[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

How often do the split ACs require service? What exactly do they do? Is it a DIY job?

In any AC most of the service consists of cleaning two units
1. Outdoor unit (in a split AC) or the outer fins in a window
2. Indoor unit (in a split AC) or the inner fins in a window

Depending upon the environmental conditions inside the room and out side, the fins can clog up in as soon as two months and as long as two years. So it all depends, if the room is pretty dust proof and you can clean the air filter, then once a year is enough, else twice a year is better. For cleaning the outdoor unit water from a garden hose (if accessible) is good enough to get rid of most of the dirt.

[sameerg001]

Guys, we are looking for a 1 ton inverter ac, for my bedroom. Please help me in taking the decision. What all option are available and for how much will i be able to get one ?

Thanks
Sameer

[prateekm]

We have a Voltas Vertis Gold 1.5 ton split in one of the bedrooms. Just after the warranty period got over (1 year warranty), the fan blade is having some problem. From what the technician told me, the blade's threading has worn off and the blade isn't available with Voltas (will take 5-6 days to get the company manufactured blade), hence he could order it from outside and it would cost us 1050/- approx. He says he could get a better quality fan (apparently manufactured by L&T) and put it and guarantees that it will never have problems like the one Voltas supplies. Any pointers on what I should do, go with the company blade or one from the outside market?

[Deep Blue]

Originally Posted by Aroy

In any AC most of the service consists of cleaning two units
1. Outdoor unit (in a split AC) or the outer fins in a window
2. Indoor unit (in a split AC) or the inner fins in a window

Depending upon the environmental conditions inside the room and out side, the fins can clog up in as soon as two months and as long as two years. So it all depends, if the room is pretty dust proof and you can clean the air filter, then once a year is enough, else twice a year is better. For cleaning the outdoor unit water from a garden hose (if accessible) is good enough to get rid of most of the dirt.

Thanks Aroy.
The Panasonic guys had come to service the two split ACs in our house. I could not be present in the house when they came. My mother said they finished the work in half hour and did not do anything on the outdoor unit. So I was wondering whether all they do is clean the airfilter which I do myself once a month.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

Thanks Aroy.
The Panasonic guys had come to service the two split ACs in our house. I could not be present in the house when they came. My mother said they finished the work in half hour and did not do anything on the outdoor unit. So I was wondering whether all they do is clean the air filter which I do myself once a month.

If they are conscientious, then they would clean the fins behind the air filter. These get extremely dirty (at least in our case), and the service mechanic does a thorough job of "wet cleaning" it without messing the room up.

In case the fins get dirty and in extreme case clogged, then the water condensing during humid days will drip in the room in stead of draining through the pipe, which is next in the line after the fins to get clogged due to dust which turns to mud when water mixes with it.

[Prodigious]

I need some urgent advice: Senior Members like Khoj and members from Pune please respond as early as possible - -

After reading most of the ,messages on this thread, I have decided to go for a Panasonic 1.5 ton 3 star AC. I have been given a quote of Rs 27000 + installation (1500+200) by Vijay Sales. The model mentioned is Panasonic cs yc18nky (Eco Pearl).

My questions:
Is this 2012 model?
Is this a good buy? Model and Price wise
Our room size is approx 16x11 (approx)
Any specific points to take care of during installation?

You valauble advice is eagerly awaited!

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by sameerg001

Guys, we are looking for a 1 ton inverter ac, for my bedroom. Please help me in taking the decision. What all option are available and for how much will i be able to get one ?

Thanks
Sameer

Look at Daikin, Toshiba and Mitsubishi heavy units.

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Look at Daikin, Toshiba and Mitsubishi heavy units.

Any specific model to look for, and for how much will i be able to get one ?

Thanks
Sameer

[agspins]

I came across a Sharp 1.1 Ton portable unit,Any ideas about its performance ?

[mjumrani]

Finally Bought a Hitachi.

Model number is RAU518HSD, and series is Ace Cutout.
Tonnage is 1.5 and its rated at 5 stars.

Final cost was 34.5k (37 - 3.5k for old ac + 1k installation)

Thanks you all for the guidance

[deky]

After procrastinating of buying an AC for over a year we finally invested in a 2.2 Daikin Invertor AC model number FTKD71F. We ordered the AC day before yesterday and got it installed yesterday in my bedroom.

