Team-BHP - The home / office air-conditioner thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomyboy (Post 5871032)

There is a difference between extended warranty and extended comprehensive warranty and LG is not all inclusive. Only Godrej, Haier and Voltas provide comprehensive warranty.

Well this is what LG AMC Covers

The AMC shall cover the following parts under the normal product warranty based on selected plan code
HA/AC Products: Compressor, Thermostat, Relay, OLP, Fan Motors, Timers, PCB, Heaters, Air dampers, Ice maker, temperature sensors, Evaporators, Condensers, Refrigerant charging, Driers, Capillary, Blowers, Fan Blade, Control box, Magnetron, Electrical switches, transformers (internal), Diodes, Capacitors, Wire harness, Wash & Spin motors, Gear box, Clutch Assy., Drum, Inner tub, Bellows, bearing & lip seal, Drain motor, Pump, Electrical valves, Buzzer, Suspension, Key Membrane, Remote-PCB.
HE Products: Chassis, PCB, LCD module, Electrical switches, PDP module, SMPS, Speakers, Capacitors, Diodes, Transformer, Transistors, IC, Remote-PCB.

Plus there are two services per year included.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jomyboy (Post 5872492)

That is all fine, but they don't cover gas charging, unless gas leak due to compressor fault. If you are fine with that, then by all means go ahead. I just spoke with my experience, gas leakage fraud is something these AC guys are minting on day in day out.

Read carefully. They cover gas charging, for what ever reason it may be. (Unless there is a distinct sign of physical abuse). Checked it with LG engineers. The warranty also covers replacement of the IDU, ODU condensers. Had changed the IDU condenser in the first AC I bought. The change was required due to repeated dismantling for pressure washing. Now a days they do not need to dismantle as they have pressure washers with a plastic hood to prevent water spray. Also in the event that the condenser is clogged totally they will replace it. That can happen in extremely dusty environment followed by high humidity if the AC is not regularly serviced or serviced without pressure washing. The good thing is that the LG Extended warranty comes with two free services annually. More if there is a problem.

Both Daikin and Hitachi should be a good option. Better to check regarding the service availability (I see Daikin more commonly than Hitachi).

Regarding Hitachi, I am a fan of their engineering because of small attention to detail but have never owned one.

Recently, I stayed in a guest house for more than 3 weeks and used a Hitachi split AC. It performed wonderfully and the best thing was that there was no annoying white LED showing the set temperature in a so called hidden display inside the indoor unit. It beeped very gently while changing the settings in contrast to my Carrier that can wake up a person sleeping in the next room. This is problematic when there is an electricity interruption in the middle of the night (resulting in loss of silent mode setting).

My LG and BlueStar AC at home are also loud in this regard. Hats off to Hitachi engineers for being intelligent beings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashis89 (Post 5913123)

Need to purchase 4 ACs for home. Between Daikin vs. Hitachi, which one would be better? Daikin is quoted 3-3.5k more expensive than comparable Hitachi.

I have had both Hitachi and Daikin AC's. Their products are very good, but their service is quite bad. Now I am an LG fan with five AC's. The good thing about LG is their extended service which takes care of all the service and parts related issues for 5 years at around 10K. All parts, gas and annual services are included.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 5913354)

Now I am an LG fan with five AC's. The good thing about LG is their extended service which takes care of all the service and parts related issues for 5 years at around 10K.

Thanks for your recommendation. I'm looking at buying another AC and thinking of going with either Samsung or LG this time. Drawing a parallel with cars, there was a time when Honda was a lot more reliable than Hyundai, but now Hyundai is good enough. Similarly, I think that LG/Samsung are good enough now, and the ease-of-service angle can't be overlooked. Interestingly, Samsung seems to be offering extended warranty for 5 years with 1.5Ton 5-star inverter model, which makes it rather attractive proposition. Or am I missing something here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Su-47 (Post 3939978)

Based on a friend's recommendation, bought a Toshiba Inverter AC and it is ridiculously quiet. The ODU is pretty silent as well. When it is silent outside in the nights, I can hear a Samsung ODU which is 3 floors down but not this one which is only 5 feet away.

