Team-BHP - The home / office air-conditioner thread

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Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 4811407)

I am thinking of getting the LG 4 star inverter AC 2020

Cannot comment on the value addition 7k gives over Whirlpool.

However, this LG AC is pretty good. Very silent and effective. One big point to check is whether an AC has horizontal airflow swing. This isn't thought about during purchase but can be beneficial and helps prevent freezing.

The same LG AC was bought and is running well under my friend's command who wants to WFH/Sleep at 22c always. :Frustrati

Just wanted to share my experience. I was researching a new 1.5t split ac yesterday to replace my 20 year old 2t LG window ac that doesn't cool anymore above 40 degress and increases my electricity bills to 15-20k per month. So was looking for 5* inverter split acs.

On research read that all ISEER 4.5* and above are rated BEE 5*. And saw that few select models have 5+ ISEER ratings which is really energy efficient and they do cost a bit more too. I found that ISEER rating is the best way to find out which is a great ac and at the same time most efficient. As even a 4.5/4.6* ISEER ac is rated BEE 5*.

Good way to understand ISEER: https://www.beeindia.in/iseer-eer-be...ar-ratings-ac/

All the ratings can be directly seen on BEE website: https://beestarlabel.com/SearchCompare

Shortlisted these three 1.5t acs:

1 - Toshiba Prodig.I3 - 56.5k on Amazon. Highest rated ISEER 1.5T ac of 5.6. Energy consumption of 705 kWh/yr.

2 - Blue Star YCTU - 49k on Bluestar website. ISEER of 5.41. Energy consumption of 755 kWh/yr.

3 - Voltas 185V ZZS-R32 - 72k MRP on Voltas website. ISEER of 5.4. Energy consumption of 757 kWh/yr.

For reference a Voltas BEE 5* but ISEER 4.51 consumes 892 kWh/yr. Compared to the Toshiba that is almost 190 units more even though both are 5*. But as expected Toshiba is one of the most expensive ones as well.

The Voltas was not available anywhere. On google found out it is the same ac which EESL is selling directly under their scheme for 41.3k (38.3k at present) which is incredible pricing for such a high rated ac. Apparently they launched the scheme last year after Voltas won the bidding.

I was set on buying the Voltas but sadly its not available in my state yet.

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All Consumers Delhi & NCR, Mumbai & Thane, Maharashtra, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata, West Bengal, Bengaluru, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Telangana, Jaipur, Rajasthan can opt for this scheme. The consumer needs to enter the name of city on the registration portal to verify if he/she is eligible under the scheme. The program will be rolled out pan India in a phased manner.

So have bought the Toshiba as with my Infinia credit card i get 33% discount effectively and will cost the same as Voltas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 4810468)

The Whirlpool Ac I bought recently came with three meters of copper piping in the box. If the IDU and ODU are to be placed farther apart, we have to pay extra for it. In my case both are separated only by the width of the wall, so they have rolled the pipe and secured in place with some ties, without cutting any of it.

Some years ago I bought a Samsung split unit for my dad's room. It also came with 3 meters of pipe. But the fools came for installation when I was not available. Since the ODU was just outside the wall there too, cut the extra length and gave it to my dad and went off.

Wont the coiling of the copper pipe causes compressor oil to settle in the coils - there by causing the compressor to run with less lubrication (and more vibration and wear). I think it is a bad idea to have coiled copper pipe behind out-door unit for this reason.

I made sure that the extra length was cut off while maintaining the minimum separation to limit vibrations/sound transfer while the installation at my place. Also keeping the compressor a bit below the Indoor unit ensures free return flow of compressor oil. Otherwise in case if outdoor unit is above indoor unit, you may have to put a few U bends for oils to be sucked up to compressor.

My Carrier AC has the pipe connection from the IDU to the ODU going through my bedroom wall to the terrace just above my floor. Due to the weather and maybe monkeys, the external grey foam insulation of the pipes have come out at many places. Is there any simple DIY way I can do this or do I need to get it done through a technician. Part of the pipe is on the external wall of the building, which I obviously cannot reach. Also, is there any insulation tape material I can put above the rubber covers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sedate (Post 4811824)

I told the technician to cut it off at the time of installation and he said it should not be cut. Then I observed some other Acs installed in the vicinity. Some have the tube cut to size, some have the tubes coiled. Let the experts comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sedate (Post 4811824)

I see a lot of ODUs placed on the terrace, with the pipe leading down vertically to the IDU inside the bedroom directly below. If the refrigerant in them could return back to the compressor, I would think a loop or two between the two units placed parallel to each other would not pose any problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saket77 (Post 4812005)

I asked my technician when he came for installation to cut the extra copper pipe. I thought that will also also help in minimising thermal loss during transmission. I don’t know if he was right but definitely sounded logical... he said that the pressure of gas will increase in the system due to shorter pipe.

Yes, I remember now. Pressure increase in the system was the exact reason he mentioned for not shortening the pipe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gansan (Post 4812099)

Refrigerant is a mostly a gas, while oil is liquid. Oil settles in the lowest portion of the refrigerant loop. Normally good installers provide a U-bend at the lowest portion of the system if ODU is higher than IDU. This will help the oil to settle there and eventually once the U is full of oil, the compressor can slurp/gulp the oil on normal operation.

The challenge with higher diameter coils (normal coiling of excess pipe) is that it takes more oil to fill them up and hence reduces the total oil available in the compressor. They do work like U traps, but as a U trap with high oil storage - A high net reduction in oil available at compressor for lubrication.

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Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 4812939)

In Delhi it is about Rs.600/ per meter. This is for two pipes that are needed and the insulation to cover it.

Just got my LG installed. They charged 750 per meter + 18% gst which came to 885 per meter. Had 7.5 extra meter copper wire as the AC is in lobby and had to pass ODU through guest room. 1000Rs installation, 750+gst for Stand. All in all costed me 8500 for installation. Quite an expensive one.

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Originally Posted by diyguy (Post 4813031)

I always buy this myself and provide to the installers. Copper set per meter is usually 250 and the stand is about 375-400. Attached what I purchased last May for my Mitsubishi Heavy industries ac install.

Wow.
That's cost effective. This was the first time we had to pay extra for the copper set so wasn't experienced in how much it will cost. Now I have a fair idea and will get stuff from outside if the need arises next time. After all, we live and learn.