[khoj]

Originally Posted by tush

This site also has the Btu chart I referenced - Air Conditioners: How to Choose an Air Conditioner - Chart of room types, size, and air conditioner BTU's needed to cool a space

That site is meant for locations with temperate/colder ambients. Use an appropriate site that uses our local ambients as the root formula. Else just buy the Daikin being offered for 27K it is the best deal financially and otherwise.

Originally Posted by maxmachine

The day after he turns up late in the evening and fills the gas and tightens the joint and confirms there is no leakage now. A week of good operation the AC again lost its cooling ability the last night and ice formation was observed on the evaporator grills coupled with the cracking sound again.

As a rule never get ac work done in low light conditions. Always try and be the first call on the technicians list.

One cannot tighten ac pipes. The air con is a sealed system operating under pressures much higher than atmospheric.

Hitachi might have a good product but a pathetic installation team and a more pathetic service centre.

The installs are done by dealer's teams if it is a sales and service dealer or may be sourced out to local mechanics if it is a busy season. In case of showrooms the job is almost always sourced out.

At this stage I am not sure if this issue has got something to do with the product or the improper installation, howsoever the product is not even one month old and has required 2 services and I being a consmer is suffering even after paying so much. By the way the installation was done by a Hitachi engineer.

It seems to be a case of shoddy installation.

Any air con manufacturing company will not send one of its own to do an install. The job will almost always be outsourced either to the service channel or to local mechanics designated area wise.

Questions I have:
Is it normal for a new AC to loose gas so frequently?
Can anyone help me with the contact details for some senior authority in Hitachi home appliances service department? There website doesn't lists any escalation mechanism.
In case I am not satisfied after the make all their attempts to fix the issue and I need to go to consumer court with this, can someone describe me what the process is?

Consumer court over this? If you are so worked up why don't you go the shop who sold you the machine during rush hour and make some serious noise. I am sure a call from a harried store owner/manager will do wonders for you. DO note noise could be simple raising of the decibels or making the store manager see your side of things in a mature manner.

Originally Posted by Spotty91

Was thinking of buying it but unfortunately it cannot be installed in my place, since the walls are made of RCC bricks and drilling a hole will cause the whole RCC brick to collapse and also that the walls are very hard.

Time for me to learn something new. First out what are RCC bricks? blocks I know but bricks is new. Second you say that by drilling a 2" hole the brick will collapse and yet the wall is very hard, kindly elaborate.

Tonnage calculations at the Daikin and Bluestar site suggest a tonnage of 1-1.1 Tons for my application.
Therefore I am now planning to buy a 1.1 tonner from the following brands.
1) 1.14 T O General. AMG 13G. Price please anyone
2) 1.1 T Hitachi RAV513ERD or RAT413HRD or
3) 1.5 Ton Onida W18TRC3.

Go to Jain electronics opposite the Singhania school to get all the prices.
However I am wondering how and where will you hang this unit if the cube could not be installed!!

AND people please for God's sake stop referring to General in the same breath as Onida or for that matter Hitachi. To put things in perspective

General = BMW
Daikin = Mercedes
Mitsubishi = Audi
Toshiba = Jaguar
Sanyo = Volvo
Sharp = Mitsubishi
Panasonic = Honda
Hitachi = Skoda/FIAT
Whirlpool = FORD
Videocon = Maruti
Carrier = Mahindra
Blue Star = AL
Voltas = Telco
Ssmsung = Cycle
LG = Tri cycle
Onida = Tri cycle with one wheel missing

BTW do post the links of the Daikin India and Blue Star sites for the benefit of all. That will allow people to make sizing calculations suitable to our ambient conditions.

Originally Posted by Wimwian

I'm also thinking of going for the Hitachi RAV513ERD model... on the face of it, seems to offer a good set of features for the price. Any reviews/thoughts would be most welcome.

Panasonic, 2 Ton, 3 star CS-YC24MKY-2

I bought the same AC last year... has given me really good service till date. It chills really quickly and is super quiet too. How much did you pay for it?

If you are happy with the Panny, let your second machine be from them too. Infact from the same dealer as long as he matches the best offer in the market. Let him know it is a repeat purchase, build some equity with him and with the installers too. It is easier to maintain multiple units of a single make than each from a different manufacturer.

[tush]

Originally Posted by khoj

That site is meant for locations with temperate/colder ambients. Use an appropriate site that uses our local ambients as the root formula. Else just buy the Daikin being offered for 27K it is the best deal financially and otherwise.




General = BMW
Daikin = Mercedes
Mitsubishi = Audi
Toshiba = Jaguar
Sanyo = Volvo
Sharp = Mitsubishi
Panasonic = Honda
Hitachi = Skoda/FIAT
Whirlpool = FORD
Videocon = Maruti
Carrier = Mahindra
Blue Star = AL
Voltas = Telco
Ssmsung = Cycle
LG = Tri cycle
Onida = Tri cycle with one wheel missing

Thanks for the reply Khoj. Appreciate your help.

I thought the requirements would be generalized in that website. But yes you are right I should check the ones that are meant for our weather conditions. If anyone on our thread knows about it and could share it with us then it would be of great help.

I would definitely want to go for a Daikin but I am just not sure if 1.5 would be an overkill for my requirements.

