Air conditioner quality, warranty, reviews in Thailand?

[Yellowtail]

16 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Ok, Panasonic quality seems to be good - at least it was good > 10 years ago.

 

But did you ever think about replacing them with new inverter units to save energy?

It seems everybody who switches to inverter units pays a lot less for electricity.

Everybody does not save a lot on electricity when they switch from conventional to inverter, and some people do not like inverters. 

 

I love the inverters I have. I replaced three older units with new 18, 24 & 38K BTU units and saw about a 10% savings, which is pretty good, but these were all fifteen year-old units that had been moved from my old house to my new house. One was undersized, and the other two were somewhat oversized.

 

I think if you have a relatively constant heat-load, and the conventional unit has been well maintained and is sized correctly you will see little savings going with a new inverter. If you have an old or poorly maintained and oversized conventional unit, you will see significant savings going to inverter. 

 

It is my understanding that a conventional unit and inverter unit, both operating at capacity all things the same will use about the same amount of power. 

 

Where inverters shine is when you have a widely variable heat-load.  Look at the BTU range of the units below, The unit will run continuously to maintain 23 degrees if you're sleeping and the outside temperature is 25, or if you're having a party and the outside temperature is 38. 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Everybody does not save a lot on electricity when they switch from conventional to inverter, and some people do not like inverters. 

 

I love the inverters I have. I replaced three older units with new 18, 24 & 38K BTU units and saw about a 10% savings, which is pretty good, but these were all fifteen year-old units that had been moved from my old house to my new house. One was undersized, and the other two were somewhat oversized.

 

I think if you have a relatively constant heat-load, and the conventional unit has been well maintained and is sized correctly you will see little savings going with a new inverter. If you have an old or poorly maintained and oversized conventional unit, you will see significant savings going to inverter. 

 

It is my understanding that a conventional unit and inverter unit, both operating at capacity all things the same will use about the same amount of power. 

 

Where inverters shine is when you have a widely variable heat-load.  Look at the BTU range of the units below, The unit will run continuously to maintain 23 degrees if you're sleeping and the outside temperature is 25, or if you're having a party and the outside temperature is 38. 

 

 

As far as I understand it conventional aircons are most expensive the more they switch on and off because they can only produce "cold air". Inverters are always on but with flexible temperature (in limits). That makes them more efficient.

[Yellowtail]

6 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I understand it conventional aircons are most expensive the more they switch on and off because they can only produce "cold air". Inverters are always on but with flexible temperature (in limits). That makes them more efficient.

That's what I said. 

[JWRC]

On 3/7/2022 at 7:09 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Ok, Panasonic quality seems to be good - at least it was good > 10 years ago.

 

But did you ever think about replacing them with new inverter units to save energy?

It seems everybody who switches to inverter units pays a lot less for electricity.

Never thought about replacing them, they are not used a great deal and are working perfectly, if there is a power saving, and I am not convinced there is, it would be neither here nor there in the scheme of things. Think of it this way, it's like changing partners, why bother when the old one is working well. 

[EVENKEEL]

How many BTU per AC inverter unit, figure on two units In a 42 sqm living room with many windows and sliding glass door facing the east, single story cheap build. Just came from a shop and they said 24,000 BTU per unit. Seems a bit overkill IMO, what's your reaction??

[Yellowtail]

10 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

How many BTU per AC inverter unit, figure on two units In a 42 sqm living room with many windows and sliding glass door facing the east, single story cheap build. Just came from a shop and they said 24,000 BTU per unit. Seems a bit overkill IMO, what's your reaction??

Do you like it cool? I would go with a single: 

 

[dddave]

On 3/4/2022 at 1:01 PM, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

Have always been underwhelmed by LG and Samsung units in multiple apartments.

 

I agree with above recommendations: Daikin and Mitsubishi. Plus my landlord just replaced my old Toshiba, which was working very well until it simply stopped, with a brand I've never heard of, Amena (inverter), made in Thailand. After one month, I'm quite impressed. Runs very quietly and produces very cool air and dehumidifies well. Got the same brand model in my bedroom. Totally quiet. I also like the very clear and clean remote screen.  

I also am very pleased with an Amena inverter unit I bought to replace a totally unreliable Samsung inverter unit that gave me constant problems over 5 years of ownership.  There is an excellent AC shop on my Soi.  He specializes in Daiken but they were out of my price range.  He convinced me to try the Amena, promising free service for 3 years. I'm into my second year now and no problems yet.  Runs very quietly and efficiently with good airflow.  So far, it seems a great value. I'm sure it's a rebranded Chinese OEM but what isn't these days. 

 

Mitsubishi has an excellent reputation but be aware there are 2 Mitsubishi's, one is "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries" which tends to specialize in products for commercial use and "Mitsubishi Electric" which produces mostly consumer products.  They overlap on AC units so be sure to know which you are buying.  They seem to be popular in Australia.

