have a few helpers ... Mrs Naam is a very nice lady ... Mr Naam is okay but can be just a little prickly at times ... woops   

[Tofer]

On 19 September 2017 at 3:54 PM, Oztruckie said:

Installed Daikin reverse cycle ducted system in my house,on advice from couple of mates who'd been air.con installers for 50 years, in Melbourne back in 1998,sold house several years ago,Daikin system still working as good as the day the system was installed,never ever had a service guy come out to make any repairs.

Is a ducted system much more expensive than split units?

 

We only need 3 a/c's in the bedrooms of our house, 2 in a 1-bed apt. & 3 in a 2-bed apt.

 

 

[Naam]

2 hours ago, Tofer said:

I think you're mistaking your modest family home for a hotel! 555

 

Jeeze, it must be a full time job looking after 18 units, not to mention the running costs....

 

I appreciate all your input, thanks.

actually the aircons are the only items in our home which are serviced twice a year by a professional company. any other maintenance and repair is carried out by an excellent  handyman (empoyed full time) and my [not so] humble self.

[Naam]

2 hours ago, Tofer said:

There'll always be some lemons in any purchases but in general it seems the Daikin units are well respected.

 

Thanks again to all contributors.

Daikin flaws

-on high fan speed the units are extremely loud.

-fan bearings deteriorate when used continously after a few years.

 

positive aspect

-quite reliable and fair priced.

-availability of spare parts excellent.

 

summary:

but generally highly overrated by people who lack experience with other brands.

 

[JHolmesJr]

Daikin….best there is…..dont bother with mitsubishi or panasonic.

[Tofer]

5 minutes ago, Naam said:

actually the aircons are the only items in our home which are serviced twice a year by a professional company. any other maintenance and repair is carried out by an excellent  handyman (empoyed full time) and my [not so] humble self.

I was hoping to teach my lovely wife how to clean the filters once we've moved in, but she's already making noises about wanting help to clean and cook, so I guess that might be something I have to get up out of my recliner to see to, unless the maid can handle it :)

 

I can't complain as she's spending just about all day, every day on site whipping our plot into shape gardening, at least that will nicely frame the view whilst I relax on the terrace for the rest of the time......

[Naam]

1 minute ago, JHolmesJr said:

Daikin….best there is…..dont bother with mitsubishi or panasonic.

must have been pure luck that the three Panasonic aircons running in another home of ours since 1992 (or 1993?) without any problems.

[Naam]

2 minutes ago, Tofer said:

I was hoping to teach my lovely wife how to clean the filters once we've moved in,

anybody can clean the filters! but depending on usage the unit has to be cleaned thoroughly by a professional. this is done by spraying a detergent foam and let it "work" for 15-20 minutes. then the unit is rinsed by pressure washing.

[Tofer]

25 minutes ago, Naam said:

Daikin flaws

-on high fan speed the units are extremely loud.

-fan bearings deteriorate when used continously after a few years.

 

positive aspect

-quite reliable and fair priced.

-availability of spare parts excellent.

 

summary:

but generally highly overrated by people who lack experience with other brands.

 

If, if I ever have to use them they will not be on high speed fan, we usually switch a/c on a bit before turning in to allow the room to cool down, and then run it at about 26/27* with low to medium fan. That's in our temporary rented home where they don't have ceiling fans or insect screens to allow windows to be left open.

 

I would only use high speed fan in a hotel room which you enter hot and need a quick cooling solution, many of which are quite noisy also when on full blast.

 

In which case I'm guessing you would give your blessing for Daikin!

[Naam]

9 minutes ago, Tofer said:

If, if I ever have to use them they will not be on high speed fan, we usually switch a/c on a bit before turning in to allow the room to cool down, and then run it at about 26/27* with low to medium fan.

please define "we switch a/c on a bit".  are you first setting the thermostat lower than the later on desired 26/27ºC?

