[ghodlur]

Experts need a suggestion.

I need to buy an Electric Chimney for the kitchen but confused between a ductless and Ducted chimney. The loft above the chimney will be occupied by the duct reducing the loft space if I opt for ducted chimney which I am told is better when it comes to air filtration. Whereas ductless chimney will save some money and loft space but I am told is cumbersome from cleaning/maintaining purposes & kitchen not being Oduor free. Any thoughts on the above, what should I prefer? Any brand suggestion from BHPians which provide best customer support and warranty?

PS: I have a parallel kitchen and on special occasions the cooking is heavy.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Experts need a suggestion.

I need to buy an Electric Chimney for the kitchen but confused between a ductless and Ducted chimney. The loft above the chimney will be occupied by the duct reducing the loft space if I opt for ducted chimney which I am told is better when it comes to air filtration. Whereas ductless chimney will save some money and loft space but I am told is cumbersome from cleaning/maintaining purposes & kitchen not being Oduor free. Any thoughts on the above, what should I prefer? Any brand suggestion from BHPians which provide best customer support and warranty?

PS: I have a parallel kitchen and on special occasions the cooking is heavy.

For our Indian cooking and that too occasional heavy, it is always advisable to go for powerful suction ducted chimney. Yes, it eats up in some loft space but you need to decide between space and kitchen being odor/smoke free.

For ducted ones, Elica is among the market leaders and has good products and service.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Experts need a suggestion.

I need to buy an Electric Chimney for the kitchen but confused between a ductless and Ducted chimney. The loft above the chimney will be occupied by the duct reducing the loft space if I opt for ducted chimney which I am told is better when it comes to air filtration. Whereas ductless chimney will save some money and loft space but I am told is cumbersome from cleaning/maintaining purposes & kitchen not being Oduor free. Any thoughts on the above, what should I prefer? Any brand suggestion from BHPians which provide best customer support and warranty?

PS: I have a parallel kitchen and on special occasions the cooking is heavy.

1. You need a powerful extraction fan for Indian cooking. So get a ducted one.

2. As the chimney rarely extracts all the oily smoke, with time a fine layer of oil deposits in the kitchen. So a powerful exhaust fan in addition to the chimney is necessary.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

2. As the chimney rarely extracts all the oily smoke, with time a fine layer of oil deposits in the kitchen. So a powerful exhaust fan in addition to the chimney is necessary.

This one is bit contentious. For chimney to be most effective, it should be powerful and at the same time, wide enough to cover the hob (overhang is even better) so that fumes don't escape. Also, there should not be any other source in the kitchen which cause air flow and chimney has to fight against.

Having open window or an exhaust fan in the kitchen or near the hob disturbs the airflow around chimney and reduces it ability to pull the air. Hence these things are not advisable. Otherwise fumes would float and settle around the kitchen.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

For ducted ones, Elica is among the market leaders and has good products and service.

Elicia v Kaff?

We have had a Kaff chimney for 16 years and it has been excellent untill it failed last year. Various engineers, including an experienced ex-Kaff (they outsource service now) guy have been to look at it. We have had two replacement motors, none of which have been even 5% of its original performance, and it is time to stop wasting money on it.

Seeing your post, I took a look at the Elicia range online. They look very nice, with some interesting features.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Elicia v Kaff?

We have had a Kaff chimney for 16 years and it has been excellent untill it failed last year. Various engineers, including an experienced ex-Kaff (they outsource service now) guy have been to look at it. We have had two replacement motors, none of which have been even 5% of its original performance, and it is time to stop wasting money on it.

Seeing your post, I took a look at the Elicia range online. They look very nice, with some interesting features.

Good to hear about your experience

Kaff is doing well in hob whereas Elica is leader in chimney segment.

[India2022]

Originally Posted by dmplog

I am listing down the things that I need. Vijay Sales seem to offer an Extended Warranty at a cost, is it worth it?

Refrigerator - Bad experience with Samsung, its plastic developed cracks inside within 1.5 yr, and Samsung washed hands saying it cannot be repaired. Fortunately Vijay Sales extended warranty saved us (they provide Onsitego ext war), it covered some 70% amount refund after deducting 2 yr usage/depreciation. One of friend also facing lot of problems in Samsung refrigerator, just the ext war keeping them alive else would have thrown in dustbin. LG seems good, they also offer own 4 yr ext war.

