Split or Windowtype Aircon?

[bastonjock]

1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

The cleaning guys just left.  He measured the refrigerant pressure and he says it is too high at 180.  It has never had refrigerant added since the first install.  Is 180 a problem?  He said it should be 150 or less.

He said the insulation on the copper pipes may be bad and/or was never the proper thickness.  He said an inverter should have 3/4 inch insulation on the pipes.  They are going to give me a quote on replacing the insulation.

The outfit that did the install 3.5 years ago and has been doing my cleanings only charged 750 for cleaning a split.  These guys are charging 1200, but will reduce it for multiple units.  However, I don't think the first outfit was cleaning the outside condenser every time.  Not sure.  These guys took off the fan and part of the housing, then gave it a thorough pressure wash.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Sounds like the new guys may be better informed, maybe the 750 peso team was only using water , the problem with water is that on its own it causes limescale build up and that reduces the efficiency of the vains , i dont know if limescale is a problem in your area 

Its an easy diy job to do the insulation if you can find the materials 

Lol i find it ironic that im.sitting here its minus 2 outside and the discussion is about cooling 

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, bastonjock said:

Sounds like the new guys may be better informed, maybe the 750 peso team was only using water , the problem with water is that on its own it causes limescale build up and that reduces the efficiency of the vains , i dont know if limescale is a problem in your area 

Its an easy diy job to do the insulation if you can find the materials 

Lol i find it ironic that im.sitting here its minus 2 outside and the discussion is about cooling 

You may be right about that.  The previous guys used the water hose hooked up to their power washer.  These new guys put water in a 5 gal water container and put an orange cleaner in it that said "air con cleaner" on the side.

[Tommy T.]

I am still grinding through the shopping and evaluating process, searching for the "right" split-type air conditioners.

I am finding the same thing as @scott h did - prices at four places I have checked are all very close to each other. So it is coming down to service. However, installation prices vary widely from as low as about 3k up to 8k, depending on size. 

Does anyone have experience with any of the so-called Deluxe aircon units? Apparently Panasonic and some other companies offer air conditioners that include various types of ant-dust, anti-bacterial filtering functions. They also cost somewhere around 15-20k more than the conventional or Standard units. It seems to me that the standard should be just fine and that the extra features may just be something more to break along the way and requiring additional maintenance or repair.

[hk blues]

24 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

It seems to me that the standard should be just fine and that the extra features may just be something more to break along the way and requiring additional maintenance or repair.

That was my line of thinking, Tom.  I went for the basic Panasonic units, very functional with no bells and whistles that I probably wouldn't use and just clutter up the remote control and likely cause problems at some point.  I really think most A/C technicians here are, at best, no more than adequate and anything outside the norm is met with the response - you need a new such and such.  

[Tommy T.]

8 minutes ago, hk blues said:

That was my line of thinking, Tom.  I went for the basic Panasonic units, very functional with no bells and whistles that I probably wouldn't use and just clutter up the remote control and likely cause problems at some point.  I really think most A/C technicians here are, at best, no more than adequate and anything outside the norm is met with the response - you need a new such and such.  

And when I say, okay, please install a new such and such they will look at me blankly then smile and say, "Sorry, out stock."

I have found that with the "free" installation, Panasonic, Kolin and Koppel aircons here are all priced very close together. So that, along with the good rep that Panasonic seems to have is steering me towards those. So your basic units all come with remotes?

Edited November 21, 2019 by Tommy T.

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

And when I say, okay, please install a new such and such they will look at me blankly then smile and say, "Sorry, out stock."

I have found that with the "free" installation, Panasonic, Kolin and Koppel aircons here are all priced very close together. So that, along with the good rep that Panasonic seems to have is steering me towards those. So your basic units all come with remotes?

Yes, all units come with remotes.  Panasonic are not the cheapest nor are they the most expensive - my experience is that they are solid and reliable as you would expect from Japanese technology.  The units we bought (1 and 1.5 HP) were manufactured in Malaysia. Kolin have a good reputation too - Koppel I have not heard much about.  We bought all from Emcor who include installation in the price - they have their own installers which is a is plus IMO.

[Tommy T.]

7 hours ago, hk blues said:

Yes, all units come with remotes.  Panasonic are not the cheapest nor are they the most expensive - my experience is that they are solid and reliable as you would expect from Japanese technology.  The units we bought (1 and 1.5 HP) were manufactured in Malaysia. Kolin have a good reputation too - Koppel I have not heard much about.  We bought all from Emcor who include installation in the price - they have their own installers which is a is plus IMO.

We will have a similar experience to yours. The best prices were from Emcor also. Although, free installation was available at Abensons for Panasonic and they have their own in-house service staff too. We chose Emcor to save about 17,000 in the total price and they were the most professional of all. I met the service staff and they also were fastest with the price quote. It turns out that SM Appliance had the highest prices without even considering the extra for installation - from 7,500 to 8,500 for each unit and it would be done by a separate Panasonic service center.

[OnMyWay]

13 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Apparently Panasonic and some other companies offer air conditioners that include various types of ant-dust, anti-bacterial filtering functions.

We got Carrier "Silver" level and I think the "Gold" line has some of those features like the Panasonic top of the line.  I didn't consider those at the time but if I did it over, I would do more research on those extras before dismissing them and the higher cost.  Why?  My kids have asthma and if I thought there was a chance of preventing asthma attacks, I would ante up.

Actually my 5 year old seems to have outgrown the asthma and the 3 year old seems to be getting over it too.  We bought an air purifier that has some of the same systems built into those high end air con.

Edited November 21, 2019 by OnMyWay

[Tommy T.]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

We got Carrier "Silver" level and I think the "Gold" line has some of those features like the Panasonic top of the line.  I didn't consider those at the time but if I did it over, I would do more research on those extras before dismissing them and the higher cost.  Why?  My kids have asthma and if I thought there was a chance of preventing asthma attacks, I would ante up.

Actually my 5 year old seems to have outgrown the asthma and the 3 year old seems to be getting over it too.  We bought an air purifier that has some of the same systems built into those high end air con.

I understand your thinking completely since I had asthma as a kid. Anything you can do to help them is a definite plus! But the best thing is that the older has outgrown and the younger hopefully  about to outgrow the asthma. Seems to be a growing problem with kids - especially here - or else I just hear more about it?

However, as HK and I posted earlier, maybe you are better off having the aircon units and the separate air purifier? That might be more expensive in total and take up more space, but I would think it will be easier and cheaper to maintain and repair each system individually. I'm all for high-tech and improvements, but I am wary of trying to pack possibly too many features in one package - especially here where quality service can be a pipe dream. And even with quality service available, repairs would probably be more complex and expensive in the one (or several) units with all those extras.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Gary D]

I have just started to chase tbe wiring in ready the finishing (plastering) and have a question about the split aircon. I've put in spurs for the compressors but I'm unsure about the inside units. Do I need to put in spurs or are they wired from the compressor along beside the pipework. If I need a spur should it be beside the head unit or behind ?