What is a good split system?

[goraek]

Hello all,

I'm in Melbourne and would like to have a split system installed on my top floor as it gets very hot in summer as it is now!

I'm thinking of getting Daikin or Mitsubishi (inverter of coz), but I wasnt sure which one is better, and of coz all are the same, but I need something that can cover the whole top floor and maybe ground if it's powerful enough.

I dont know what the coverage is on the top floor, but its one of the henley homes.

Can someone please advise where I should get one with installation, and what I should be looking for?

I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks in advance.

[Jacksin]

I'm guessing, to an extent, here.

Having to service each level, or both, sounds like you would need a ducted (inverter) system with zones that can be isolated at different times. Cheaper ducted units have a day/night set up which might suit some but you are limited to cooling the bedrooms at night and living areas by day.

Its my understanding split systems are for much smaller areas when one considers the inside unit sited in one room will take far longer to push cold/hot air to all rooms.

I had Fujitsu inverter R/C installed back in September and with the last few Adelaide days around (or over) 40deg its great. I can cool my home to 22 deg, fan speed on medium, in around 40mins. My neighbour has a new evap system that runs all day and most of the night but will never drop the inside temp to that of mine. Sure mine might be a tad more expensive to run but I only have to use it in much shorter bursts.

It wont cost you anything to get a couple of quotes from renown companies.

[goraek]

Thanks for that Jack.
I heard that evap system is not as good and plus its much more expensive to run.
Ill have a look around and see what I can find.
Cheers.

[Uncle Bob]

I heard that evap system is not as good and plus its much more expensive to run.

Evap's are great in dry heat, pretty hopeless in humid conditions. They are cheaper to run that a true aircon unit of any type though, by a long shot. You also have to leave some doors/windows open for them to work. This can be a good or bad thing. Good if you like fresh air, bad if you're prone to lowlife thieves or live by busy roads.

[Smurf]

What you need to know is the cooling load of the area. This can (and should) be properly calculated by measuring the windows, floor area etc. Any decent air-condioning installation company should offer this service free (if you buy from them).

(Someone who's doing it all the time will probably just be able to look at the room and work it out in their head without needing to actually measure everything.)

If you put one split system of adequate capacity in a house then all the rooms will be cooler than they otherwise would be, but you won't get a uniform temperature throughout the house unless you have unusually large doorways etc. It might be good enough though if you don't mind 22 degrees in the room where the unit is and maybe 25 - 27 in the rooms furthest away. Otherwise go for ducted or multiple split systems.

Don't go too small or too large with the system if you want it to work properly and be reliable. It needs to be sized properly.

In my opinion, stick to the well known brands. Mitsubishi, Daikin, Panasonic etc all have a fairly good reputation. Buyer beware if you go for one of the cheapies - might be OK might not.

Since you are in Melbourne and will need heating during the winter, get a reverse cycle system regardless of if you go for split or ducted. Reverse cycle will add very little (if anything) to the cost of the air-conditioner but is one of the cheapest ways of heating - uses only a third as much power as any other type of electric heater (so it's better for the environment too). A lot of people in Tasmania and other cooler places buy these systems solely for use as heaters (since they are cheap to run) and rarely if ever use them for cooling.

[Spelunx]

Smurf's post is right on the money, go for the correct sized unit.

Ignore Hp rating, as this is just a measure of the motor strength, what you need is it's cooling and heating capacity, which is measured in Kw. Each unit will have a rating for cooling and heating, so if you compare these with each unit, you are comapring apples with apples.

In our last house, we installed a cassette system in the ceiling, and then ported one vent through to the home theater room. I beleive, if you buy the right system, you can have up to two ports off the main cassette, so it becomes a poor-mans ducted aircon.

We went with Fujitsu, it was very quiet and ultra-reliable.

The house we bought 12 months ago has a cheap split system in it, and it makes a racket. The swinging arm thing on it creaks every time it moves back and forth, and the fan is that noisy, even on the lowest setting, you have to turn the TV up a couple of notches to hear it.

Hopefully it will blow up in a year or two and I can replace it with a decent unit.

[Ashwood]

Stick to good brands - Daikin, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi.

Harvey Norman in Whitehorse Rd will give you a list of tried/tested installers.
Good Guys next door often do good deals for purchase, esp. if you pay cash.

Re installation, try to have a solid base for the condenser unit. Make sure your installer has enough horizontal pipe run before any vertical runs, so that if the soil settles under the condenser, your piping doesn't get affected.

Side note - check that your electrical switchboard/mains line from the switch has enough capacity. Your installer/sparky will probably tell you anyway.

[dazzler]

Another thing to consider is is the house correctly insulated, would awnings/sails/tint make a difference.

Our new place is well insulated and windows positioned to catch the breeze wherever it is. Our curtains are full block out so no heat can get in from the east of a morning and west of an afternoon. We also have some large pedestal fans to move the air.

We installed a fujitsu reverse cycle and find we really dont need it with the way the insulation is and really only use it to cool the house down for 20min after coming home.

So in short at least do all you can insulation wise before an install - at least it will save a lot of power dollars in the long run.

Friends in canberra (hot dry heat with no humidity) swear by thier evaporative. Does it get humid in Melbourne

[Krazee]

Stick to good brands - Daikin, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi.

Recent experience with Fujitsu! Took from October to Christmas eve to get faulty unit repaired, including five tech visits. Fortunately under warranty - hate to think of cost if it had not been!

Geoff

[rod1949]

Myself, I've got 6 Teco's. One of my main criterias was quiteness and in referencing the specs with the other big brands (including inverters) the Teco's beat them hands down. They have been installed for 12 months now and to date have performed well with no problems.

[Eastie]

IF you are looking at mitsubishi look at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ones (MHI, not mitsubishi electrics)

[Burnsy]

I just found out today that some brands such as Actron have started quoting Nett capacity rather than Nominal as use to be the standard. This means that you may not be comparing apples with apples if you just compare the kW rating without checking which one it is. I was told that this has come about due to the new energy certification laws (MEPS).

A machine that is nominally rated at 20kW may have a net of only 17.5kW.

[goraek]

thanks for the posts guys...
i was thinking of purchasing daikin... i heard futijsu is pretty good, but i wanna try daikin and see how it goes...
also, if i get one installed, will i be able to another one installed in the future, piggybacked with the first one?
and which one shud i be lookin for with daikin? i have a double storey house, and would like to cool the top floor evenif the bottom floor is not coolin.

[Smurf]

Specific Daikin models I don't know.

But you will find that cool air tends to naturally sink if you have doors etc open in the house. So putting it on the top floor will give a modest amount of cooling downstairs.

But if you put it downstairs then you would get no real cooling upstairs - hot air rises, cold air sinks.

I'm a bit wary of Fujitsu as they are known to not perform too well under harsh (close to zero degrees) conditions when in heating mode whereas the Panasonic, Daikin etc work fine under those conditions. That lack of performance gives me a few doubts as to the overall quality of the unit (and makes them a bit of a dud in Tas etc). Also I've fixed quite a few "shouldn't have broken" type electronic faults with Fujitsu as well (same fault in every unit and after only 5 years or so).

[goraek]

yeah.. thats true...
thats why if i was able to put multiple split system after i get one installed in the future, i wud test one out then if its good, ill get more installed....
i heard daikin was pretty good considering its cooling coverage but who knows, u wont know until u try it i guess...