Need Help to decide which AC to Buy..

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Hello Friends,
I want to Purchase a Good AC for my room which is 12*18 feet. Well, I have visited several Showroms, they all have different stories which made me Extremely Confused. Some said LG is best, some told go for Voltas and One told me you should either go for Daikin Or O-General, he also told me that DAIKIN is No.1 Brand in the world followed by O-General..

I am totally confused which AC to go for ..

Well, about the Tonnage, many told that 2Ton will be better for You, but the person who told me to buy Daikin or O-General, he advice me to go for 1.5Ton.
I have also gone through many reviews, they are telling that 1.5Ton will be better.

Anyways, I want a good Description from You guys, about the ACs to Purchase. Which Brand should I go For... Well, Hitachi is not giving proper Service, so almost all adviced me not to go for Hitachi...

Now Please advice me with detailed description about the AC to purchase. My requirements are as follows:

1) Room Size : 12*18.

2) The AC will be ON during Night Period and on Weekends(sature/sun day), So I think I should not go for 5* rather 3* is good for me.

3) I need a Robust AC that will run for years without any Problem.

4) Which Brand should I go for is it Daikin or O-General or Carrier or Voltas or any others. Is Daikin World No.1

5) The AC should work efficiently even @ 48-50 degree Temperature. Because many complains LG/Voltas ACs stops working on high temperature !!

6) Please provide a detailed information, so that all my Confusion will re resolved..

Hope You will help me soon
Thanks

 

[Nikhil]

Go with Daikin. They really are very good ACs and are in a different league when compared to the rest.
O General is also good but does not have the service network offered by Daikin.

1) Room Size : 12*18.

Not a problem. Go for 2.5 T AC for a room this size

2) The AC will be ON during Night Period and on Weekends(sature/sun day), So I think I should not go for 5* rather 3* is good for me.

This rating does not matter. It is a marketing gimmick To cool your room effectively your AC may need to use more power. What do you need? Less power or effective cooling? Daikins actually do both.

3) I need a Robust AC that will run for years without any Problem.

I have no problem recommending Daikin here.

4) Which Brand should I go for is it Daikin or O-General or Carrier or Voltas or any others. Is Daikin World No.1

I don't know about world no 1 but Daikin is rated very highly in India especially among us who run ACs a lot because they really are cheaper when you take power consumption and cooling into account.

Do not touch Voltas with a barge pole. Severe problems for spares.
Carrier is good but quality is not the same as Daikin or O General.

5) The AC should work efficiently even @ 48-50 degree Temperature. Because many complains LG/Voltas ACs stops working on high temperature !!

This is a matter of proper model selection and placement. If you are placing the unit on a wall that is directly facing the sun you may need to go up in the AC rating to give you sufficient cooling power. For some rooms a cassette model fitted to the ceiling is better cooling but costs a lot more. But yes we have 46 degree summers here in Hyderabad and the Daikins keep us cool.

 

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Hello Nikhil, Thanks for your suggestions and quick reply..
Can You inform me about the quality of LG or Voltas with respect to Daikin .. Our Local Showroom Sales Guy is forcing to go for LG !!!
He says LG has no Complain and if any, they are having very good after sales service.. He also argued that Why un-necessarily spend around 8-10k extra Just for a Brand Name, when the quality of both Daikin and LG are Same !!
He also said that, Daikin costs more only for the Excise duty as it is imported.. Is this True ?
Some says that, Godrej is also having good Compressor(same that is in the present in Hitachi).
Please suggest me...

Thanks in advance

 

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Please tell me the Reliability of the machine, will it live upto mark... I mean "Install it and Forget It"...
Which will be better...
And what about Hitachi..

Please provide me some Model names which will be better for me..

Thanks

 

[Nikhil]

Hello Nikhil, Thanks for your suggestions and quick reply..
Can You inform me about the quality of LG or Voltas with respect to Daikin .. Our Local Showroom Sales Guy is forcing to go for LG !!!

LG and Voltas are nowhere near Daikin. If you can afford the Daikin just go for it. Voltas has serious spare parts supply problems.
LG and Samsung are "consumer brands" which do a great job of giving you a product at a certain price but start having issues with fans, motors, etc within a year.

The real cost of owning an AC is the power bill every month. After you spend the initial amount for purchase the monthly bill goes up to about Rs 3k - 4k (maybe more) depending on your usage. If an AC saves you about 1K every month that is Rs 12K annually. The Daikin will cover the extra cost of purchase within the first year itself.

A seriously good feature of the Daikins are how silent they run. You will not hear any noise or rattles.
Another very useful feature is that in a Daikin split you can place the cooling unit something like 20-40 ft from the split unit.

If you can afford it go for the Daikin blind. The only brand that is in the same league is O-General.