Edited March 11, 2022 by dddave

[OneMoreFarang]

44 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

How many BTU per AC inverter unit, figure on two units In a 42 sqm living room with many windows and sliding glass door facing the east, single story cheap build. Just came from a shop and they said 24,000 BTU per unit. Seems a bit overkill IMO, what's your reaction??

It seems it is not just important how big and how many but where are they located. I don't remember the details now but as far as I remember if you have a long rectangular room then it is not a good idea to have an aircon at each side of the long axis. It seems to be better to have one or two aircons on the side.

[dddave]

15 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems it is not just important how big and how many but where are they located. I don't remember the details now but as far as I remember if you have a long rectangular room then it is not a good idea to have an aircon at each side of the long axis. It seems to be better to have one or two aircons on the side.

My studio in Bangkok is 70 s/m with 2 exterior walls and rectangular in shape. ceilings are 3m+. A long exterior wall faces south-east and can get warm to the touch. I large 2.5 m X 1 m sliding panel window in that same wall.

I first had an older AC of unknown power with the interior unit on my back wall which is sheltered by a balcony.  It seemed to distribute cool air pretty well with the help of 1 fan.  It was very inefficient so I replaced it with a Samsung 21,000byu inverter unit which I mounted at the center of a long, interior wall.  It did not seem to distribute cool air very well, requiring the help of several fans.  After one year I moved it back to the original position on the rear short wall and cool air distribution improved greatly. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by dddave

[Yellowtail]

16 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems it is not just important how big and how many but where are they located. I don't remember the details now but as far as I remember if you have a long rectangular room then it is not a good idea to have an aircon at each side of the long axis. It seems to be better to have one or two aircons on the side.

BTU Calculator - Carrier Thailand

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

BTU Calculator - Carrier Thailand

I have to admit I am skeptic of these BTU calculators.

I tried a couple of them and they all show (sometime widely) varying results.

And I don't think any of those calculators ever had a field for the desired room temperature.

It is a huge difference if I want to cool down a room to 28 degrees, 24 degrees or even 20 degrees.

I would like to see a BTU calculator which asks for the desired temperature and maybe other details.

[dddave]

3 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

BTU Calculator - Carrier Thailand

It seemed every time I went AC shopping, the salespeople would whip out the BTU calculator and tell me I needed 2 30,000 BTU units for my 70s/m apartment.  I eem to get along very well with a single 21,000 BTU unit.  Now, maybe I'm severely overtaxing it and over a 10 year span, a larger unit would be lest costly but to me, not worth the high initial outlay.

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, dddave said:

It seemed every time I went AC shopping, the salespeople would whip out the BTU calculator and tell me I needed 2 30,000 BTU units for my 70s/m apartment.  I eem to get along very well with a single 21,000 BTU unit.  Now, maybe I'm severely overtaxing it and over a 10 year span, a larger unit would be lest costly but to me, not worth the high initial outlay.

Like you wrote, they are salespeople and they do what salespeople do. Sell - as much as they can.

[EVENKEEL]

29 minutes ago, dddave said:

It seemed every time I went AC shopping, the salespeople would whip out the BTU calculator and tell me I needed 2 30,000 BTU units for my 70s/m apartment.  I eem to get along very well with a single 21,000 BTU unit.  Now, maybe I'm severely overtaxing it and over a 10 year span, a larger unit would be lest costly but to me, not worth the high initial outlay.

I'm at 42-43 sqm for I figure 2 units and the guys told me I needed 24,000 BTU each for total of 48,000BTU.  I'm going to go with 2 18,000 BTU daikan units. 

 

For 70 sqm  21,000 BTU seems on the low side.

Edited March 11, 2022 by EVENKEEL

[EVENKEEL]

52 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems it is not just important how big and how many but where are they located. I don't remember the details now but as far as I remember if you have a long rectangular room then it is not a good idea to have an aircon at each side of the long axis. It seems to be better to have one or two aircons on the side.

I'm looking at using 2 to cool room  and then only run one to stay cool, I don't know. But I'm going with one at each end. Is that the best way, time will tell.

[OneMoreFarang]

47 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm looking at using 2 to cool room  and then only run one to stay cool, I don't know. But I'm going with one at each end. Is that the best way, time will tell.

Maybe have a look at this:

https://gharpedia.com/blog/best-location-wall-mounted-air-conditioning-unit/

"For rooms with a 30 feet plus length, Gharpedia advises placing two indoor AC units on the same wall. Placing the AC units opposite to each other can create non-uniform air circulation leading to overloading one of the ACs."

 

I have no idea how good this advice is. I saw it already on several pages and I guess it makes sense to consider the advice. 

 

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I have to admit I am skeptic of these BTU calculators.

I tried a couple of them and they all show (sometime widely) varying results.

And I don't think any of those calculators ever had a field for the desired room temperature.

It is a huge difference if I want to cool down a room to 28 degrees, 24 degrees or even 20 degrees.

I would like to see a BTU calculator which asks for the desired temperature and maybe other details.

As am I, but they are designed to provide a system that will make most everyone happy. Who it not happy with an air conditioner? People that don't think it gets cool enough.