This Toshiba AC installed 8 years ago, is holding up very well. No gas leaks, no perceivable increase in noise or reduction in cooling performance, so didn't get it checked or serviced ever! Please note this is in Bangalore, so operating conditions are relatively mild and the environment is non-corrosive. Am I pushing my luck too far and should I get this checked/serviced this year? I'm worried that the act of "checking" may disturb a perfectly working machine. If at all I should get this serviced, what do I ask them to check?

And, I noticed that the modern Samsung ODUs don't make as much noise as the old ones used to. Or, is it just a matter of time before they degenerate into noisy ones?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Su-47 (Post 5924255)

Most manufacturers give extended warranty at a cost. So please check the cost for Samsung AC's. It is around 10K for LG if taken out within first month. The rates are on their site.

For those who go for extended warranty please check if the following are covered :

. Gas
. Heat exchangers (radiators/grills)
. Fans
. Motherboard (though that is covered for 5 years in the normal warranty for most)
. Body rust
. Cartage if the AC is to be taken to workshop.

In fact LG covers everything (except a few plastic parts) parts, labour and gives two free services a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Su-47 (Post 5924255)

Am I pushing my luck too far and should I get this checked/serviced this year? I'm worried that the act of "checking" may disturb a perfectly working machine. If at all I should get this serviced, what do I ask them to check?

Get yourself one of those cordless (Or chord) air blowers and blow the outdoor unit yourself. If you are handy with a screw driver, lift the lid off the outdoor unit and give it a nice internal blow out (Cooling coils, etc), while not directing too much air pressure around the electronics. Take out indoor unit internal filters and wash them with warm water, air dry them and place them back into the indoor unit. Thats all the service you need to do. I can almost guarantee that the service engineers will water blast the unit. There is no need to do that.

Quote:

And, I noticed that the modern Samsung ODUs don't make as much noise as the old ones used to. Or, is it just a matter of time before they degenerate into noisy ones?

Almost all modern aircon units come with compressor jackets, hence the reduced noise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Su-47 (Post 5924255)

........................

This Toshiba AC installed 8 years ago, is holding up very well. No gas leaks, no perceivable increase in noise or reduction in cooling performance, so didn't get it checked or serviced ever! Please note this is in Bangalore, so operating conditions are relatively mild and the environment is non-corrosive. Am I pushing my luck too far and should I get this checked/serviced this year? I'm worried that the act of "checking" may disturb a perfectly working machine. If at all I should get this serviced, what do I ask them to check?

And, I noticed that the modern Samsung ODUs don't make as much noise as the old ones used to. Or, is it just a matter of time before they degenerate into noisy ones?

. If the environment is dusty; as in Delhi; then pereodic washing of the ODU is necessary. My service engineer uses high pressure water to wash the ODU, both the fins and the fan. There is so much dust accumulated in 4/5 months that it takes five to ten minutes of washing for the dripping water to trurn normal. Initially it is jet black.

. Inverter AC ODU make much less noise than the the non inverter AC. The reason may be that inverter AC ODU fan is also regulated so the speed is adjusted to the heat load. After a few minutes of switching on, the heat load reduces, so does the cooling requirement, hence lower fan speeds -> lower noise.

Hi All, I am in the market for a new AC and visited Reliance Digital last weekend. I went in looking for LG models, however, the sales guy was pushing for the Samsung WindFree™ Inverter Split 1.5T 5star model. This comes with Freeze wash + Wifi and was available at a final price of 45K after some card cashback. I liked the design and also looked very modern compared to all the other models available. Anyone here who has experience with this model? Are these just gimmicks or are they useful practically? Looking for some feedback and recommendations. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fast_elegance (Post 5925157)

In my experience a "Wi-Fi" in appliances is an overkill. I have used it only once in my WM. WIFI only makes sense if you use it regularly else the expense is not worth it.

Most of the Inverter AC in the market have similar functions, it is just that each manufacturer gives them different names. In my experience it is more cost effective to go for a brand that has excellent after sales service, rather that an AC that is high end but lacks good service support.

Both Samsung and LG have similar prices (give or take a few, depending on dealers and schemes) so you can choose which ever takes your fancy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Su-47 (Post 5924255)

I suggest you get the ODU washed or wash it yourself with hose pipe if it is accessible to you. The amount of dirt present in the fins will surprise you. I usually get AC service done by Urban Company. They do a fine job.