How Much Would One Have To Pay For A Small Air Conditioner?

[cyprean]

My gf's parents are looking for an air-conditioner to their small bungalow-style house.

It would be installed in the bed-room. How much would one expect to pay for a small air-conditioner? What is the prize range, can I get one for less than 8k baht?

Also kindly recommend what would be the best place to get one. Is Lotus/Carrefour/Big C OK?

[astral]

I am under the impression that prices start around 15K.

I would not buy from a mall.

Look around for the local shop that sells, installs and maintains AC units.

They will be able to advise you on what capacity you need for a given size of room.

They will be able to install it and later maintain the unit.

Units do need cleaning and the gas topping up, maybe once a year.

Do not be tempted to buy secondhand. The price may look good,

but you may find yourself paying later in high electricity bills as the older units

are not so energy efficient.

[quiksilva]

15K would get you a decent (Daikin / Mitsubishi) 9000 BTU, you could opt for cheaper no name units, eg Central Air but they are likely to be less efficient in the long run.

[dave111223]

I got a 9000 BTU panasonic (which i've been very happy with) for 11,900. But i bought it at one of those home exhibitions they have at IMPACT.

Maybe normal price 13k at Tesco.

8k you're a joker

[richard10365]

12K to 15k dending on the brand. 2nd hand can be even cheaper.

[highchol]

These "no namers" like central air have ben around many years and their latest units are as efficient as a lot of others. Look for units carrying the energy efficient labels ( on any make ). You can pick up a 9000 btu device for 13k baht installed with servicing free for the first year. I would add that in the "overall effiency" stakes a correctly sized unit will be the biggest single contributing factor. In Thailand sales people will generally try to sell you a device which is oversized. Doing the calculations is the best way to ensure you get the correctly sized one. If you google it you can find plenty of sizng calculations. If you find that a bit daunting post on Tv there are many who will help out with the calculations Im sure.

[cyprean]

Ty for the informative and quick replies.

I am preparing around 13k baht for the unit.

[technocracy]

Ty for the informative and quick replies.

I am preparing around 13k baht for the unit.

And here's me thinking Laos was more expensive . . .. 11k baht for a new Mitsubishi Electric 11k btu unit!

I only paid 20k baht for a 22k btu Mitsubishi Electric unit.

[kamalabob2]

Cyprean:

I would comment that ATRAL and HIGHCHOL have brought up very important points. I would add the following:

What size electric meter is at the parents home? 5 amp might not be large enough, so they might have the added expense of changing electric meters with the electricity provider.

Who will pay the added monthly electricity cost? The TV, vcd player, karaoke machine, rice cooker, blender, lights and small fridge they might have now enable them to have a moderate monthly electric bill. Maybe you should be prepared to foot the bill EACH MONTH for a significant increase in the electric bill.

All of the air conditioners sold in Thailand of that size will have the EER rating pasted on the condenser unit. The higher the number the better on EER. 11 should be the lowest number to consider. Be prepared to help them with the remote control unit if it is only in English.

Another point would be to have your girl friend suggest they "turn off" the large wall switch, which the appliance store will install, anytime they leave the room. It can be easy for anyone to hit the "timer" function on the remote control and end up having the unit cool an empty room when they are not in the house.

All of the major appliance makers provide glossy sales brochures in Thai with some English. It has been my experience that an independent appliance shop will be in a position to discount from the "promotion price" and will certainly do a better installation and servicing job than you would imagine. The yearly cleaning is very important, perhaps free, and worth the low fee it might cost you.

I hope these suggestions help you.

Kamala Bob

[brianinbangkok]

I have 5 Mitsubishi aircons ranging from 9 to 13 BTU oldest one is now 7 years old , get em cleaned once a year will keep them energy efficient and noiseless , costs about 400 bath each to have a componay come and clean em properly.

Cheap aircons have cheap compressors inside thats usually the thing that goes first.

Price range is 15.000 to 25.000 depending on size and extra's like inionizers.

Edited June 1, 2007 by brianinbangkok

[pkrv]

Just researching the Daikin VRV II system used at The Park - I had no idea that the latest units actually provide for your hot water requirements as well (by using the waste heat generated) - Thus providing tremendous energy savings (the biggest by far, long term cost) and reducing environmental impact

http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/mech/daikin-1/daikin-1.htm

Has anyone else seen this or used this?

Edited June 4, 2007 by pkrv

[bangkapiboy]

I'm not buying Samsung a/c again! The swing on all 3 of them I own always break! Never again.

[astral]

Just researching the Daikin VRV II system used at The Park - I had no idea that the latest units actually provide for your hot water requirements as well (by using the waste heat generated) - Thus providing tremendous energy savings (the biggest by far, long term cost) and reducing environmental impact

http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/mech/daikin-1/daikin-1.htm

Has anyone else seen this or used this?

I saw this on television but could not find any mention in Thailand when I was buying an AC unit a few years back.

The TV programme suggested that the combined units were not as efficient?

But they may have solved that by now.

Read carefully before you buy.

[Naam]

The TV programme suggested that the combined units were not as efficient?

But they may have solved that by now.

the claim "decreased efficiency" is correct. the simple reason is that the recircling water is hotter than the ambient temperature which is used to condense/liquify the gaseous refrigerant pumped from the inside evaporator units.

the cooler the medium is which is used to condense the refrigerant the higher the efficiency. in other words, what one saves on energy to produce hot water tallies [in most cases] the loss by using more energy for cooling capacity.

[pkrv]

Dr. Naam - thanks for the update - the company I work for also experiences extreme energy issues as summer approaches and the air con systems work far harder, I made a mistake - I do not know how the air-conditioning units I mentioned function.

There are incredibly two threads running at this time on air conditioners (possibly the most important part of life ) and a lot of questions about the subject.

I have noted you contribute very well indeed on this and other threads, but let us face it knowledge is thin on the ground and some of us are still exploring. If knowledge is spread across multiple threads it does not help anyone.

I don't know if you would be willing to start a thread along the lines of Air-conditioning what you need to know about energy and price.

Tricky stuff I know but we all explore, I would certainly be very deeply interested.

[swain]

9k -15k .. 9k being on sale, a low end no-name or discontinued model, and not easy to find when its hot... winter has always been the best time to buy one at the lower end price. prepare to pay 12-15k now.