Washing machine: good feedback of front load IFB

Microwave solo: IFB solo is good and working from 10 yr

AC: Daikin inverter split working good and silent

Robot: Xiaomi is good. Make sure to buy their own ext war or from One Assist for +3 yr as this is delicated appliance.

Except for AC, make sure to buy extended warranty to have peace of mind - either brand's own or from OneAssist or OnSiteGo - all these are good in servicing during ext war

(but never buy ext war from GoWarranty, they offer huge discount during purchase but at the time of product fault, you will not be able to utilise it, read amazon reviews if want to know abt them)

[India2022]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

which brand would you recommend for a 25l water geyser? I was seeing a few options like Havells Instanio 25L, AO Smith HSE-VAS 25L and Racold Pronto 25L but seen mixed reviews for all.

If in high rise, buy a geysor that supports high pressure (I think min 7 or 8 point pressure support needed), else tank will start leaking.
Using AO Smith (SDS 25 liter) from 10 yr in all bathrooms without any issue

[Sebring]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

For ducted ones, Elica is among the market leaders and has good products and service.

I wouldn't suggest Elica because it's very noisy. I have installed that in a tenanted house, and regretted it instantly.

KAFF is the best, just look at the finish on a Rs 7000 rupee chimney, just installed at Dad's place - in a new renovation. Procured from Decure.in. It's sucking up steam/smoke like crazy.

Besides this, I have positive experience with both Sunflame/Faber.

You may also look for BLDC motors for 60% power savings.

And yes, 'duct-ed' for Indian cooking

For refrigerators, I suggest Panasonic (From positive experience). Just ordered one for dad (Rs 17,000 after exchange on Flipkart)

[Mohan Mathew A]

Need advice

I need to buy split Acs for my new home-Three 2 tons and two 1.5 tons.
How is Godrej in terms of quality and cooling? They offer 5 year comprehensive warranty (including has) which is a big plus
The other options being considered are Bluestar and LG.
Any other suggestions?
Mitsubishi and Daikin are quite expensive. Is it worth the price?
How is Hitachi and Panasonic
I am a bit confused ( as obvious), so please share your valuable inputs.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

Need advice

I need to buy split Acs for my new home-Three 2 tons and two 1.5 tons.
How is Godrej in terms of quality and cooling? They offer 5 year comprehensive warranty (including has) which is a big plus
The other options being considered are Bluestar and LG.
Any other suggestions?
Mitsubishi and Daikin are quite expensive. Is it worth the price?
How is Hitachi and Panasonic
I am a bit confused ( as obvious), so please share your valuable inputs.

I have LG 1.5T and 1.0T in my house and working well for past 5-6 years except one time when one of the ACs was not cooling properly. Customer service was prompt and the technician fixed the issue. Otherwise, no other problem faced. Not sure about other brands.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

Need advice

I need to buy split Acs for my new home-Three 2 tons and two 1.5 tons.
How is Godrej in terms of quality and cooling? They offer 5 year comprehensive warranty (including has) which is a big plus
The other options being considered are Bluestar and LG.
Any other suggestions?
Mitsubishi and Daikin are quite expensive. Is it worth the price?
How is Hitachi and Panasonic
I am a bit confused ( as obvious), so please share your valuable inputs.

I prefer LG over other brands, mainly because of their excellent after sales service in Delhi. I now have 3 x 1.5T and 2 x 2T AC's.

You must check the 5 years "warranty" clause of the manufacturer. Mostly it is for the compressor (upto 10 years) and the Mother board.

Manufacturers also offer "Paid" extended warranty. I have one from LG. It costs around 10K per AC. So for 1+4 years you are covered for practically every thing - Gas, MB, Compressor, Heat Exchangers, Piping, Fans etc. You also get 2 free services a year.