The Ac unit costed 53,600/- + Stabiliser 3300/- + Rs.4000/- for installation i.e Rs175/- per running feet (copper tube+ insulated covering + electrical wire from indoor to outdoor unit) + Rs500 for stand + Rs.1250/- installation charge.

I would like to thank Khoj who has been helping me a lot over the decision making and the installation process. Really appreciate his help.

So Taruun, thank you, may God bless you!!

During installation, I stood on the head of the technicians to see if they do a good job with no short cuts. I anyways dont know anything about splits so wanted to learn as well. It seemed they did a good job with vacuuming, gas leakage testing etc etc. They also took out time to explain me the features patiently.

All in all I was pretty impressed.

Why 2.2 Tr and not 2?
I realised reading the catalogues of most of the companies that an AC that has a capacity of say 2 Tr will not be exactly 2Tr but 5-10% less. My room has a total area that needs to be cooled is about 275 Sq ft. My previous 2 Tr Carrier window ac ( 11 yrs old) was not sufficient for it. So just to make sure went for a 2.2Tr

Why Inverter?
One thing certain was that it had to be 5star rated. But with normal compressors when they cut off, I find the room get a bit uncomfortable till the compressor does not start again. With inverters the compressor never cuts off, its speed increases or decreases with temperature variation. Also our usage is very high and they say that it saves 15% more energy than a 5-start so went with it.

Why Daikin?
Because Mitsubishi were more expensive than Daikin and General apparently has very poor service back up. So went with Daikin!!

First Impression
Its too early to say right now as the outside temperature is only about 38 degrees. But during the afternoon I used the a/c for 2 hrs or so and found to be very affective. I had to increase the temperature from 22 degrees to 26 and it felt very nice. Never used a split before so cant compare noise levels. But after having used a window ac, it was obviously very silent.

Last night we used the AC as well and the performance is much better than my previous ac.

The only grudge I have is that the IDU does not show the temperature its been set on and the remote is also not illuminated. So in the middle of the night if you have to reset the temperature you would have to switch the light on

Reducing Heat load

Anup Sir had suggested to have awnings made to cover the terrace. But instead i just tied the green cloth meshing thats available in the market over the terrace. The heat load has comparatively reduced. This was done just on an experimental basis and it has worked.

Now will think of a permanent solution like having a frame made for the green cloth mesh

Regards!!

[greatmana2000]

Today I got a panasonic cube installed for my bedroom . The total cost of the unit came to about 20,000 net including installation , but without the stabilizer as I had that already from the previous A/c . Actually I was quoted 19,000 at Jayam &co annanagar ,but they required 2 days for the installation due to "season" . Since I needed the A/C immediately , I bought it from another dealer .

Now , coming to my reasons for choosing the Cube 1.5 ton . Actually the cube 1.5 ton is 1.8 ton capacity . My room size is around 15*11 and I have an open terrace so , I actually need a 2.0 ton for my room considering chennai temperatures . With a floor above a 1.5 ton is more than sufficient ,but in my case I wanted a bit of "headroom " for faster cooling .

Coming to the design of the CUBE , it is designed to suck air from the sides and top and it blows through the evaporator coil . A split A/C sucks air from the top and blows at the bottom and a window A/c sucks air through the evaporator and blows it out in the front . The CUBE is the only A/c which I know of till date does the reverse of all other A/C . It blows through the evaporator rather than suck air through the evaporator .

Installation took about 4 hrs to be done and I got it installed in the space where my window A/c was using plywood .

The A/C is rated at 2 stars , but buying a smaller capacity 5 star rated A/C would consume more power and I did not want to really spend a lot of money on A/C because every year ,my bad luck the A/c develops some fault and I cannot wait until the A/C can get serviced . So I end up replacing .
I actually wanted to get the cheapest window A/c and I tried to get Electrolux 2.0 Ton which was listed on Flipkart for Rs 19,000 and the 1.5 Ton was just 14K ,but I was not able to find any dealer who stocked Electrolux .

So the next option was the Panasonic cube and it was good on specs ,good on price as the cheapest 1.5 ton window costs around 19K . So i was kind of happy to get a split at the cost of a window A/C . The CUBE is a heavily stripped down version of a split A/C .

