Air Con Recommendations

[stament]

Being from England aircon units are something that I've never had to purchase before, and hence I don't know anything about them.

Having visited 2 shops, 2 different salesman told me that Samsung was the best while the other one recommended Sharp and Daiken.

Samsung has a 10 year warranty and it seems sensible to buy a unit with an inverter as I understand this reduces electricity bills. I was also thinking of having a quieter one for my kids bedroom and one which filters out more as they both cough a bit. Samsung have a virus doctor with an extra filter which one salesman recommended but the other one said it isn't quiet and recommended a quiet sharp one.

Is there much of a difference between all the manufacturers and which manufacturers are considered the best and most reliable?

Any info would be greatly appreciated on where to buy too. I have been to Powerbuy, Tesco and Niyom Panich (sorry not clear on the spelling). The latter store impressed me and the prices seem good. Has anyone had any experience with them and their after sales service? It's the large electric shop next to the Toyota dealer on the road to Airport Plaza from the old city.

[villagefarang]

I am very happy with my four Daikin Inverters. Don’t forget that you will need reliable service people to come clean and maintain your unit. Don’t make your decision entirely on price and sales staff.

[jimmym40]

I would never buy Samsung a/c's again. They are the noisiet units I have experienced. I've had Daiken for the past 9 yrs in two different homes. Very happy with them. My opnion, Mitsubishu and Daiken are the best and most reliable.

I've bought many items from Niyom Panich there at the airport location. Never had any items that required maintenance so cannot comment on after service. I might add. You can negotiate prices with them. They will normally come down a small bit on most items. (TVs, bicycles, fridge).

[cmsally]

Daiken if you want something long term . They seem to go for years without a problem.

Although just got one of those "triangular" Samsung ones that seems to work quite well.

[Eclipse]

We have a Samsung inverter and it works well. Very quiet. Can hardly hear it

Most will recomend Daikin though.

[Pib]

I expect that 10 years you mention regarding Samsung only applies to the compressor and all remaining components are 1 year. Don't assume that 10 year warranty applies to all the components such as the electronics, etc. Just for example regarding compressor warranties, I have 7 non-inverter York A/Cs in my Bangkok home approaching 8 years of age and even...even with 8 year old technology they came with a 5 year warranty on the compressors....1 year on all remaining parts.

In those 8 years of use none of them have had a compressor failure. One did "smoke" the electronics control board in the outside unit probably due to a lizard shorting-out components as it walked across the board or maybe a power line surge (fix cost around Bt3,000 including labor)....and had one where the startup compactor failed (cheap fix of around Bt100)....one had the remote control unit fail (cheap fix of around Bt500)....but no other components have failed.

Usually A/Cs fail due to getting super dirty/not being cleaned often enough (a human problem), some electronics circuit board failure, or low quality installation (a human problem) causing a small refrigerant leak.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Pib

[stament]

Very useful thanks for the replies all

[HullyGully]

Over the years I purchased Samsung, however I now purchase Mitsubishi with inverter, I think they are a lot better

[Oscar2]

I would never buy Samsung a/c's again. They are the noisiet units I have experienced. I've had Daiken for the past 9 yrs in two different homes. Very happy with them. My opnion, Mitsubishu and Daiken are the best and most reliable.

i concur (and so does my A/C guy) - who will not work on Samsung units.

Niyom is good.

[fredge45]

Mitsubishi excellent units.

Use the 3M Filtrete as a pre-filter to the 'filters' that are on the unit you buy. Change them whenever they show the need and you will be amazed at the additional crap they remove from the air, especially during the smoke season.

[Jitar]

Mitsubishi are good but they are tough with warranty claims. We had a fan motor fail just over 12 months from purchase and they will not replace. Our dealer reckons they have had a batch of these recently so probably a manufacturing fault.

[Pib]

Mitsubishi are good but they are tough with warranty claims. We had a fan motor fail just over 12 months from purchase and they will not replace. Our dealer reckons they have had a batch of these recently so probably a manufacturing fault.

I expect the warranty for all components other than the compressor was 12 months. One day over and it's out of warranty. Any manufacturer would operate the same way...out of warranty by one day or 1000 days, it's still out of it's warranty period.

Now the compressor will have a 5 year or longer warranty, but compressors last a long time...plenty much like compressors in your refrigerator where the compressor could easily last for decades.

[Shaunduhpostman]

I have lived my whole life in warm-hot climates (54 years) and Daikin is the only air conditioner for me. You can use them all the time and there are rarely issues. Seems to me whether it is in an office, hotel or rented apartment the LG, Samsung, Mitsubishis are the ones that I've noticed not working well.

[Minnehaha]

I would never buy Samsung a/c's again. They are the noisiet units I have experienced. I've had Daiken for the past 9 yrs in two different homes. Very happy with them. My opnion, Mitsubishu and Daiken are the best and most reliable.

i concur (and so does my A/C guy) - who will not work on Samsung units.

Niyom is good.

