Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Feb 04, 2013 9:21 pm Hi all, looking at purchasing a split system air conditioner in the next few weeks but not sure what to look for. Will probably just go to Harvey Norman or somewhere else that we can negotiate price. We won't use it very much as our house stays pretty cool, so not after anything too fancy. Main concerns are noise, it will be close to the tv so want one that's not too noisy. And energy efficiency, are some types more energy efficient? What brands should I look at? Appreciate any advice as I'm pretty clueless about air con Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 2Feb 05, 2013 5:54 am You will find the noise for split systems is the compressors which is located externally and the internal unit fans are very low noise. I'd go for an inverter as they are more energy efficient but are a bit pricier. Split systems don't circulate air throughout a house like evaporative, so if your home has a lot of separate areas with narrow access (a doorway) you will find they will not be cooled as much and you may need to buy a couple of small units other than one larger unit. Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 3Feb 05, 2013 8:07 am Take a copy of your house plan into the shop with you, they'll be able to go over your options It all depends on the size and positoning of your rooms, if its open plan or close up, etc. FWIW I just brought one at the Good Guys and got a great price on it - MrsT Brought first house in 2008. Renovated...a LOT. Built in 2013. Our thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67954 Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 4Feb 05, 2013 6:40 pm From my experience there are a couple of simple things that you may not consider at the time that will make a huge difference to the cooling performance. When choosing the location, try to arrange for the compressor to be on the south side of the dwelling. If it's shaded, even better. Locate the wall unit as close as possible to the compressor. The shorter the pipe run, the better they work. Hope this helps. Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 5Feb 05, 2013 7:39 pm Thanks for the advice guys! Re the positioning of the outside unit, south is not possible (or at least it's a big distance away), north is the only option as that's our lounge room and tends to be the hottest room on the really hot days. Will this be ok? Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 6Feb 05, 2013 7:53 pm We have one of our condensers on a north wall and don't have an issue with it. I suppose you could always look at ways of shading it? In terms of what to look for in a unit - go for an inverter as they're more efficient. Also have a think about what functions you'd like as well. For example, ours has a timer function which is handy for when we are working on hot days as we set the timer so that the aircon turns on 30mins before we are due home. It's nice to step into a cool house when it's boiling outside Custom downslope build Build thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=61873 Blog http://www.buildingroyalmanor.blogspot.com.au Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 7Feb 06, 2013 11:55 pm Don;t worry about the location of the compressor unit,mines on the roof,a tin roof facing north. When I was talking to the fridge mech.who gassed it up about shading it,he said they put these units on the roofs of buildings in Dubai,and its a lot hotter there.Come to think about it,how many do you see on the roofs of flats and so forth around here. Heaps.and mine works well.The trick is to keep the run of pipe work the shortest you can. Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 8Feb 07, 2013 7:29 am Thanks, that's good to hear. Still a little confused about what size to get. We have a 300m2 house but its not completely open plan so I'm not sure. Thinking about a 6.8 or 6.3kW Fujitsu inverter, will this be big enough? We have high ceilings... Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 9Feb 07, 2013 1:21 pm One split system air con will not cool a 300m2 house. They are mainly designed to cool an area within the house. If you want to cool more than one area you will need a multi head package or a ducted system. We chose to use Mitsubishi Heavy Industries inverters and are quite happy with their performance. Have a look at the room sizing guide in this link. http://www.mhiaa.com.au/docs/MHIAA262_S ... t%20A4.pdf We installed the SRK71 in the Family/Dining/Kitchen area which is 7.77 x 7.65m. In our TV room of 4.1 x 4.4m we installed the SRK35 as it was only $100 more than the model required. They work a lot more efficiently if you can close off the rooms. We have fans in all the bedrooms. The company we dealt with was http://www.globalrez.com.au/ Regards, Grumbles Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 10Feb 07, 2013 9:38 pm Thanks grumblebum, yeah I know it won't cool the whole house, I'm not too fussed about the other end as out house doesn't really get too hot anyway. I'm just not sure how to calculate the area to cool, the unit will be in our loungeroom facing a wide doorway to the dining/kitchen. Do I just use the loungeroom dimensions or the dining aswell? Ill attach a pic as I don't think I'm making any sense! Air con will be on left wall of family room facing dining. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 11Feb 07, 2013 11:34 pm Looking at your plan you would need to work out the total square metres of the family, dining and kitchen. Our unit is capable of blowing the air 17 metres so something similar would cool your kitchen/dining/family. It’s a shame you can’t close off more of your areas as that would make it more efficient. Regards, Grumbles Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 12Feb 08, 2013 9:54 am Thanks, that's what I wasn't sure of. Looks like I'll need at least 7kw. How do I find out how far it'll blow the air? How much is installation usually? I'm mainly looking at Fujitsu but what are other good brands? Edit: you said you have a Mitsubishi, are you happy with it? Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 13Feb 08, 2013 11:00 am So I've just read some terrible reviews about Kelvinator which is a shame as they've got a 7kw for $1299. Everything else seems to be over $1700. Didn't want to spend too much over $2000 inc. installation. Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 14Feb 08, 2013 11:20 pm Our large one is 7.1kW cooling and 8.0kW heating and it would probably be a good size for yours, most brands have similar sizes available. I just know about ours blowing the air 17m as it was on the brochure, don't know about the others. Most places charge about $600 to install an aircon. We were also recommended Panasonic but I have heard good things about Fujitsu and Daikin. Both of ours are Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and so far they are excellent. This is where we got our large one - its on this page at a cost of $2499 installed. http://www.globalrez.com.au/specials Regards, Grumbles Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 15Feb 15, 2013 8:07 pm Just thought I'd let you know we ended up getting a 7kw Panasonic, got it for a great price from Harvey Norman. It's getting installed next week, thanks for all the advice Re: How to choose a split system air conditioner? 16May 19, 2016 10:36 pm Hi, some time ago I faced this question myself and I was surprised with the amount of brands and devices on the market. Originaly I was going to ask for advice in blogs. But my colleague adviced me to call this guys http://myairmatics.com for help. They've done their job well, I must say. Move your linen into laundry and access laundry from your present linen space 1 5724 Anthony Firstly, wow you have put a lot of work into your list of questions! Great job and they are mostly valid questions that a builder should be able to answer. As… 14 9081 How do you remove one of these ceiling air con vents? And is it possible to disconnect the duct joined to the vent from inside the house, without going into the roof cavity? 0 4025 |