(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)I wrote this over the weekend….it should be useful if you are planning on air-conditioning your home.
Air Conditioners (ACs) are available in two form-factors,
a. Room AC – This is the traditional AC, where the cost ranges from Rs.8,000 to Rs.35,000 depending on the brand, features and tonnage.
Image Courtesy : alibaba.com
b. Split AC – Here the Cooling unit (condenser, coil+fan apparatus) are separated from the Room-unit (Blower & Exhaust), thus eliminating noise from the Cooling unit. More importantly Split AC, allows you to install the AC at the place you require. Also recent models have a good spacing between exhaust and blower allowing better cooling efficiency on the room.
Image Courtesy : germes-online.com
Having made up my mind on Split AC, I looked into Cooling capacity (measured in BTUs, or in simple language Tonnes), EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio), Fan speed, Filter mechanisms and Noise level.
For an average Indian bedroom 0.75 Tonne to 1 Tonne should do, and for a hall 1.5 Tonne to 2 Tonnes are required. For now we wanted to AC only 2 adjacent bedrooms and I was contemplating between,
a. Buying 2 Single-split systems of 1.5 Tonne each – Onida (Rs.24K, for Deco Flat model) & Samsung (Rs.24.5K for Turbo Compact model) which includes everything other than mounting brackets and installation.
b. Buying 1 Multi-split from Hitachi of 2.0 Tonne capacity (Atom2 at Rs.52,000)
Though popular sales talk is to go for two 1.5 tonnes as it costs lesser than the 2 Tonne Multi-split and gives you the option of 1 unit working in case of machine failure, I opted for the Hitachi Multisplit for two reasons,
a. This system has a single compressor that can supply 2 Tonnes to one bedroom if the other bedroom is not used, this flexibility comes in very handy in Summer. Also if you have a combo of a hall and a bedroom, its better to go for this system than having two 1.5T single splits.
b. Hitachi’s system comes with proven durability (5 years warranty and I somehow trust compressors Made in Japan than elsewhere) and has the best EER and lowest noise levels.
Anyway I would have considered inverter type air-conditioners (30-40% power savings) and a 5 split AC, as abroad. But since these systems are neither popular nor cost effective in India, had gone for Hitachi Atom2 for my bedrooms.
I have personally used so far – Carrier (5 split), General & Hitachi (room AC) and the experience has been very good so far, and hoping the same out of this Hitachi (2 split).
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@ Sudarsan
Well thought of post indeed Sudarsan. Perhaps you could write another post on requirements for installing either a window AC or a split AC in one’s home.
BTW, what kind of voltage stabilizer did you buy for your Hitachi AC?
Installing AC
Window AC – Need to have a cut-out for the AC to be installed. Usually Flat builders provide a rectangular opening beneath a window to facilitate this. My advice is to plan on an opening as suggested by the Aircon manufacturer (AC away from the floor would not suck-in the dust near the floor, and more importantly cold air moves towards the floor, while hot air rises up, so having AC above the ground gives better cooling efficiency). Coming back to installation, the space around the AC at the opening, is closed with a plywood frame or alternate materials. Window AC’s need stabilizers depending on the tonnage. Installation expenses would be about Rs.300, plus carpentry/masonry related expenses towards the AC opening.
Split AC – While Split AC gives the flexibility to install at a convenient position in the room, Split AC sales comes with 5m Copper tube only, for additional ducting you would have to pay Rs.400-500/m of copper tube. Indoor units are wall mounted and at about 5-6 feet from the floor. The outdoor unit can be floor or wall mounted and the key efforts in the installation is to have good insulation for the copper piping between the Outdoor and Indoor units. Installation for each split unit ranges from Rs.1000 to Rs.1300.
Nowadays the Voltage stabilizers come as a part of the Split AC package itself, even otherwise stabilizers upto 5 KVA should cost in the range of Rs.1000 to Rs.1500 only.
i think hitachi is doing the great work in this feild
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I am sorry to inform all that Hitachi has nothing Japanese about it. The product is probably Chinese and the failure rate in the market is more than 20 % !
The after sales service is useless. In fact if you looking for peace of mind, never go for a HITACHI.