AIr COnditioning

[gprit]

Now that my wife has finished building a house for her family near Loei, despite added insulation etc it is still hot inside!
The wiring is there, but now need to decide on some Air conditioning....especially the sitting room.
This is about 42-44 square metres, facing the sun much of the day.

1) What size btu would this need - I read different on different websites! - there is a stairs from that room to upstairs.
2) Is there a big difference in performance/reliabilty between Mitsubishi and say LG (or other).
3) Is it better to get an Inverter Aircon rather than standard?

thanks

[sometimewoodworker]

Now that my wife has finished building a house for her family near Loei, despite added insulation etc it is still hot inside!
The wiring is there, but now need to decide on some Air conditioning....especially the sitting room.
This is about 42-44 square metres, facing the sun much of the day.

1) What size btu would this need - I read different on different websites! - there is a stairs from that room to upstairs.

You don’t give the ceiling hight so the usual number is 900 BTU/sq M so you are looking at a 40,000 BTU unit this is likely to be enough. However with shading and insulation the numbers would be lower.

2) Is there a big difference in performance/reliabilty between Mitsubishi and say LG (or other).

The top 2 makes are Mitsubishi and Daikin. There are many people who have different makes that are happy with their choices. However there are others who are not so happy

3) Is it better to get an Inverter Aircon rather than standard?

Unless you can get the correctly sized AC (you can’t from the information given) you absolutely should get an inverter.

If you oversize an AC you room can cool down very quickly but the humidity will still be high.
You can oversize an inverter AC by quit a bit and still get OK humidity control.

[kopkei]

with a ceiling height of about 2,80m , you will need a 24-28.000 btu unit , or as it is a big room install fe 2 air cons of 13-15.000 btu (cheaper as one big unit?) , so in the less warm season you can only use one to make the room comfortable and use less electric , as to your staircase , maybe install a heavy curtain you can close this gap , i did install a curtain in our open living space (kitchen,dining , tv space)so we did not have to cool all , as our doors and windows are open day and night , this all according to each his preference , and yes go for the inverter type as they consume less power , but they are more sensitive to power fluctuations/short outages ....as info ...

[Whistler]

best investment in keeping rooms cool is insulation.

[kopkei]

best investment in keeping rooms cool is insulation.

yes if you keep everything ,all doors and windows 24h shut , what is not in our case, we can handle the heat unless it becomes very extreme ,+38C , so insulation in our case would be a big waste of money as we do not want to be locked up all day , i have experimented with this already

[sometimewoodworker]

with a ceiling height of about 2,80m , you will need a 24-28.000 btu unit ,

That is going to the extreme bottom end at 636 BTU sq/M with a hot room as the OP has suggested he has that’s going to take at least an hour to get down to comfortable temperature and may well never get down to his preferred temperature without running full time.

The temperatures here have got to well over 40C and while we don’t drop the inside by more than about 10C in the daytime a unit that small might just cope. If you have insulated the walls and ceiling, shaded the windows and like a rather warm 30C+ you would be OK with that size

[Doodoo]

The easiest and most economical way is to head to the Airport , Central, one of the Hospitals and lounge for the day
Along with the AC comes, free internet and in some cases free beverages are available

[stattointhailand]

The easiest and most economical way is to head to the Airport , Central, one of the Hospitals and lounge for the day
Along with the AC comes, free internet and in some cases free beverages are available

But that then runs the risk of bumping into lots of people who are "heading to the Airport , Central, one of the Hospitals and lounge for the day " just for the free aircon/internet and in some cases beverages

[kopkei]

maybe install 2 x18.000 btu units better as one big one and cheaper , in less warmer days only open one , and also if one has a problem you still have the other one ...all this compared to 1 unit ,36000 btu should be more than adequate for not to say overkill ,normally between 600-800 btu/sqm depending the circumstances ...as info

[gprit]

Thanks all for the information / guide......next to try and persuade my wife...who says 24,000btu is enough 'because there are only two of them....'

[rick]

Our main lounge is around 35-40 sq. metres and until April never had air-conditioning. It doesn't get direct sun but has hot rooms/spaces on all 4 sides, upstairs are bedrooms. Just Thai walls and ceiling, no insulation. M-in-L finally asked for an air-conditioner (paying half) so a 12,000 BTU unit was installed, just used late afternoon and early evening. Obviously undersized, but it does make the room comfortable enough even on these 40 degree days - although i do not think it gets the temperature below 30 C. But everyone is happy enough with it, even me. If you want 25, obviously go bigger, but for most Thais you can economise.

[deankham]

We are about to change the A/C in master bedroom.

While it still works it is undersized and each summer seems to struggle a bit more to keep the room cool (or we struggle a bit more to feel cool as we get another year older!)

Anyway will probably start with Home Pro and look at Samsung as we have a decent track record with them and all units in house are Samsung (couple inverters and rest standard).

Anyone come across any deals recently on Samsung A/C? Is inverter still the most efficient technology (about 7 years since I last bothered to look at A/C in the stores)?

Also as we are replacing an existing A/C would it be normal / ok to re-use any of the ducting / pipework as should we insist on replacing all (not sure what to expect from the installation guys if they will try to do it quickest even if not the best way or try to do it most expensive way.)

Thanks

[sometimewoodworker]

We are about to change the A/C in master bedroom.

