[@sohel]

After a long reaearch of over a month i had to finalize daikin 1.5 ton 3 star for my bedroom as i was looking for something real quiet and a simple yet elegant design. Some one who is in refrigeration business for almost 20+ years suggested me to go for daikin as o'general and mitshibushi were little out of budget. Both ODU and IDU are so silent as compared to others (loyd, onida, hitachi, videocon, voltas etc). It also has R32 refrigerant which works on higher pressure and is more ozone friendly and efficient. I would suggest don't see that 5k premium you are spending as compred to other brand and would strongly suggest to go with premium brands if you are looking to use them for 7+ years.

[sgiitk]

@shoel - R32 and R410a are essentially the same. Only R32 does not contain the fire retardants. R32 seems to be Daikin specific.

[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by kavensri

Many of my friends/relatives do not have AC at their home. So, this comment comes from my limited knowledge about AC. But, whoever has it, it is either Voltas or Blue star and none of the models (General, Hitachi, Panasonic, Daikin, etc) that we discuss here in this thread. And in the small offices, I have only seen Voltas, Blue star or Carrier and again none from the other brands. So, when i started planning for an AC at home, the very first brand that came to my mind was Voltas. My thinking was, when so many people are using it, there must be some reason for it? But, at the end of the day, my obsession with Japanese brand made me to start looking for Panasonic, Daikin, Hitachi and Mitsubishi.
So, in a nut shell, for those who do not want to go for expensive brands, Voltas can be considered.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

You can try Voltas also, reliable with decent service support, atleast here in BLR.

I looked into Voltas ACs, but it seems all their models are using R22 refrigerant, except the inverter ACs which use R410. I don't have much knowledge of this but I have seen many comments on this thread to avoid R22 based models. So, currently I am looking at Panasonic and LG. Is Lloyd worth looking into?

[deathwalkr]

see a lot of lloyds being sold here and people seem satisfied with product and service.

[anoop.nair]

My Onida smart AC(http://www.onida.com/i-genius/) is making the indoor very dry. Is there a humidification setting which I can tune?

[EFF-EIGHT-BEE]

Our Panasonic Inverter AC which was installed previous year was started today after a hiatus of approximately 6 months. However on turning on, the outdoor unit kicked in perfectly but the indoor unit's blower was not blowing any air. On closer inspection, I found that it's not rotating but later when I increased the fan speed, it came to life. After that, I tried multiple times but it ran perfectly without any hiccups. Now is there any issue which I should be worried of or is it a one of case? Also my AC's warranty is getting over in May so should I push for motors replacement?

[Pallavi]

We need a portable cooling solution and AC is our first pick followed by water cooler. Problem with that room is we either need an AC with very low power consumption or we need to get a lot of rewiring done. Water cooler is ok but makes the air humid and uncomfortable.

Are there any 1ton standalone ACs available from reliable manufacturers? I could find only Lloyd brand.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by Pallavi

We need a portable cooling solution and AC is our first pick followed by water cooler. Water cooler is ok but makes the air humid and uncomfortable.
Are there any 1ton standalone ACs available from reliable manufacturers? I could find only Lloyd brand.

Coolers are not the right solution for Indian summers which are already sticky & humid. They work better if the room is kept very well ventilated but still the humidity level rises considerably. Then the sound factor, coolers get pretty noisy.

There are a lot of 1Ton ACs available in the market, LG, Blue Star, Hitachi, Smasung, etx. all have 1T range.

[sgiitk]

@AWD; In the hot north like Kanpur desert coolers are perfectly adequate till the third week of June at least. So it depends on where you are. Coastal areas it is a no-no.

We have a 24" exhaust with a large enclosure and it is adequate for the entire house, about 3500sq ft. What I have discovered is the the stairway is also a near perfect duct for distributing the air. My only regret, we bought high (900rpm) speed exhaust instead of the lower (700rpm) unit. In fact we often end up using the cooler even in September, of course weather dependent. We normally empty the water tank only towards the end of September.

[ramki067]

Guys, have some bad news about Flipkart experience I had.

I purchased Hitachi 1 ton split AC which had an offer of Rs.501 to be paid for installation, which should have been done by 2 business days, on their product webpage. Hence i purchased the product thinking that it will be installed in 2 business days. Now, even after 5 days after there deadline time to install the product, there were no assurances of when it will be installed. All they were saying is that installation will happen soon. Thereby, i requested for a refund, but the very next day of initiating refund, i got a call from one of their executive saying that refund will not happen for this one, as its not their issue.
Now i'm stuck with the product not installed at my home.
This is customer satisfaction to the max! Way to go Flipkart!

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

... My only regret, we bought high (900rpm) speed exhaust instead of the lower (700rpm) unit. ....

Very easy fix is to install a 'dimmer' of about 600 watts rating. I use a 900 rpm GE Alstom 24" fan and ALWAYS operate it at rpms in the range of 300 to 600; never at 900. The cooling is excellent for the entire house as long as the RH stays below 30%.
In fact, if I wish to pre-cool the upstairs guest rooms before turning on the ACs there I run it at full speed and open the stairwell doors for about an hour. It is amazing what a large desert cooler can accomplish in dry heat conditions!

[sgiitk]

@anupmathur; That is what I have done, but them it is noisier, and also as the voltage fluctuates the speed varies tremendously. I still regret now going for 700rpm after fifteen years.

[Lobogris]

How often does one need to open the outdoor unit in a split ac for cleaning? My units have completed 3 years and the outsides look super clean and there are no issues with them. We live in a very clean location on a higher floor. I have heard from friends that they have their units cleaned every 3 months. Is this really necessary? If the casings were to be full of dust, I would feel the need to inspect and clean the insides but the casings seems really clean and look like new on all 3 units. I do clean the filters on the inside units/ air handlers every few months.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

How often does one need to open the outdoor unit in a split ac for cleaning? My units have completed 3 years and the outsides look super clean and there are no issues with them. ...

The outdoor units do not need to be 'opened' for cleaning ever. At most a water wash from the outside is all that is needed.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by EFF-EIGHT-BEE

Now is there any issue which I should be worried of or is it a one of case?

The blower motor on my non inverter Blue Star does not start immediately on turning on. There is about a 10 second delay before it spins up. Its been this way from date of purchase.

Observe the behavior of the indoor unit. If the behavior is consistent, then there is nothing to worry. If the blower motor refuses to spin up, without manual intervention via the remote, then there is a problem. Newer gen air conditioners might have a delayed start up for the blower unit. This might be to allow flow of refrigerant in to the evaporator assembly before start up of the blower.

Originally Posted by Lobogris

How often does one need to open the outdoor unit in a split ac for cleaning?

It is required only if you live in a very dusty environment. I've not had to wash or air blow the out door unit for over 7 years. It does look a little dusty but no performance impact so I've left it that way.

Originally Posted by ramki067

I purchased Hitachi 1 ton split AC which had an offer of Rs.501 to be paid for installation, which should have been done by 2 business days, on there product webpage.

Who takes care of installation, Hitachi or Flipkart? If its Hitachi, it is possible that Flipkart has not forwarded the request to them. Trying giving Hitachi a buzz and ask them about installation. All they might ask is for the purchase invoice, which you have.