Thread: Ducted whole house or wall splits ?

I've only installed a couple over the years Scott and they've been fine.

Not as quiet as the Daikin/MHI/ME a/c's, and not the bells and whistles but they seem to perform well.
Panasonic are probably the largest small refrigeration/a-c compressor manufacturer in the world, they have a huge compressor factory in Malaysia which is where the a/c's are built.

I hate Kelvinators, they are the only product Electrolux sells that doesn't come out of an Electrolux factory and I find them cheaply built, unreliable, noisy and don't perform in cold weather, and I was a warranty agent, but I'll deny that if it's ever repeated.

Originally Posted by superquag

'Redundancy' is a beautiful word.

I'm concerned that you've had so many failures in the DAIKIN units, reputed as being 'better than average'. (than cheep Chinee...)
And I'd agree, replacing rather than 'repair' would have to be better if for no other reason than a full warranty on ALL the bits in the (replaced) unit.

SWMBO is strongly leaning towards updating our rooftop evap. box with the newest model, thus giving us economical overnight running plus 'air-changes' built into the operation. Complementing this with a large wall-split in the Family Room for the humid weeks, AND for heating in winter.- Most important!

Bedrooms don't really need much cooling during the day, only at night. Nor is heating them as good as a warm bed!

I like the idea of utilising the 'waste' evap. air and exhausting it into the roof void, thus keeping this space cool(er) during heatwave conditions...
Having ceiling insulation retards the rate of heat travel - from inside the 'attic' down through the plaster and into the house... it does not stop it.

My approach is to keep this void air as cool as possible, and I've noted 15+ degrees drop just by doing this. (I've got a thermometer up there, above the 1 sq.metre manhole in our store-closet.)

Regulation of this 'void' air temp. is, IMHO, critical in summer to keep your A/C from being overworked/running co$t$... Best way - apart from forcing cool air up there - is 'whirlybirds' and eaves vents. With your older-style house I'm guessing clay or concrete tiles (?) which do a great job of storing heat...

According to the large DAIKIN re-seller I chatted with yesterday, their latest/better wall-splits are now using the more efficient hydrocarbon-based gas, the ducted ones still using R410. Efficient, but not quite as good as the HC...

DAIKIN are built in Taiwan under Daikin management, Hitachi (cheaper than Daikin but still sold/supplied by this company, from Malaysia again under Jap. management... and the 'Top selling Aussie favourite' (My description only...) is from more than one Chinese factory... which explains the lower price.
- This company does not supply the Top Selling Aussie Favourite.

I have to replace the split in our office in the next week or so as we are making it bigger,and need a 6kw or 7kw split.

I have looked very closely at the efficiency ratings of the Mitsy and Daikin wall splits in the 6 and 7kw sizes.Going on the input watts as stated in the Daikin specs(R32),and the same with the new(R32),and old (R410) Mitsy units.
From this data the Dakin units are very slightly more efficient,but it is bugga all.And it is difficult to know if the ratings are done at equal conditions.

Ratings for some of the smaller Daikin sizes seem to be slightly more efficient than,as an example,the Mitsy or older Daikin models,such as the L,P,and Q series.These slightly more efficient models are more expensive than the current Daikin Q series(R32),and they are not available in sizes larger than 5.0 kw.

Bottom line is,efficiency differences are minimal.

Interestingly the difference in efficiency for the old model Mitsy R410,and the new model,R32 is bugga all for all wall split models in their range.

The best way to reduce power consumption is to use common sense when the unit is used(keep set point as high as possible in summer,doors and windows shut,etc),and keep the fan wheels, filters,coils,etc clean.