Saijo Denki Smart Cool vs. Inverter (Intelligent) only

[PunkRockerGuy]

My wife and I are building a house up in Lopburi, and I have done all the thermal calculations (engineer in a former life ... ), and have all the spaces spec'd out for BTU needed. However, when calling the sales office of Saijo Denki in Lopburi, they kept pushing the concept of the "SMART COOL" units and NOT the "INVERTER" (Intelligent) units. Staff on the phone claimed she would get "cooler" temperatures with the SMART COOL units, but prices are way up there !! A 24,000 BTU "smart cool" unit was 52,000 Baht ! I could swear I have a quote from our usual condo unit cleaning guy of 35,600 Baht for their 24,000 BTU R32 Inverter model.

Anyone have any experience with these Smart Cool units? Are they worth the money, perhaps in efficiency? Could they produce that drastically colder air? I know their web page quotes up to 50 degrees cooler than outside, but ...??

PRG

[bankruatsteve]

Suggest you peruse the many threads in this forum talking about A/C. Can't say I've heard of Saijo Denki but agree the prices seem way up there. Have you checked out Daikin and Mitsubishi? Those seem to be the popular and trouble free units in DIY.

[IMHO]

The Smart Cool 25,000 BTU goes for around 21-22K Baht at most vendors, e.g. http://bbairwholesale.com/index.php/air-saijo-denki

It's a step up from the base models because it uses more energy efficient brushless DC motors, but the Intelligent Inverters also use BLDC motors, plus have an inverter - which the Smart Cool's don't. The Intelligent Inverters are their top line domestic AC's.

As for Saijo vs Daikin...

I have a Daikin 12K BTU R32 "Smart" Inverter, and a Saijo 12K BTU R410a "Intelligent" Inverter in different rooms of the house. The both do the same basic job - both cool the room quickly, both are quiet (so long as you don't use 'powerful' mode on the Daikin), but IMHO the Saijo Denki looks much higher quality - Tha Daikin indoor/outdoor units look very cheap by comparison.

It's not all perfect though - the WiFi control feature on the Saijo Intelligent Inverter makes it's own access point, and cannot be joined to your existing WiFi network - which means a lot of messing around on your phone to connect to it, use the app, then connect back to your Wifi network - plus as it's the access point, WiFi coverage suffers. As a result, I very rarely use it.

[meatboy]

Suggest you peruse the many threads in this forum talking about A/C. Can't say I've heard of Saijo Denki but agree the prices seem way up there. Have you checked out Daikin and Mitsubishi? Those seem to be the popular and trouble free units in DIY.

had dealings with saijo denki customer services,promises,promises,and p.off.

so our replacement was a mitsubishi econ air,18,000btu. 28,000bht.and we will be looking to buy another one.

[cigar7]

I recommend looking at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of any unit you choose. An AC is a big money appliance that should be cost efficient for 10 to 20 years. If there is little or no operations history nor a good warranty, avoid the risk, minimize the TCO and go with the popular smart inverter models.

[IMHO]

I recommend looking at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of any unit you choose. An AC is a big money appliance that should be cost efficient for 10 to 20 years. If there is little or no operations history nor a good warranty, avoid the risk, minimize the TCO and go with the popular smart inverter models.

Saijo Denki claim to be "top 3" for market share in TH. So not unpopular, short on history, nor are their warranties any different to the other market leaders.

At least, I'm guessing you didn't know that

[cigar7]

I recommend looking at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of any unit you choose. An AC is a big money appliance that should be cost efficient for 10 to 20 years. If there is little or no operations history nor a good warranty, avoid the risk, minimize the TCO and go with the popular smart inverter models.

Saijo Denki claim to be "top 3" for market share in TH. So not unpopular, short on history, nor are their warranties any different to the other market leaders.

At least, I'm guessing you didn't know that

You're right, I didn't know their claimed market share. However, of all the thousands of AC units I have seen in Thailand in the last decade, I've never seen one Saijo Denki AC and I don't know of anyone who has one. I frequently visit several large condos that have in excess of 500 rooms, and none have Saijo Denki AC. Do your own survey - its not difficult - just do a walk-around town especially big condos, and tell us how many Saijo Denki AC you see in a thousand AC units.

I doubt their claim is accurate. Lots of BS in advertisements and claims.

Edited December 7, 2015 by cigar7

[IMHO]

I recommend looking at the total cost of ownership (TCO) of any unit you choose. An AC is a big money appliance that should be cost efficient for 10 to 20 years. If there is little or no operations history nor a good warranty, avoid the risk, minimize the TCO and go with the popular smart inverter models.

Saijo Denki claim to be "top 3" for market share in TH. So not unpopular, short on history, nor are their warranties any different to the other market leaders.

At least, I'm guessing you didn't know that

You're right, I didn't know their claimed market share. However, of all the thousands of AC units I have seen in Thailand in the last decade, I've never seen one Saijo Denki AC and I don't know of anyone who has one. I frequently visit several large condos that have in excess of 500 rooms, and none have Saijo Denki AC. Do your own survey - its not difficult - just do a walk-around town especially big condos, and tell us how many Saijo Denki AC you see in a thousand AC units.

I doubt their claim is accurate. Lots of BS in advertisements and claims.

Yeah, they don't sell them in the chain stores- only via AC specialists. If you want to see where they get their sales numbers, go look in hospitals and clinics