One thing that you have to take into account. Unlike AC's of yester years, modern 5 star AC have very closed spaced fins both in IDU as well as in ODU (this is irrespective of brand). This increases efficiency a lot, but the down side is that the fins clog with dust (and mud if there is moisture). This results in monotonically lower efficiency and increase in electricity consumption, while decrease in cooling. So you have to be prepared to "pressure wash" both the IDU and ODU on a regular basis - once a year for moderately dusty environment with low usage, upto 4 times a yer in extremely dusty environment with extended usage (7m+).

[bijims]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

Need advice

I need to buy split Acs for my new home-Three 2 tons and two 1.5 tons.
How is Godrej in terms of quality and cooling? They offer 5 year comprehensive warranty (including has) which is a big plus
The other options being considered are Bluestar and LG.
Any other suggestions?
Mitsubishi and Daikin are quite expensive. Is it worth the price?
How is Hitachi and Panasonic
I am a bit confused ( as obvious), so please share your valuable inputs.

We have experience with a whole bunch of ACs at our homes and from our experience LG has been ok with a couple of sensor issues during our 10-year usage, and so too have Bluestar and Voltas. Mitsubishi and Daikin are excellent but not value for money for the price paid, Hitachi is also good but not as great as the others, and Panasonic is good in terms of product but not so in terms of service. Whirlpool has an average product but good service.

Now coming to the requirement, in the case of 2-ton ACs, the best option would be to go for BlueStar which provides a comprehensive 60-month warranty on its products.

Now as regards 1.5 Ton ACs, you can't go wrong with LG, Voltas and BlueStar, Panasonic offers more features and has a great product but do check the service availability.

[IamNikhil]

Originally Posted by Mohan Mathew A

Need advice

I need to buy split Acs for my new home-Three 2 tons and two 1.5 tons.

You should consider O'General, trusted quality and durable too; especially for the 2T. Even Panasonic has really upped their game recently. I am happy with both brands; no hassles.

[vaibhav_a_a]

Originally Posted by dmplog

[*]Refrigerator Double Door - ~350L (Can consider Bottom Mounted, but don't need side-by-side). Have seen Samsung, Whirlpool, Heir[*]Washing Machine - Top Load ~8Kg (Have never been convinced about the benefits of Front Load machines, though many people seem to prefer it.)[*]Microwave Oven - Solo (Have used solo microwave oven for last 12 years and it suffices for our need)[*]Air Conditioner 1 Ton + 0.8 Ton (Need a silent, no-fuss equipment. Don't need fancy features such as AI / Wifi. My current LG AC is noisy and had some repairs once in a while).

- I have a 324-liter Samsung Top Mount with Twin cooling. It is now 3 year old and I would like to tell you a bit about what it has gone through. I ordered from Samsung e Shop and got a 25% discount on list. Delivery took one week and the engineer came within 24 hours of that.

We had our first child a couple years back and had to rely on help - well, helps would be more like it. It was a revolving door - I think we went through at least 15 part time and full time maids for the baby alone. In addition, there was a cleaning lady, a cook etc. No one cared if the refrigerator was full, too full, or even the door was closed. On multiple occasions, I woke up in the middle of the night to find the door improperly closed, sometimes by an inch or more (you would see the light). We've had mold due to the abuse it has been subjected to.

However, the cooling so far hasn't dropped. Oh, and we have never had the opportunity to empty it out completely or defrost it or switch it off even once.

Contrast this with an earlier LG 200 Litre that saw minimal usage and still broke down within 5 years to the point of unrepairability.

Regarding your other questions - we have an LG microwave, basic, but now 8 years old and going strong. No complaints, no repairs or service calls, ever.

Washing Machine - top load semi automatic LG. Again, works as well as it can for an 8 year old piece and has survived a relocation.

In ACs I have a distinct preference for Mitsubishis (across my parent's home and mine, we have 5 now). I'd say am partial. I have 1 tonne and 0.75 Tonne pieces (both split). Do check that you are buying only Mitsubishi electric and not Mitsubishi Heavy Industries nor the Akabishi line. Other brands we have are Voltas (window), Hitachi (split) and Carrier (window) - and I'd rate them from best to worst in that order. In the rental accommodation I am in now, we have two daikin split ACs and they are OK because they are quite old now.

hope this helps you. I am myself going to get new ACs so maybe I'll have another story to tell in a few months after the killer summers in Delhi.

Do let us know what you end up doing.

cheers.