 

[Nikhil]

Hello Nikhil, Thanks for your suggestions and quick reply..
Can You inform me about the quality of LG or Voltas with respect to Daikin .. Our Local Showroom Sales Guy is forcing to go for LG !!!
He says LG has no Complain and if any, they are having very good after sales service.. He also argued that Why un-necessarily spend around 8-10k extra Just for a Brand Name, when the quality of both Daikin and LG are Same !!
He also said that, Daikin costs more only for the Excise duty as it is imported.. Is this True ?
Some says that, Godrej is also having good Compressor(same that is in the present in Hitachi).
Please suggest me...

Thanks in advance

The reason the Daikin costs more is firstly because you are getting a little more for the money. A Daikin 2T is actually 2.2T or something like that. They slightly over engineer the product so that in actual working you have a better efficiency. Yes the parts are imported but that also means they have a very reliable quality.

LG is better than Voltas and Godrej. But Daikins are much better than all.

 

[avidyarthy]

Read the older threads on this same topic ... search for them in this Forum. A lot has been discussed threadbare ... what is important and what isn't. Brand is definitely not everything ...

 

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Can Anyone Please give a straight Comparison(shootout) between the Acs...

Thanks

 

[rishiguru]

It has been three months since I have installed two 1.5 Ton Sharp Eco-Inverter air conditioners with Plusmacluster ion air purifiers. Model no: AH-XP18MV. I have done a lot of analysis and market study and to tell you the truth nothing can come close to inverter air conditioners in terms of efficiency and low electricity bills.

Since you plan for extended use on a daily basis, definitely go for inverter ones. You will be astounded to know in Japan almost all air conditioners are inverter ones. The same Japanese companies in India sell normal non-inverter 2~5 star rated ones at same price of inverter air conditioners since very few people knows about their real benefits in terms of effeciency and low power consumption under part load conditions. Thus they gain fat profit margins by using age old technology.

While inverter air conditioners have a full-output operation mode like normal air conditioners, they drastically reduce energy consumption when used in energy-saving operation mode. This is thanks to inverter micro-controller circuitry, which modifies and maintains room temperature by switching the compressor between high and low operation modes, instead of switching it on and off completely as non-inverter models do. The inverter model keeps the compressor running and simply reduces output when the room reaches the target temperature, enabling comfortable, even temperature control. Inverter air conditioners switch into energy-saving operation mode immediately once the set temperature is achieved.

There is NO number one or number two between air conditioner manufacturers. Some companies only sale high end ones while manufacturers like LG & Samsung have their range from the very bottom to the top.

Hitachi has an unprecedented reputation in India. To a certain extent Daikin too. But at their extra-high quoted price they better provide extra-excellent products or else no body will buy them. But unfortunately that is always not the case & some people go by hype and buy blindly.

There is LG inverter air conditioners which I have seen in action, which will be on par and I feel much better than the similar Hitachi/Daikin ones in terms of performance and reliability. LG uses the most advanced technology of all inverter air conditioners currently available in India and you will be a lucky to get their 1.5Ton version at less than INR 54k.

But the real deal is how much you get at a certain price point. From that perspective Sharp inverters are hard to beat. My 1.5 Ton Sharp inverter air conditioners come fully imported from Thailand at a MRP of INR 50K with their patented built-in Plasmacluster air purifier, but if you can bargain you will get them for 45K. And if you can really really bargain like me, you will get them at 41K, below which the dealer will simply refuse to sale since their profit margin falls below 1K. Also after sales service of Sharp is excellent in Kolkata.

I was able to get two of these at 82K along with complete free installation kits. Sharp provides the best and safest installation kits out here, the hot and cold copper tubing are of 0.8mm thickness which is super thick along with superior XPE(white) insulation, 4-core wire, drain pipe et-al. Our installer (he is a very experienced professional being in this AC installation business for over 30 years) said the pipes will last a lifetime and no company even Daikin & Hitachi provides the copper pipes of similar quality to connect the indoor unit to the outdoor unit as provided by Sharp.

Secondly, LG & Sharp uses complete all-aluminum, much more efficient & durable condensers having canonical tubing resulting in improved heat exchange efficiency, decreased heat transfer loss from tube to fin and superior refrigerant flow velocity fitted in their outdoor units. Other manufacturers uses less costly, age old, less efficient copper-aluminum condensers with circular tubing to save cost. The result is while 1.5 Ton inverter air conditioners of Hitachi, Daikin & Panasonic using copper-aluminum condensers use 1.5 kg of R410A refrigerant gas to cool, Sharp 1.5 Ton inverter ones with all-aluminum condensers uses just 700 grams of R410A gas to cool the same area.

Amazingly even with less than half the refrigerant gas available, the Sharp 1.5 Ton inverter air conditioners still comes out on top with class leading cooling performance, scientifically measured as COP of 3.66 and EER of 12.49. Performance & efficiency speaks.

Go for inverter air conditioners eyes closed, it is the future.

 

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Thanks a lot Rishi for Your Extremely valuable Review..

