Central Air Conditioning

[BadDad]

Need help! I am remodeling (rebuilding) my house in Surin and would like to install central air conditioning as opposed to installing 8 different A/C units. My wife is taking control of the construction effort but she is being told that it does not exist or is not available. If any one has a point(s) of contact with a phone number it would a great help!

[putdk]

Need help! I am remodeling (rebuilding) my house in Surin and would like to install central air conditioning as opposed to installing 8 different A/C units. My wife is taking control of the construction effort but she is being told that it does not exist or is not available. If any one has a point(s) of contact with a phone number it would a great help!

Here they have many Aircondition to very good prices: http://www.topcoolair.com/

there is a telephone number to get in touch with them also.

[kamalabob2]

Coming from a home in Northern California that had Central heat and Central air conditioning I ASSUMED that central air conditioning would be great in Thailand. Heck many larger hotels seem to have such systems. Well if you sit down with one of the dealers in Bangkok who sell Central Air condition systems and crunch the numbers you might walk away from this idea. There are some "split systems" that have one compressor outside and they feed two near by "in room" units. There are "ceiling cassette" units similar to many hotels. HOWEVER the initial cost is so far higher than a split system it might be a bad choice. Getting service for Central air conditioning might be an expensive proposition in Issan, but it is 400 baht to have your split system unit cleaned by most any good appliance shop. I am no expert, but as I see the "tubes and piping" installed into our CPAC Light weight building block walls I realize why running "air ducts' in the ceiling space would not be such a practical idea. Perhaps other Thai Visa members who have experience in the HVAC industry can explain why Central air is a poor choice for the way homes are constructed in Thailand. You might be building a large home to have 7 possible a/c units. A good architect can help you in this decision. If you do choose to purchase a split system I suggest your a/c vendor come out to your home PRIOR TO RENDERING THE WALLS (red brick, CPAC, Q-Con, etc..) and install the electric, water, air ducts/pipes INTO THE WALL. Then your work crew can cover the ducts on the OUTSIDE and INSIDE of the home and months later the actual a/c units can be installed with no ugly pipes visible. I had read too many of the "fancy color supplement brochures on high rise condos in Bangkok/Phuket/Pattaya/Hau Hin of the Bangkok Post" and viewed the Daikin air conditioning ads with the male model who looks like Leo Kottke with a SkyAir ceiling cassette system. The price per BTU is about DOUBLE a normal split system from the same Daikin Brand according to the owner of Buriram Supply in Buriram near the Bamboo Bar.

Look at the many threads in Thai Visa on insulation, roof design and roof tile color to keep your home cool and minimize the use and cost of air conditioning. I'll attach a photo of our 3 inch CPAC Ultra Kool insulation under a light colored tile with the Lighting Rod cable encased in yellow conduit and some photos of the a/c "piping" in our walls Prior and after rendering.

[chownah]

One motor fails and the entire house is without aircon.

[citizen33]

The above advice seems about right to me. Insulation is something I don't have at present that I'd like installed. Most modern farang-style houses are noticeably cooler on the ground floor with a concrete ceiling above than on the first floor where there are just the tiles and a plaster ceiling above. In retrospect I wonder whether an additional concrete floor under the roof space would have been a cost-effective solution to cooling the bedrooms below. It might bring the benefits of foil-type insulation while also creating a useful storage space. Has anybody build their house like that? I have yet to see a single central air con system in a house in Isaan.

Edited September 7, 2007 by citizen33

[kamalabob2]

Here are some better photos of the air conditioning "tubes" inside the interior CPAC walls both before and after rendering and a photo of the "tubes" coming out the exterior wall to the location of where the Compressor part of a split system will be located. The actual PVC drainage pipes go down the rendered exterior columns to the first floor and help to water the garden.