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I also did my homework before switching to INVERTER, 4 TICKS, DAIKIN. To cool a room from a higher to lower temperature, we are essentially removing the HEAT ENERGY that is stored in that room. How? By using an machine we call an AIRCON. For the AIRCON machine to do that work, it needs energy - ELECTRICAL ENERGY. Thus, COP which means Coefficient Of Performance, is a comparison of how effective a piece of machine (aircon) removes HEAT ENERGY with a given amount of ELECTRICAL ENERGY. That is. It is just a RATIO of HEAT ENERGY REMOVAL / ELECTRICAL ENERGY REQUIRED TO DO THAT. Thus, no unit as both numerator and denominator are J and cancelled off. So, for a given room, whatever aircon brand and whatever aircon model we use. To bring that given room temperature down from say 32 degrees C to 25 degrees C, we are actually removing that amount of HEAT ENERGY from the room. Think of HEAT as something physical but invisible. Imagine that our aircon could remove something that is invisible from our room and throw it outside the room. That something invisible is HEAT. So, if we understand that something invisible that has to be removed, we will be able to picture it that no matter what we use, we will need to use same amount of energy to remove the heat. Thus, if we could find a more efficient system ( i.e. machine with HIGHER COP ), this means that particular machine needed less ELECTRICAL ENERGY to do the same work. Thus DAIKIN is right to say that choose the highest COP and you will not be wrong. Your salesmen are also not wrong to ask you choose NON INVERTER. You may wish to do some calculations on the savings using INVERTER vs NON INVERTER. Based on these data, you have to make a decision if it is worth installing INVERTER type. Of course, you will have to take into account the intangibles like more stable room temp, quieter, etc... Do some math and find the break even. See if the premium you have to pay for a INVERTER system is worth, considering all intangibles you are getting. mkl22 is right. The cooling fins in new fan coils are more compact - thus trapped dust more easily. I believe most if not all new fan coils are like that as the manufacturers wanted air flowing thru fins touching more surface area for it to be more efficient. Please check it yourself. Vacuuming will help. Hope I did not confuse you further.

[font="Arial Black"][/font]My old SANYO is NOT an Inverter Air Con. 100% Made In Japan. I believe that is why it can last more than 13 years. In fact, it is still cold when I change it to DAIKIN. Only the compressor is a little noisy as t he bearings are giving way. Fan Coil Unit is still quiet. I use Air Con 8 hours to 10 hours everyday. Weekends >12 hours. So, I must say my Made in Japan SANYO reliability is really good. Cannot comment on new ones that is Made in Thailand. Compressors are very robust. Of course, monthly cleaning is necessary for the Fan Coil Unit. Changed to DAIKIN (inverter type) because specs on paper are much better than SANYO (inverter). I am referring to COP at full load and half load. Check here... http://els.nea.gov.sg/mels/aircon.asp I was told DAIKIN compressor is manufactured in JAPAN while SANYO is made in Thailand... do not know how true??? COP at half load is important measurement for inverter type as air con will run at less than full load once set temperature is reached. Depending on the requirement, compressor load will vary from zero to 100% load. Usually air con will get better efficiency when running at 50% load. I achieved about 150 kWh of savings every month on average. I noticed that my DAIKIN inverter type air con does not turn ON / OFF compressor like the conventional non inverter type. Noise from both Condensing Unit and Fan Coil Unit is very little. Besides varying the load capacity of the compressor, inverter air con does turn off the compressor when room temp reached set temp. However, the compressor does not just switch on / off like the non inverter type which is very noisy. I did my research before I changed mine last year, I believed there are plenty of newer models... may be higher efficiency models available as technology advances. Do your homework and check further before committing. It's not cheap. I paid mine for close to $3k... MKS50ESG + 2 fan coil 12000 BTU each. Do a comparison on COP between inverter and non inverter. Take note of number of hours you use a day. Check if savings on kWh is enough to justify buying an inverter one. After using mine for more than a year, I would highly recommend choosing inverter air con. Pros of inverter air con: 1. Lower noise as compared to non inverter type. 2. Higher efficiency - this means we get higher cooling power with same energy we use. 3. Faster cooling - based on same capacity for both inverter and non inverter. 4. Temperature in room is more regulated as compared to non inverter type as compressor does not turn on / off as frequent as non inverter type. Whatever brand you choose, do take a look at the inverter type. Other than the price difference, I think the inverter models have plenty of advantages to offer. Check if power savings could offset this price difference. Good luck!

No. As long as you turn off the mains, there will be no power to the aircon. Thus, no wastage. We are saying that the aircon is having high standby power... this is a waste of energy especially for those who does not use their aircon often i.e. aircon is always on standby only switch off by remote control.

was using SANYO for 13 years. No issue except starting to get a little noisy. No top up gas. No leak. Clean every month. Changed to DAIKIN in May 2009. 4 Ticks model. Average savings is 150 kWh per month since May 2009. Average 8 to 10 hours usage per day, 365 days per year. Super quiet even when compressor turns on and off. Cooling capacity is higher than my previous SANYO and yet still lower power consumption. Just go for the best copper pipes and insulation and wires. No point having problem and have to call serviceman to replace pipes later... This will give you more headaches.

"Which one has lowest? I really do not know which one has the lowest because none of them specify it clearly. Your best bet is to ask the supplier. However, from hints I get, going for Daikin seems to be a good bet, but again, I am not certain." I bought and installed DAIKIN Model 2MKS50ESG in May 2009. Previously using SANYO for more than 10 years. Very happy with SANYO. No problem for over 10 years... about 13 years to be exact. After the change, my monthly kWh dropped by 150 on average. No very sure about Power Consumption on standby. Did not check. And not a concern as overall kWh reduced. In fact I tend to switch on the DAIKIN for more hours than the old SANYO. Never turn off aircon mains. Aircon main switch is always on. Only use remote control to switch off... i.e. Power is always supplied to both blower unit and condensing unit except compressor is not running. i.e. always on STANDBY.

Mistral and Aerogaz look alike. Just wonder if Mistral Instant Water Heaters are made by Aerogaz in Malaysia.

I have a NATIONAL brand Instant Water Heater Model DH-351 S. Purchased more than 10 years ago. NATIONAL brand had since changed to Panasonic. This is still in very good working condition. I bought this as it was the only brand and model with Electronic Temperature Control for extremely stable water temperature at that time. I am 100% satisfied with this. I bought another brand recently for my other bath room because I wanted a Instant Water Heater with built-in Water Pump to increase water pressure of shower jet. I can't find a Panasonic model with Pump at this time. Unfortunately, I would say I regretted buying a pump model as the motor pump is noisy when turned on. I end up not using this feature. I paid a couple of S$10s more for the optional pump feature. Will only use when water pressure decreases. I will not indicate the brand though. Just be careful when choosing a heater with pump. Some have indicated that they have silent ones. FYI, most Instant Water Heaters come with Electronic Temperature Control these days. And prices are well below S$200.