Bought a lot of air cons in Thailand, and had many more serviced over the years. To echo what has already been said -

When buying a unit - look at the space to be cooled, does it get direct sun, walls hot, how many people sitting in the room, any TV or computers or fridge etc etc? Is there glass windows or sliders? These are all factors when deciding BTU and or Watt needed to cool the room.

Once you know what you need - 12,000 BTU or 50,000 BTU, then go shopping.

I like Mitsubishi. In particular I like their high end Super Slim Inverter for the fairly small room I use as office. It is excellent - very quiet, works perfectly, dont even feel the air moving most of the time.

I have another in the bedroom. I chose a different Mitsubishi for that room because I like the soft hum of the sound it makes because of some street noise. This has worked out well.

I bought a Carrier 50,000 BTU Ceiling unit for living room when we bought the place. It has a lot of glass and is quite large. This was a mistake. The machine is extremely LOUD with air whooshing and when the compressor kicks on it can wake the dead. I have separated the 1 ton compressor from the balcony wall, so it is not touching it and this has reduced the vibration a bit. But overall, this was a mistake. I got bad advice.

Now I would buy 2 quiet super slim Mitsubishi units for this same space and live with the wall mount. I think Thais are used to this style and manufacturers make good ones as well.

Service is critically important. Do it every 6 months at least, more if you use it more often or during the rainy season / hot season. Getting service for the ceiling mount is never easy. Most guys 'dont do it' and will only wash the compressor outside.

Mitsubishi make great machines. Like Honda. They make great motors and have huge success with everything from cars to motorcycles to snow blowers to generators. Same with Mitsubishi. In my opinion, Samsung are generally OK, but they are targeting the low price range for a reason. And as with anything, now a days more than ever, cheaper means lower quality parts and workmanship. Simple. And I have had Samsung air con for 8 or 9 years with no problems. They were loud and temperamental at the end.

[Deepinthailand]

We have both daikin and LG both exellent none are inverter type to many power cuts here for inverters. Both very very quite but dakin the quietest of them. Shops will tell you anything so you buy the ones they recommend as they will get commission. Go for a good family firm where are you based???? Ask locals where they bought there's.

[recycler]

Lived in 4 places here and had the best experience with Mitsubishi Electric.

When we moved in our own house almost 4 years ago it had 4 aircons and whenever one breaks down we replace it with Mitsubishi MrSlim inverter types. They are reliable, silent and very economic to run.

[cancan70]

My experience tells me to warn you against buying a Samsung! We bought a Samsung 51/2 years ago and there was no end to the problems we had with it. It go so bad that after replacing almost every part in it, I began joking that we should have bought two of the units originally, and that way we would have had all the parts that were needed to fix the one unit that we were using. We finally got to the point where we gave up on it when the latest part that broke was going to cost over 2500 baht..... and this had happened when the unit was out of warranty (which at that time was only one year). I guess the reason they decided to give out a 10 year warranty is because they were getting such a bad name and had to do something to overcome the bad reports. We moved it to another of the bedrooms that we're not using and had a Mitsubichi installed in its place. That was two years ago that we made the switch, and we couldn't be happier with the Mitsubichi. Our electric bills are a lot lower than they were with the Samsung, plus the only maintenance that is ever done is when we get the unit cleaned every 4 months. But it is good to remember that no matter what unit you purchase, you need to have it cleaned regularly if you want it to run properly and not use anymore energy than is required. Good luck in your search, but my recommendation is to buy a Mitsubichi and stay as far away from a Samsung as you can get!

[boonchu]

I have a block of apartments with a total of 15 air com units. I have tried most brands but have found that Mitsubishi and Daikin are the least problem and easiest to get spares and service.

[1FinickyOne]

We have Mitsu... all the local shops and techs recommended this as best.

It is important to get good service but not sure how you go about this other than recommendation. They will all tell you htey have great service - but the fellow we bought one from a few years ago was totally incompetent.

[swissbie]

Most of my (Thai)friends recommand Mitsu, i use Panasonic, wondering, that nowbody mentioned them. Bought them from a small shop (relatives) and have a very good service. After 8 years they sound and work still as they were new.

[trd]

Very disappointed with Daikin. Poor build quality. I've had problems with expanding and contracting plastic casing noise and a recent problem with what was diagnosed as a very noisy blower motor in the evaporator. Daikin engineers replaced it and I still had the problem. It got tossed in the garbage. There is only one brand I would purchase now and that is Mitsubishi.

Edited July 6, 2016 by trd

[GOLDBUGGY]

I have had 2 Mitsubishi AC Units for years now and never and problems. Quiet to. But I think I also bought them as I got the best price for them and they were cheap to start with. Cheap compared to the other that is.

[catman20]

Daikin

[xylophone]

Had a poor experience with two Samsung aircons and have been looking around. Like Mitsi and Daikin as well as Hitachi and have noticed that Carrier have a new inverter model on the market, good intro price too...........anyone had any experience with these?

