Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Oct 03, 2011 10:08 am We have signed to build and completed our electrical plan last week. When we signed up we had included ducted aircon 2 zones. Not knowing much about air con systems and their capability we were told the system included - a 6hp daiken would be fine. When we went to our electrical appointment they said "have you thought about upgrading your air con?" we were a bit shocked. They proceeded to tell us that a 6hp would struggle on a warm day and we could only run 1 zone at a time. Not happy about this at all. We were told we should upgrade to a 8hp at a cost of $3600. Already paying $12000. A rookie stupid mistake I know. Anyone have thoughts on this? I should add our house is 36q. So far I'm thinking our options are 1) call and ask them to upgrade for free (long shot I know, and perhaps laughable). 2) ask them to take out the aircon and have it fitted after handover which I will need to get quotes for. 3) pay the upgrade. Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 3Oct 03, 2011 10:43 am Thanks B STAR. So you think that 8hp will cost more to run? I thought that they said that it wouldn't as it wouldn't be labouring and would be more efficient? We could opt to pay a further $2700 to go to a 8hp Inverter (ontop of the $12000 and $3600). But that is getting too much, hence I was thinking of getting a quote from an external contractor to supply and fit after handover. Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 4Oct 03, 2011 12:14 pm This is a big misconception when it comes to aircond. Aircond are most efficient after running for a little while. So it the unit it too big and you are only running a smaller area to supposedly same money on electricity the unit will cut in and out (Cycle). This costs more the run, and wears on the compressor. My aircond can take around 30minutes to through out air as cold as 15degrees. If i turn it off then put it on again, the air will come out at around 25degrees then i have to wait for it to get to 15. So you can see what happens when it cycles. Yet still using the some amount of power per minute. If you are going to go for a bigger unit make sure it is an inverter type at least this way when you shut off half the house the unit can slow down but still run. I would rather you spent $5K on either better windows, curtains etc. This will reduce your load and the need for a bigger unit. I have a 36square house (28 internal). I can only really do half the house if it is 38/40 degrees outside. However if it is hot at night, then I could probably have the whole house going. I have a basic brivis 15kwatt unit. The unit is too big to just have on the bedrooms. Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 5Oct 03, 2011 4:50 pm We have daikin 8hp unit with 4 zones, I am told by the install guy I should always run for 2 zones at least, else it will be bad for the compressor. I have two zones down stairs and two zones upstairs. Our house internal (excluding garage) is 34 sq. We paid 12000 for this a year ago (moved in this April), ours is hybrid model, we are happy with it, it did the job in winter, will find out how good the unit is in summer. Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 6Oct 04, 2011 5:54 pm Thanks. I have spoken to the builder today and told them we're not happy that we were told the one we were signing up for would be efficient in our house. Asked them to upgrade us or remove the whole package as we can get a lot better fitted after handover for the same price. Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 7Oct 05, 2011 12:06 pm The basis of any air conditioning system is to start with a heat-load on the home. Amount of windows, which way is west, how well insulated and what will be the max area you will need to air condition at one time, are all things (and more) to consider. How many people will live in the house, will there be young children and are you interested in energy efficiency? Most air conditioners are sized to do approx 80% of the home. The more zones you have the more flexibility you have, otherwise you will have to air condition areas that you may not be using (eg. one switch for 3 bedrooms - this means if one person was in one of those rooms and wanted A/C, all 3 bedrooms will come on, wasting energy). A unit too small will struggle, cost a mint to run (as it will never reach temp on a hot day) and will be subject to breakdown. A unit too big will cost more to run with lots of stop/starts and you will need quite alot of the house running just to provide relief of access air (wasted energy). If your after energy efficiency (approx 61% energy savings) you can't go by an Actron Air ESP+ unit. The system can ramp down the fan to 10% airflow (providing flexibility), the outdoor unit uses a digital scroll compressor that can also provide down to 10% capacity. Bottom line do your homework! Get information! Ask questions! Its alot of money to spend on a white elephant if you get it wrong. Fridgy Re: Daiken 6hp - too small? 8Oct 08, 2011 11:03 am Thanks so much for your feedback. I got a quote from an external air con guy and he suggested the Daiken 8hp inverter as they no longer have access to the hybrid. He gave us 8 zones for $13,800. My only concern is we are having concrete roof tiles, is this going to be bad to fit after we have just had the house completed? Not sure if that works? I was told the issue is the headspace clearance requirement on step 4. My builder is proposing shifting the beam 310mm towards the kitchen...I'm… 2 2430 It will be neat but you won't have much freeboard. At least they are not weep holes. Are you in a high intensity rainfall region? The regulatory slope is only required… 3 8194 Firstly, if your house is still under builder's warranty (10 years in Victoria) you should have no need to crawl into roof space but let the builder handle it, unless you… 3 5608 |