[jacs]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Guys, planning to install an ac in our rented apartment in Chennai. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to ac. Never needed it back in Kerala, but Chennai is a different story. Hence, totally confused after going through this thread.

Requirement is for a normal sized bedroom, on the top floor. (Hence you can imagine the heat in Chennai summer!). Will a 1T ac suffice? Or do i need to go for something bigger?

Which is the reliable brand at prices less than 30k? I'll prefer it to use as less electricity as possible. 1T, 5* split ac will be a good choice? As mentioned - priorities are reliability & low power consumption.

Hi CD,

Considering the scenario in Chennai, you would be using the AC regularly during night for atleast 5 - 6 hours which means you would need a energy efficient one.

Please check the Panasonic Cube ACs . You wouldn't need drilling & other mason works. 5 star efficiency and ideal for rented apartments.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by jacs

Hi CD,

Considering the scenario in Chennai, you would be using the AC regularly during night for atleast 5 - 6 hours which means you would need a energy efficient one.

Please check the Panasonic Cube ACs . You wouldn't need drilling & other mason works. 5 star efficiency and ideal for rented apartments.

Thanks.

I checked out Cube website in the morning, after reading some good reviews about it in the previous pages - but all of them seems to be 2 star? Am i missing something?

Our office purchase department seems to suggest Voltas, among the cheaper brands available. Seems they had best experiences in providing General and Carrier, and among cheaper brands - Voltas.

Voltas comes recommended in team-bhp? Didnt see anyone buying Voltas - although I went through quite a few pages in this thread.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Thanks.

I checked out Cube website in the morning, after reading some good reviews about it in the previous pages - but all of them seems to be 2 star? Am i missing something?

Our office purchase department seems to suggest Voltas, among the cheaper brands available. Seems they had best experiences in providing General and Carrier, and among cheaper brands - Voltas.

Voltas comes recommended in team-bhp? Didnt see anyone buying Voltas - although I went through quite a few pages in this thread.

Oops, my mistake. I heard about cube from my friend's friend who is a distributor in KA for Panasonic. Opened the portal first time and misinterpreted 5 years as 5 star.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

silent. Cost me 29K excluding fixing charges. Here is the model number CU-YC18NKY-1.

One thing that is bothering me is, my earlier older window AC had a mode called Sleep mode (or night mode) in which it used to switch off the compressor after sometime when running at night, making the temperature not too cold. It also probably meant low electricity consumption. This feature is missing on this AC. Any idea why? or should i have gone with the 5 Star rating one?

At the moment we are manually switching off, or setting a timer to switch it off.

Sleep function should be there in all AC IMHO. Did you check the manual?

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Th
anks.


Our office purchase department seems to suggest Voltas, among the cheaper brands available. Seems they had best experiences in providing General and Carrier, and among cheaper brands - Voltas.

Voltas comes recommended in team-bhp? Didnt see anyone buying Voltas - although I went through quite a few pages in this thread.

Voltas is good but not cheap. A good 5 star 1.5 tonne would cost you 30k up and you would need some money for stabilizer.

Look for a.s.s. when getting AC.

If the room isnt big, 1 tonne should do and 3 star would do unless you are not gonna run it for couple of hours a day. A stabilizer (Vguard) for 1~1.5ton AC would cost 2.4k MRP.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Sleep function should be there in all AC IMHO. Did you check the manual?

Ahh my Bad, Sleep (meaning turning off after sometime permanently is there) a.k.a. timer function, but what i meant by sleep mode (or night mode) is, the compressor switches off and on periodically to maintain a steady temperature and does not make the room go too cold. Which i believe saves electricity.

This specific mode is not present in the model that i bought. Which means i need to switch it off when i feel too cold and get woken up because of that, alternatively set the timer to make this run for about an hour and then it switches itself off.

Another newbie question, does this thing necessarily needs a voltage stabilizer?

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Ahh my Bad, Sleep (meaning turning off after sometime permanently is there) a.k.a. timer function, but what i meant by sleep mode (or night mode) is, the compressor switches off and on periodically to maintain a steady temperature and does not make the room go too cold. Which i believe saves electricity.

This specific mode is not present in the model that i bought. Which means i need to switch it off when i feel too cold and get woken up because of that, alternatively set the timer to make this run for about an hour and then it switches itself off.

Another newbie question, does this thing necessarily needs a voltage stabilizer?

AUTO mode does this right? Maintains temp to which is set?

Stabilizer is needed IMHO. It will help power surge and give contant power to the AC ( like what a cap does to a sub

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Another newbie question, does this thing necessarily needs a voltage stabilizer?

This is the biggest con there is. If your voltage stays between, 190 (to be safe, else I will say 170) and 250V then forget. Many modern Inverter models advertise that you do not need a stabiliser.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by jkdas

AUTO mode does this right? Maintains temp to which is set?

This tells me i am bad at explaining, BTW you are right. Here it is, this is exactly what i meant.

Auto Sleep Mode: This feature reduces the cooling effect during the night automatically once you have set it. This is useful since you do not need the same cooling in the night as you do in the day. With the automatic setting you stay comfortable without chilling in the night and the low power bills will help you keep your cool in the day too.

Source : Split Air Conditioners - Hitachi I Clean Split Air Conditioners, Hitachi ACE Cut Out, ACE Follow Me and Kaze Split Air Conditioners Retailer & Service Provider

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Sleep function should be there in all AC IMHO. Did you check the manual?

Voltas is good but not cheap. A good 5 star 1.5 tonne would cost you 30k up and you would need some money for stabilizer.

Look for a.s.s. when getting AC.

If the room isnt big, 1 tonne should do and 3 star would do unless you are not gonna run it for couple of hours a day. A stabilizer (Vguard) for 1~1.5ton AC would cost 2.4k MRP.