[khoj]

It is better to go with a slightly larger machine than one sitting on the border. The compressor will achieve the set temperature quicker and will see lesser on off cycles and that loads the system lesser resulting in longer life. However too much of an oversize could also result in slightly higher bills. Go to Daiken India .com or .co.in they do have this selection tool, Google for the exact home page url.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by Spotty91

...
Therefore I am now planning to buy a 1.1 tonner from the following brands.
1) 1.14 T O General. AMG 13G. Price please anyone
2) 1.1 T Hitachi RAV513ERD or RAT413HRD or
3) 1.5 Ton Onida W18TRC3.
...

The MRP of General AMG13G now is Rs. 23990 (earlier price was Rs. 21990). I got it for Rs. 23k at Pune. Standard installation cost is Rs. 750 (could be more depending on the window size, wood used etc. But this is negotiable). You could get it at a lower price in Thane/Mumbai since this is a popular brand there and dealers may have the old stock. Though the box that I got had an MRP sticker of Rs. 21990, it was billed to the dealer on the new price. I talked to the General people and the shop owner is a trustworthy one.

The price offered for Hitachi 1.1T RAT413HRD (Quadricool TM, 4 star) was also Rs. 23k. I went for O General because of the brand, higher BTU/hr compared to the Hitachi, higher EER and smaller dimensions. However O General does not specify the star rating.

Also I had a call from the Panasonic brand shop that prices of their ACs were going to be increased by 2k from 1-April onwards.

@khoj. - Loved your comparison chart (AC to car brands)

[NIP]

Got two videocon ACs (1.5 ton) installed in the house. Got a super deal from Metro for at 19k plus 600 bucks (each) for stabilizer on deal. Paid 3k installation for both ACs. The ACs have copper piping inside and was highly recommended by the sales chap over LG and Samsung. I had my mind set for LG, but went for the videocon anyway. I am extremely happy with the cooling and with the fan speed on one, there's hardly any noise at all.

[Spotty91]

Here is the link from Daikin for tonnage calculations

:: Welcome to Daikin Air Conditioners India Pvt. Ltd. ::

Also here is the link from Bluestar for tonnage calculations.

Bluestar

Hope this helps everybody like me in search of the right size of AC.

[sgiitk]

I have not used a stabilizer in any of my ACs/refrigerators for over 25 years. This is just a way for the dealer to make a fast buck. All these devices are quite happy from say 180V to 250V. The fluctuations are not that bad. There are a few locations they may be required but not everywhere.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by Wimwian

I bought the same AC last year... has given me really good service till date. It chills really quickly and is super quiet too. How much did you pay for it?

I paid 31.5k for the AC with installation and stabiliser thrown in. Had to pay INR 750 extra for the support bracket that holds the outside unit.

Unit is manufactured in malaysia, is very quiet and chills effectively. Good bet at this price points where the only other brands under consideration were LG, Voltas and Onida

[Wimwian]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

I paid 31.5k for the AC with installation and stabiliser thrown in. Had to pay INR 750 extra for the support bracket that holds the outside unit.

Unit is manufactured in malaysia, is very quiet and chills effectively. Good bet at this price points where the only other brands under consideration were LG, Voltas and Onida

That's a good price. I had bought it last year from ezone for 30K with free installation. I agree, this is the most VFM model at this price point.

Originally Posted by khoj

If you are happy with the Panny, let your second machine be from them too. Infact from the same dealer as long as he matches the best offer in the market. Let him know it is a repeat purchase, build some equity with him and with the installers too. It is easier to maintain multiple units of a single make than each from a different manufacturer.

I need a window ac this time, so Panny is out. As far as building equity with the dealer is concerned, I got mine from ezone where there's no point as the manger/salesmen keep changing.

[KPGB]

Just a silly query - my room has gaps in the doors ( there are 3 doors by the way ) and I am planning to install an AC...don't know if I need to take care by some way to close the gaps - just read something about door sweeps when I was searching on the net.. Are these useful ? and do the installation guys recommend something for this or even do they help fix this ?

Thanks

[sgiitk]

I use the brush type door seals and they are pretty good. Used to cost ~Rs.90 for a 1m length about a decade ago.

[spyking]

Need some help..

I live in an old house, that has 3 feet thick plaster walls and would like to ac a small mezzanine section, that is 8ftX11Ft with a 20Ft high ceiling. There is a 3ftX6ft glass door that leads out to a tree covered balcony, that is facing the south.

The usage will be basically during afternoons and weekends, just to get the room slightly cool (25-26) only during the summer months. Basically my study/comp room. There is wooden staircase that occupies half the room, that leads out to the terrace, the ceiling is, wood slabs with concrete over it.

What capacity ac should I be looking at? Looking at spending the minimum possible amount.
I can use only split as there are no windows.
Also, if I don't drill a hole through the wall, Can I still use a split, by routing the pipes out through a skylight?

Thanks!

[inder]

Just wanted to confirm if I am getting the right price.
Was quoted 29000 for a daikin 1.5 tonne 3star model.Installation labour free.Piping and bracket extra.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by KPGB

Just a silly query - my room has gaps in the doors ( there are 3 doors by the way ) and I am planning to install an AC...don't know if I need to take care by some way to close the gaps

That's your fresh air intake incase you are using split AC. Seriously, don't close all the gaps.

[petroguzzler]

Originally Posted by khoj

Daikin = Mercedes

Is this the mercedes before the 90's(w124,w123) or the mercedes's after that(w210,w211)?