 

I run mine at 23 and have been happy with all of mine. I would much rather have too much capacity than too little, you? 

 

Contrary to popular belief, to do the same work, higher capacity air conditioners do not use significantly more energy than do lower capacity units, all things the same. 

 

Google "calculate heat load" and figure out what you need. 

 

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm looking at using 2 to cool room  and then only run one to stay cool, I don't know. But I'm going with one at each end. Is that the best way, time will tell.

[Doctor Tom]

On 3/4/2022 at 4:53 PM, Boomer6969 said:

I got 9 Mitsubishi units in my house.

Good grief, how big is your house?  My house is responsibly sized,  4 bedrooms,  big open areas and I only have 5 and they are more than adequate. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by Doctor Tom

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, Doctor Tom said:

Good grief, how big is your house?  My house is responsibly sized,  4 bedrooms,  big open areas and I only have 5 and they are more than adequate. 

So someone that has a home larger than yours is irresponsible? That's funny. 

 

I'm two bedroom, three bath and have seven. 

[Doctor Tom]

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

So someone that has a home larger than yours is irresponsible? That's funny. 

 

I'm two bedroom, three bath and have seven. 

Did I say irresponsible? No.  I do wish that people on here actually read posts, instead of making it up as they go along.

 

If you have seven aircons mate, you need to do some re evaluation.  

[EVENKEEL]

5 minutes ago, Doctor Tom said:

Did I say irresponsible? No.  I do wish that people on here actually read posts, instead of making it up as they go along.

 

If you have seven aircons mate, you need to do some re evaluation.  

AC is so good. There is such a thing as not enough perhaps.

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

Did I say irresponsible? No.  I do wish that people on here actually read posts, instead of making it up as they go along.

Well, when you said "My house is responsibly sized..." does it not imply someone with a larger home is being irresponsible? If not, what does responsibly sized mean? 

 

3 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

If you have seven aircons mate, you need to do some re evaluation.  

Why? Am I being irresponsible by having one in each room? Would it be more "responsible" to put in five like you (that's the limit, yes?) leave all the doors open and and blow the cool air around with fans? 

 

 

 

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Well, when you said "My house is responsibly sized..." does it not imply someone with a larger home is being irresponsible? If not, what does responsibly sized mean? 

 

Why? Am I being irresponsible by having one in each room? Would it be more "responsible" to put in five like you (that's the limit, yes?) leave all the doors open and and blow the cool air around with fans? 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of electric bill are you getting? Just curious, with one AC on mainly mine is up to 1900 thb, I figure when I start cooling living room 43 sqm it will perhaps almost double to 3000+ thb.

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

What kind of electric bill are you getting? Just curious, with one AC on mainly mine is up to 1900 thb, I figure when I start cooling living room 43 sqm it will perhaps almost double to 3000+ thb.

I don't run them all at once. My last bill was 3,600.

 

Two half-floors are 24/7, one quarter-floor is 6/7. and one full-floor is about 14/7. and the other floors are occasional. I could save a lot by sealing it up better. 

 

5  1/2 floor shop house. 

[DavisH]

On 3/4/2022 at 12:47 PM, xylophone said:

I have had Samsung air cons and really don't think they are up to scratch, and even though I am in a rental apartment now, I replaced the current Samsung aircon with one from Mitsubishi Electric, and that is great.

 

I did a great deal of research before settling on the Mitsubishi, and was also impressed with Daikin and Hitachi air cons, and I wanted an inverter unit, so the Mitsubishi fitted the bill exactly.

We will be replacing or hitachi soon. Still works OK, but it could be cooler. She search through Thai websites, where most people recommend either daikin or mitusbishi. So we will be taking a look at those tomorrow. 

[OneMoreFarang]

It seems many people agree that Daikin and Mitsubishi are the favorite brands.

From your experience between these two:

- Are there main differences with the features, i.e. home automation integration (for the newest top models)?

- How about maintenance? Is it easier to maintain one or the other?

 

Buying and installing the units is a one time effort. But maintenance and good or missing features is something that concerns us over years.

[Boomer6969]

11 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Why? Am I being irresponsible by having one in each room?

Indeed, isn't this a "normal" requirement? I put two units in our relatively large living area as this allows us to modulate cooling, hence save power. I guess that's what @DocTom calls irresponsible.

[NoshowJones]

On 3/4/2022 at 12:47 PM, xylophone said:

I have had Samsung air cons and really don't think they are up to scratch, and even though I am in a rental apartment now, I replaced the current Samsung aircon with one from Mitsubishi Electric, and that is great.

 

I did a great deal of research before settling on the Mitsubishi, and was also impressed with Daikin and Hitachi air cons, and I wanted an inverter unit, so the Mitsubishi fitted the bill exactly.

It is a Mitsubishi unit I have, and it has caused me a few problems over the years, it is now about 8 years old.

[Encid]

On 3/5/2022 at 8:21 PM, Yellowtail said:

Carrier Thailand has a great website and a good BTU calculator. 

Do you mean this calculator?