It'll need to run a lot. Chennai heat this time around is unbearable, and I'm having terrace on top of the room. 5 star recommended?

How would hitachi compare with voltas?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

It'll need to run a lot. Chennai heat this time around is unbearable, and I'm having terrace on top of the room. 5 star recommended?

How would hitachi compare with voltas?

Getting a deal of 39k for hitachi 1.2 ton i-clean ac, and 37k for similar one without i-clean. Might get the 37k one tomorrow since everyone I spoke with had only good things to say about Hitachi ac. Service centre is also close-by.

Any particular disadvantages with Hitachi?

[mayankjha1806]

@C_D. Hitachi is good, we used a Hitachi window AC bought 11 years ago from Chennai. All these years it served without any trouble. Recently sold it and replaced with Panasonic split. A.S.S of Hitachi in Bangalore is not very good and Panasonic my more recent crush i went with it.

Question : Does this AC has Auto Sleep mode as i have explained above?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

but what i meant by sleep mode (or night mode) is, the compressor switches off and on periodically to maintain a steady temperature and does not make the room go too cold.
This specific mode is not present in the model that i bought. Which means i need to switch it off when i feel too cold and get woken up because of that,

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Question : Does this AC has Auto Sleep mode as i have explained above?

Sleep mode, I could not find in hitachi. (No mention about turning off the compressor anywhere), but will a 5* rating be possible if the compressor is always on?

They do mention this though -

'Ever woken up feeling chilly in the middle of the night? ‘Kaimin’ adjusts the temperature automatically through the night to suit your body needs. It is an intelligent feature that ensures you get sound sleep every night and wake up feeling fresh every morning. By raising 1˚ C per hour for upto 4 hours, its operation ensures saving of power.'

http://www.hitachi-hli.com/iclean.html#features

[shekaran]

MINI REVIEW OF PANASONIC CUBE AIRCON:
bought the panasonic cube a/c 1.25T for a bedroom size of 12x14 and it cools very well. in 15 minutes, the room gets chilled from 32deg to 26deg and the cube a/c has the simplest functions plus remote. timer function is there, upto 12 hours - which maintains a steady temperature at nights. auto on/off feature is also present in case of sudden cut-off. the biggest/simplest advantage is that the airfilter is pull-down (square screen mesh) type, which can be cleaned by anyone at home, just wash, air dry and push/slide it in upwards. no need to call/have an AMC for this simple chore.

during installation, the mechanic opened and showed me the innards of both the indoor and outdoor units. the indoor unit has a "exhaust-like" fan with 3 speeds, air filter in-front of the fan and the condenser coil foremost - just 3 items with the remote circuit board at the side. the throw of the cube a/c at max. fan speed 3 is felt 10 feet across the room, literally. the fan speed 1 makes it the silent cooler, very very silent infact. the outdoor unit is slightly larger than regular other a/c brands, but has very simple mechanicals/electricals inside. 80% of the outdoor unit is occupied by the cooling coil and the same "exhaust-like" fan, while the compressor and the electrical CB are in a corner. you need to drill just one 3 inch hole for the gas in/out tubes and elec wire, and another 1.5 inch hole for the water outlet. another 2 drill holes for mounting the bracket for the indoor unit.

the disadvantages are : you have no air-flow adjustments or vents to direct air to your desired position. the air throw is just straight ahead of the indoor unit so you can fit the indoor as low as you want, just as old-time window aircons. no heating mode or fancy adjustments. even the remote is tiny and simplest with just On/Off, timer on/off, fan speed On/Off and temperature increase & decrease buttions. just 5 buttons with a lcd display, pls note no display in the outdoor unit except an indicator light.

advantages : the cube a/c is rated 2 star by 2012 standards, which means 3 star as per 2011 standards. the power consumption is 1600W as per the label. energy efficiency is 2.75 EER. the biggest saving is the cost - 18,000/- all inclusive with free installation, free stabilizer and free door delivery (with a panasonic rice cooker as free gift - can get another 500-700/- reduced if you forego this free gift). the next branded 2 star split a/c's cost approx. 23,000/- which makes this cube a/c - the best buy.

[skumare]

Ordered a Hitachi 1.5T Kaze, will be installed today/tomorrow. ~35k including Keeline stabilizer (with replacement warranty) and installation. The room is on the first floor (duplex house) and the terrace gets good amount of sun during the day. Room dimensions are 12*16*10ft and AC will be used only during the night for 4 months/yr. Hope the 1.5tonner will suffice.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Sleep mode, I could not find in hitachi. 'Ever woken up feeling chilly in the middle of the night? ‘Kaimin’ adjusts the temperature automatically through the night to suit your body needs. It is an intelligent feature that ensures you get sound sleep every night and wake up feeling fresh every morning. By raising 1˚ C per hour for upto 4 hours, its operation ensures saving of power.'

Yes, this is the comfort/auto mode in Hitachi and will induce power savings obviously.

Originally Posted by skumare

Ordered a Hitachi 1.5T Kaze, will be installed today/tomorrow.

Kaze 1.5t installation completed today, both the IU and OU are manufactured in Jan/2012 and the OU has a sticker price of 32990 (instead of 34590 as per HLI website currently). I amd wondering if this is a 2011 model (relative to star ratings) or otherwise a 2012 3* model manufactured before the prices were increased. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[patron]

Finally could not take the heat anymore and bought a couple of Panasonic 1T 2Star CS-UC12NKY. Did not want to bother about the star rating since being in Bangalore, won't use it for more than a month per year.

Not installed yet, more after installation. Got it for 19K each (retailing for 23k) from a known dealer.