[sandrabbit]

29 minutes ago, Naam said:

anybody can clean the filters! but depending on usage the unit has to be cleaned thoroughly by a professional. this is done by spraying a detergent foam and let it "work" for 15-20 minutes. then the unit is rinsed by pressure washing.

agreed its about legionnaires disease, you have to make sure the condensate outlet, filters etc are sanitized and for the price it costs us I would rather have our AC company carry it out in our house and resort.

[Tofer]

44 minutes ago, Naam said:

Daikin flaws

-on high fan speed the units are extremely loud.

-fan bearings deteriorate when used continously after a few years.

 

positive aspect

-quite reliable and fair priced.

-availability of spare parts excellent.

 

summary:

but generally highly overrated by people who lack experience with other brands.

 

If, if we ever had to use them, we would never have them on high fan. In our temporary rented home we switch it on before we turn in to cool off the room, then run it at about 26/27* with low or medium fan, as there are no ceiling fans or insect screens on the windows to allow us to leave them open.

 

We only use high speed fan in hotel rooms which are hot on entering and need a good blast to remedy that, and they are all usually quite noisy on that setting.

 

In this case can I assume Daikin have your blessing?

 

Sorry, repeated it as I thought the first one had got lost!

[Naam]

1 minute ago, sandrabbit said:

agreed its about legionnaires disease, you have to make sure the condensate outlet, filters etc are sanitized and for the price it costs us I would rather have our AC company carry it in our house and resort.

it's also to prevent a build-up of fungus which is quite common.

[Tofer]

2 minutes ago, Naam said:

please define "we switch a/c on a bit".  are you first setting the thermostat lower than the later on desired 26/27ºC?

Sometimes as low as 24/25* if it's a bit of a sticky hot night.

[Naam]

Just now, Tofer said:

Sometimes as low as 24/25* if it's a bit of a sticky hot night.

that does not explain "a bit".

[Tofer]

33 minutes ago, Naam said:

anybody can clean the filters! but depending on usage the unit has to be cleaned thoroughly by a professional. this is done by spraying a detergent foam and let it "work" for 15-20 minutes. then the unit is rinsed by pressure washing.

For that I would surely get a contractor in, as you say twice a year.

[Tofer]

1 minute ago, Naam said:

that does not explain "a bit".

Half an hour or so before we go to bed.

[sandrabbit]

7 minutes ago, Tofer said:

If, if we ever had to use them, we would never have them on high fan. In our temporary rented home we switch it on before we turn in to cool off the room, then run it at about 26/27* with low or medium fan, as there are no ceiling fans or insect screens on the windows to allow us to leave them open.

 

We only use high speed fan in hotel rooms which are hot on entering and need a good blast to remedy that, and they are all usually quite noisy on that setting.

 

In this case can I assume Daikin have your blessing?

I'm sorry but you sound like my wife, I set the AC in both house and car to run in automatic ie to control to the temperature I want but manual setting isn't as energy efficient as letting the unit do it itself and my bugbear is setting the temperature setpoint as low as possible as the unit can't work any harder than it already is.

[Naam]

9 minutes ago, Tofer said:

Half an hour or so before we go to bed.

no advice without being precise! half an hour or so... does not match your comment

Quote

we switch it on before we turn in to cool off the room, then run it at about 26/27* with low or medium fan

after "half an hour or so" are you switching the unit off or "then run it at about 26/27..."?

[Tofer]

16 minutes ago, sandrabbit said:

I'm sorry but you sound like my wife, I set the AC in both house and car to run in automatic ie to control to the temperature I want but manual setting isn't as energy efficient as letting the unit do it itself and my bugbear is setting the temperature setpoint as low as possible as the unit can't work any harder than it already is.

I usually rely on auto, but find the fan (in car) and compressor (in house) kick up a gear if the temp is turned down for a spell. Maybe it's the crappy Panasonic unit in our rented house, I know for sure it's not the most efficient.

 

Some hotel a/c's have a boost mode which has the same effect.

[Tofer]

Just now, Naam said:

no advice without being precise! half an hour or so... does not match your comment

after "half an hour or so" are you switching the unit off or "then run it at about 26/27..."?

We run it all night at that temp mostly for the fan / air circulation.