While it still works it is undersized and each summer seems to struggle a bit more to keep the room cool (or we struggle a bit more to feel cool as we get another year older!)

Anyway will probably start with Home Pro and look at Samsung as we have a decent track record with them and all units in house are Samsung (couple inverters and rest standard).

Anyone come across any deals recently on Samsung A/C? Is inverter still the most efficient technology (about 7 years since I last bothered to look at A/C in the stores)?

Also as we are replacing an existing A/C would it be normal / ok to re-use any of the ducting / pipework as should we insist on replacing all (not sure what to expect from the installation guys if they will try to do it quickest even if not the best way or try to do it most expensive way.)

Thanks

I have recently up graded the A/C in our bedroom so if doing that you should use the line set supplied with the new A/C it may well be different and not using it will effect the warranty on the A/C. Also the new A/C is more sensitive to having the filters cleaned, every 2~3 months keeps it working well leave it 4+ and the cooling drops off. Cleaning the filters is a simple enough job and takes a short time once extracted but our unit is 3 meters up so BIL gets the job.

[semperfiguy]

We are about to change the A/C in master bedroom.

While it still works it is undersized and each summer seems to struggle a bit more to keep the room cool (or we struggle a bit more to feel cool as we get another year older!)

Anyway will probably start with Home Pro and look at Samsung as we have a decent track record with them and all units in house are Samsung (couple inverters and rest standard).

Anyone come across any deals recently on Samsung A/C? Is inverter still the most efficient technology (about 7 years since I last bothered to look at A/C in the stores)?

Also as we are replacing an existing A/C would it be normal / ok to re-use any of the ducting / pipework as should we insist on replacing all (not sure what to expect from the installation guys if they will try to do it quickest even if not the best way or try to do it most expensive way.)

Thanks

I got a great price on a unit through PP Air. I had inspected the unit in other stores, so just called up this company and they delivered and installed the unit, then collected their money as they left. 4 years later the unit is just like new. It's a Carrier Inverter 25,000 BTU.

http://www.ppcooling.com/

[BillaRickaDickay]

Felt a bit sorry for my missus so have bitten the bullet and invested in some Aircon.
Free installation.
Running costs, 40bht a day for large sack of ice.
Fan electric (Fan purchase 500bht)
60 litre Ice storage box (1500 bht)

Meanwhile, freezing my nuts off on Mersea Island, Uk.
For Climate Change enthusiasts, The Island is still accessable via It's Causeway.

[Whistler]

Maybe I need this, 9000 BTU air con in small bedroom not coping. Extreme heat and damned PEA delivering 190V not helping

[kopkei]

we have just ordered and received a 9500 btu inverter aircon (aux) from lazada for 6.600 baht , i will install this myself , i must replace the pipes because of different refrigerant ,old R22 , new R32 ,which as other sized copper pipes , anyway ,i will remount the old one (daikin non inverter 2013 to our kitchen ) ...so it finally is cool in my kitchen when i am cooking and baking a lot of stuff....

[glalt]

My bad experience. I bought a Panasonic inverter, I think it was a 12,500 BTU. It worked fine for about ten months then started to have some strange problems. Service from the store came out and checked it. They told me everything was normal. It was still acting strange. They came back out within about a month and still said everything was normal. It had a one year warranty. At 13 months it stopped working. Naturally it was out of warranty. Service came out and told me it needed a new circuit board. The new board cost 8,000 baht plus 500 baht for the service call. I was pissed off by then and asked them about the new boards warranty. No warranty. I told them I would contact Panasonic. Panasonic refused to answer any of my numerous emails using two different addresses. I replaced it with an LG inverter. I put the piece of ---- Panasonic in the garage thinking that maybe I could find someone to repair it. My wife got tired of seeing it sit there and sold it to the recycling guy for 200 baht. The copper piping was worth more than that.

I now have two LG inverter units in the house. Other than the confusing remote controls they are both still running after more than two and a half years. I can't say that I am totally satisfied with LG inverters but at least they both still work.

[WimH]

My bad experience. I bought a Panasonic inverter, I think it was a 12,500 BTU. It worked fine for about ten months then started to have some strange problems. Service from the store came out and checked it. They told me everything was normal. It was still acting strange. They came back out within about a month and still said everything was normal. It had a one year warranty. At 13 months it stopped working. Naturally it was out of warranty. Service came out and told me it needed a new circuit board. The new board cost 8,000 baht plus 500 baht for the service call.

Our bedroom panasonic gave up completely (noise and fan but no cooling...)after 12 years, but had been underperforming the last 4-5 years ( we only stay in Thailand about 2 months per visit). The repair man also said it was the circuit board. I told him I would noy pay anything if it did not work properly. He bought he board on internet for about 800 baht, but it did not work . No more Panasonic for me. The Carrier in the second bedroom still works ok, but is only about 6 years old now...

[glalt]

I had a small 9,000 BTU standard air con in the bedroom. It worked perfectly for at least ten years even though it was a bit undersized. I replaced it with the LG inverter when it became noisy. It was still working fine except for the noise. I now wish I had stuck with Samsung. The LG remote controllers are really micky mouse. Once adjusted properly I just use the on/off button. They remind me of iPhones. They have adjustments for everything that you will never use. When the power goes off they do remember the settings when turned back on. It takes me a long time to get the thing set again after my know it all wife ADJUSTS it. I have told her to NEVER touch it but she doesn't listen very well.