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Carrier brought refrigeration to Thailand 80 years ago. The best I have ever owned, but they aren't known for being quiet. I would also expect them to be kind of pricey. I saw them pull a 30 year old Carrier off a neighbor's townhouse a few years ago, in the US. That thing was a beast.

[xylophone]

Carrier brought refrigeration to Thailand 80 years ago. The best I have ever owned, but they aren't known for being quiet. I would also expect them to be kind of pricey. I saw them pull a 30 year old Carrier off a neighbor's townhouse a few years ago, in the US. That thing was a beast.

Thanks for your post and I always thought that carrier were majorly in the large and industrial type installations, however just a couple of weeks ago I noticed they have brought out a small unit, inverter, and 15,000 Btu's (just what I want) and at an introductory price of 24,000 baht, with free installation.

This is only an assumption on my part, but it would seem as if they are deliberately coming into the market at this low price point, because they seem to have neglected this end of the market, and of course it is their first inverter type, I believe.

I have no idea if they are noisy or reliable, hence my reason for posting here, however judging from your observation, they certainly are reliable and long lasting, so thanks for that info.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

It looks like that is only a 11.87 EER.....so that is why you get the great price. http://aircheck24.com/%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B2/carrier-42tvu16-15000-btu.html My brother just bought a Carrier multi-zone (3 blowers, 1 compressor), and it has a Toshiba compressor, which are the gold standard for the split systems.

I read the other posts, and here are my observations.....the number one thing is to make sure it is installed correctly. The 410 systems operate at very high pressure...and it has taken the Thais a while to adjust...there is zero room for error. If it has even a small leak...you will have funny noises, burned out boards, and 4x normal wear and tear on the compressor. But, you regularly see people state that "they need to top up the gas" like they are filling up the old Triumph with petrol. Complete nonsense. You should be able to go years without adding refrigerant. The other misconception is that people think they are buying Japanese, when it is likely produced in Thailand.

[xylophone]

It looks like that is only a 11.87 EER.....so that is why you get the great price. http://aircheck24.com/%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C-%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B2/carrier-42tvu16-15000-btu.html My brother just bought a Carrier multi-zone (3 blowers, 1 compressor), and it has a Toshiba compressor, which are the gold standard for the split systems.

I read the other posts, and here are my observations.....the number one thing is to make sure it is installed correctly. The 410 systems operate at very high pressure...and it has taken the Thais a while to adjust...there is zero room for error. If it has even a small leak...you will have funny noises, burned out boards, and 4x normal wear and tear on the compressor. But, you regularly see people state that "they need to top up the gas" like they are filling up the old Triumph with petrol. Complete nonsense. You should be able to go years without adding refrigerant. The other misconception is that people think they are buying Japanese, when it is likely produced in Thailand.

Thanks again for that information KKK, and it got me looking at the little brochure I obtained from the showroom when I looked at it, and I think it is a slightly different model than the one you have quoted above, being a 42 TVGO16-703, which according to the brochure has an SEER of 17.70.

Perhaps I will go to the showroom and have another look at the unit and see if I can find an engineer around, because there wasn't one when I last visited. Got me thinking that it may be worthwhile paying an extra 10,000 baht for a Daikin or Mitsubishi at 15,000 Btu's, with the inverter. However this is only a rented place and although I am staying here long-term and there is nothing ostensibly wrong with this Samsung unit here at the moment, but like many others of its ilk, it does have a wide temperature range and if I set it for 24° for the night, obviously it fluctuates between that and about 28°, which causes me some degree of discomfort.

I have tried setting it lower than that but it won't go much lower and is forever running flat out if that is the case. It is at its limit for the room size anyway, so that's another consideration and why I should move up from its 12,000 Btu's to a more efficient 15,000 Btu unit.

It is not an old unit (three years old) but I have not been that happy with it and would never buy a Samsung Air-conditioner again.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Your unit is too small or has a leak....now your compressor is nearly shot. 12K is enough for a good size bedroom but not a studio. 17K is a bit too much for my studio, but If I was west facing and/or top floor; it would barely be enough on the hottest days. Also, most don't know how to set the differential on their thermostats...some are .5-1.5..others are 1-3...the higher will prevent short cycling, but there can be a loss of comfort. The most obvious problem is if they don't turn on, next would be blowing warm air, and the next would be the compressor running all the time....often the most serious. You can "top off the gas," but you obviously have a leak (if it is low), and the compressor has already been damaged.

Edited July 7, 2016 by KhonKaenKowboy

[Deepinthailand]

The advise you get here will vary from poster to poster all have good and bad things to say about every brand. Make a choice based in best advise from here and go with it. I would say if you have a stable election supply inverters will save you money if not they will cost you money I speak from experience had a fridge and freeze both inverters both failed miserably. As we have frequent power cuts. Due to this we went with dakin an LG non inverter A/C both good Dakin the quietest by far but LG the coolest. As I said before seek local knowledge for buying and install. In my experience shops ie big c tesco home pro global house very expensive. Local installers far cheaper and far better knowledge