Well, About Sharp, here in Orissa, I think No Dealer is dealing with the ACs(As Per My Knowledge). Again, The Price you stated is quite more than my budget (it is more by Around Rs10-20k, as my budget is around 35-40k max). Well, I will use AC in the night hours and on weekends(sat-sun). So, Do You Think, in 8 months of Use (Except winter season), will it be a good decision to Spend 15k Extra ? Can You please inform me the Power savings in terms of Units for a Year, How much I can save if I use a 1.5T AC in night hours during weekdays and all day during weekends for 8 months a Year(just an Estimation) ?? And also can You suggest some Cost effective Inverter ACs that can fall in my budget(if available),, Else please suggest some good models within My budget... I am Really Confused by many different different Opinions .. I think You can resolve my doubts...

Thank You once again for your Help,.,..

 

[rishiguru]

Thanks a lot Rishi for Your Extremely valuable Review..

You are most welcome.

Well, About Sharp, here in Orissa, I think No Dealer is dealing with the ACs(As Per My Knowledge).

Have a look at this link: http://www.sharpproducts.in/dealer.aspx

Have you checked the following dealers:

TECH SOLUTIONS
PLOT NO. A/180, 1ST FLOOR
Bhubneshwar
Phone: 2540198, 919437043916

PAUL COPIER SERVICE
20, TAPASNINI MARKET
Rourkela
Phone: 919437046727, 919437046727

 

[satyanarayansahuu@gmail.c]

Thanks Rishi for your quick reply..
Can You Please inform me about the Electricity consumption of the Inverter AC with Respect to Other 3/5 * ACs. I will use it in night hours and weekends as mentioned above.. How many units(just an Estimated value) will it consume in a Month ? And for the same case, how many units will be consumed for a 3/5 * rating AC ?

Please suggest..

Thanks You

 

[rishiguru]

Well, I will use AC in the night hours and on weekends(sat-sun). So, Do You Think, in 8 months of Use (Except winter season), will it be a good decision to Spend 15k Extra ?

YES

 

[rishiguru]

Can You please inform me the Power savings in terms of Units for a Year, How much I can save if I use a 1.5T AC in night hours during weekdays and all day during weekends for 8 months a Year(just an Estimation) ??

Here is one comparison done by FM naveenjn between non-inverter and inverter ACs which I find very informative and read worthy: http://www.hifivision.com/general-lounge/29326-recommend-inverter-based-ac-some-prices-inside-4.html#post423324

 

[Abraham66]

Very interesting thread. Referred to it as I am planning to buy a split AC. We are a middle class family and had always thought an Ac to be a luxury and hence avoided buying one so far. But the heat and humidity in Mumbai is getting deadlier day by day and so what was considered as a luxury , we now grudgingly accept as a necessary evil !! I have a couple of queries for you and shall be most obliged if you would help by clarifying:

1. How important is the star rating if one is planning to operate the AC for 6-7 hours a day for maximum of 4 months an year. My calculation shows that the difference is only around Rs.45-60 per month between a 5 star rated and 2 star rated I ton AC. Which means that the difference in operating cost is around Rs 200 per year ( 4 months usage) and the price difference is around Rs. 5000-Rs.7000 depending on the brand. That translates to a break even of 25 to 35 years. This is hardly worth it.

2. The above logic also applies to the new inverter AC.What is the price variance and what is the operational cost advantage. Based on these two, what is the payback period. I feel that any AC with a payback period more than 5-6 years is a waste. I might be wrong. After all this is based on my usage pattern. If someone else is going to use the Ac for 24 hours a day x 365 days, then the savings is significant.

2. What would be a good 1 ton AC brand in the Value segment ? I cannot afford premium brands like OGeneral and Hitachi and have narrowed down to Panasonic Ivory CS-UC12PKY ( Rs. 20,990), Sharp AH-A12LET ( Rs. 21,900), Daikin FTE35LV169 ( Rs. 23,200),Blue Star 3HW12JA ( Rs.2,100) and Lloyd Claret FLS13N5C 5 Star( Rs.19,300). I was told that Blue Star and Lloyd have Chinese compressor and components and if correct, then I want to avoid them. Which out of the others is a good brand based on reliability, smooth operations, good after sales service and warranty.

3. I am not keen on a lot of hi-tech features like follow me, turbo cooling, auto clean, etc. etc. Want a simple rugged and reliable unit which is value for money and with responsive after sales service.

Could you advice me on this ? I know that this is quite an old thread but if anyone is still following it, a bit of advice would be most helpful.

Regards,

Abraham

 

[smanchanda1]

I agree that invertor AC are very efficient. Following should be kept in mind to go any buy any AC

Efficiency: Inverter AC with DC compression is most efficient. Higher capacity AC can perform as good as low capacity AC based upon load
Power Backup: Invertor AC need nearly zero extra load at startup. Hence low backup power is required.
Heading need: In case winter heating is required. heat pump supporting invertor AC are best, as they consume less than 1/3 power compared to any other normal heating device.
Water heating: There are ACs available now, which can also heat water at 1/3rd of power consumption
Brand: Any brand like Panasonic, Daiken, Voltas, Hitachi shall do. What matters is technology.