About 5 months back I bought a Daikin 1.5 ton 3 star A/C and comparing both the machines the Panasonic wins straight . I had paid around 32 K for the Dailkin and the same machine now retails for around 37K . The cooling level of both the A/c is the same though the panasonic does it for around 17K cheaper . The Daikin indoor unit is a better unit in terms of construction and quality though .

[deky]

Bit more on my Daikin 2.2 inverter AC.

Well I tried to do some study on how much electricity units does it consume. Actually because the compressor never shuts off and I could not here the comressor getting slow or fast I thought the best would be to check the units consumed.

I noted it for 3 hours at an interval of 3 hours each

1st Hour : 2200 hrs - 2300 hrs,
Units consumed : 3.2 Units
- Other lights (4 tubelights) in the house also on, 2 Tv's on, 2 fridges on, 3 fans on with the ac
- AC set on 22 degrees
- Units high as I guess the room was very hot

2nd Hour : 2300hrs - 2400hrs
Units Consumed : 1.5 Units
- 2 tubelights, 2 fridges and 2 fans on with the ac + other small miscellaneous items
- Room got much cooler hence ac was reduced to 25 Celsius

3rd Hour : 2400 hrs - 0100hrs
Units consumed : 1.1 Units
- 1 tubelight, 2 fridges and 2 fans with the ac + other small miscellaneous items
- AC set at 25 celsius

The above may not be an exact method to check the unit consumption but surely gives a broad idea.

Hope the above helps

regards

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by greatmana2000

Today I got a panasonic cube installed for my bedroom . The total cost of the unit came to about 20,000 net including installation , but without the stabilizer as I had that already from the previous A/c . Actually I was quoted 19,000 at Jayam &co annanagar ,but they required 2 days for the installation due to "season" . Since I needed the A/C immediately , I bought it from another dealer .

Now , coming to my reasons for choosing the Cube 1.5 ton . Actually the cube 1.5 ton is 1.8 ton capacity . My room size is around 15*11 and I have an open terrace so , I actually need a 2.0 ton for my room considering chennai temperatures . With a floor above a 1.5 ton is more than sufficient ,but in my case I wanted a bit of "headroom " for faster cooling .

Coming to the design of the CUBE , it is designed to suck air from the sides and top and it blows through the evaporator coil . A split A/C sucks air from the top and blows at the bottom and a window A/c sucks air through the evaporator and blows it out in the front . The CUBE is the only A/c which I know of till date does the reverse of all other A/C . It blows through the evaporator rather than suck air through the evaporator .

Installation took about 4 hrs to be done and I got it installed in the space where my window A/c was using plywood .

The A/C is rated at 2 stars , but buying a smaller capacity 5 star rated A/C would consume more power and I did not want to really spend a lot of money on A/C because every year ,my bad luck the A/c develops some fault and I cannot wait until the A/C can get serviced . So I end up replacing .
I actually wanted to get the cheapest window A/c and I tried to get Electrolux 2.0 Ton which was listed on Flipkart for Rs 19,000 and the 1.5 Ton was just 14K ,but I was not able to find any dealer who stocked Electrolux .

So the next option was the Panasonic cube and it was good on specs ,good on price as the cheapest 1.5 ton window costs around 19K . So i was kind of happy to get a split at the cost of a window A/C . The CUBE is a heavily stripped down version of a split A/C .

About 5 months back I bought a Daikin 1.5 ton 3 star A/C and comparing both the machines the Panasonic wins straight . I had paid around 32 K for the Dailkin and the same machine now retails for around 37K . The cooling level of both the A/c is the same though the panasonic does it for around 17K cheaper . The Daikin indoor unit is a better unit in terms of construction and quality though .

Good details about Pana A/C. I am also planning for an A/C buy but totally confused. Budget can be 20k max.
I really like the design of Pana Cube and you have explained the technical details also in brief.
If you don't mind, may i ask you for some pics of this A/C installed space. it will help me make up my mind.
some more details like noise level and effectiveness will also help.
thanks.

[Thad E Ginathom]

My one-ton Samsung split (both units) has just been driven away for leak mending and gas charge when refitted. This is the bedroom unit: the most important in the house. Will have to sleep without it for one or two nights

Oh well, better it should happen now than in two to four weeks time, when the real Chennai heat sets in