Aircon Quotes (From Aron)

[stormcontrol 0]

Hi there, this is my first post

I realised that many of you purchased your aircons from aircon specialist shops. What about Courts, Carrefour or Fairprice Extra? Do these stores provide reasonable pricing and good installation services? Any bad experiences with these stores? I am planning to get a multi-split soon so looking for some guidance here.

Why i didn't get from them is because after asking around some of those places, i realised that their multi-split systems are fixed systems. for example, for mitsubishi electric system 3 aircon, they only have combination of 3x 9k btu fancoils system. It's alright if you are going to use them only in the bedrooms of a standard configuration hdb flat. But it's not ok when your configuration is unique. For example, my MBR calls for minimum 12k btu in cooling capacity and courts, carrefour, fairprice extra even gain city(cck, i didn't check the imm branch) don't carry that fancoil. My hall calls for 18k btu, so that's even harder to get!

Furthermore, some of the salesperson in these shops can be quite unscrupulous (or rather, ignorant about air conditioning), they won't bother to check your floor plan/cooling needs before recommending to you a pathetically undersized unit that's under promotion/sales!

[stormcontrol 0]

Posting up to share my quotation for Mitsubishi Electric System 3 Invertor. 9k+12k+18k

Natural Cool: $3340 inclusive of all the piping i need, 1/2" Armaflex class 0

Coolserve: $3145.8 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 3/8" Armaflex class 1

Hong Tar: $3030 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 1/2" Thermaflex class 0

Allbest: $3157 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 3/8" Totaline (forgot to ask class)

All pricing inclusive of gst and 2 trip installation and G23 copper piping. Of them all coolserve even offered me FOC site survey to discuss with me piping and aircon placement first before i decide to buy from them anot. Disclaimer, above pricing/offers have expired/expiring soon so not a very good basis of comparison for future buyers. Any comments are welcome as I haven't decided yet, although hong tar's offer is really tempting.

Edited June 9, 2009 by stormcontrol

[streamrsz 0]

Posting up to share my quotation for Mitsubishi Electric System 3 Invertor. 9k+12k+18k

Natural Cool: $3340 inclusive of all the piping i need, 1/2" Armaflex class 0

Coolserve: $3145.8 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 3/8" Armaflex class 1

Hong Tar: $3030 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 1/2" Thermaflex class 0

Allbest: $3157 inclusive of 1 roll of piping, 3/8" Totaline (forgot to ask class)

All pricing inclusive of gst and 2 trip installation and G23 copper piping. Of them all coolserve even offered me FOC site survey to discuss with me piping and aircon placement first before i decide to buy from them anot. Disclaimer, above pricing/offers have expired/expiring soon so not a very good basis of comparison for future buyers. Any comments are welcome as I haven't decided yet, although hong tar's offer is really tempting.

Read quite good reviews on Hong Tar - surprised that their quoite is lower than Allbest.

[DSA 0]

Have u tried sourcing a competitive quote from Gain City?

For those getting air-con systems, I cannot stress any further the importance of referring to NEA's Database of Registered Goods for Air-cons.

Energy & directly $ conservation is of utmost importance.

Do some simple sums comparing the incremental cost of an inverter air-con system over a non-inverter one.

Weigh that incremental cost against the number of years required to accumulate the equivalent $ amount from the incremental monthly savings gained from the electricity consumption by an inverter system over a non-inverter one.

[starjoy 0]

i heard from Gaincity salesperson that Mits aircons are very fragile, so when you wash the parts, it might break easily.. true?

anyone bought from Nation Cool or Natural Cool? can recommend any gd salesperson? Nation Cool recommended me Samsung for normal usage, non-inverter. asked them about Toshiba and he said Toshiba just changed new systems therefore wont know if it's good until 3-4mths later wor.. true? can anyone advise? tks!

[stormcontrol 0]

Have u tried sourcing a competitive quote from Gain City?

For those getting air-con systems, I cannot stress any further the importance of referring to NEA's Database of Registered Goods for Air-cons.

Energy & directly $ conservation is of utmost importance.

Do some simple sums comparing the incremental cost of an inverter air-con system over a non-inverter one.

Weigh that incremental cost against the number of years required to accumulate the equivalent $ amount from the incremental monthly savings gained from the electricity consumption by an inverter system over a non-inverter one.

Yup I did. Tried to source from gain city CCK. They don't have the cooling capacity i needed. Salesman also not very good. Abit unprofessional, didn't even bother to calculate the cooling capacity i needed and kept on pushing to me their promotion package. 3x9k btu. Undersized for my needs lah... =s

Actually wanted to get non-inverter as the cost savings for inverter for me is not very big as i don't on air-con that often. However realised that the only way i can get the cooling capacity i needed from non-inverter i would need to get system 2+1. The cost of inverter system 3 and non-inverter system 2+1 in the end mostly balanced out. Moreover most (not all. Carrier can but super **** expensive) of the 2+1 systems i checked out i can't even on both bedroom aircons at full power... =S. So will get inverter system 3 lor, only $100 or so more and can save elecricity plus on two bedrooms at one time.

Read quite good reviews on Hong Tar - surprised that their quoite is lower than Allbest.

just wanted to ask but does lower quote means lousier workmanship? *confused*

i heard from Gaincity salesperson that Mits aircons are very fragile, so when you wash the parts, it might break easily.. true?

anyone bought from Nation Cool or Natural Cool? can recommend any gd salesperson? Nation Cool recommended me Samsung for normal usage, non-inverter. asked them about Toshiba and he said Toshiba just changed new systems therefore wont know if it's good until 3-4mths later wor.. true? can anyone advise? tks!

I think should be abit fragile bah. The showroom model in allbest was damaged when i went there to get a quote. the uncle say customers keep on playing with the directional thing and broke it... >_<". But i think it depends on the person touching the aircon also right? If you don't know what you're doing and anyhow like this and like that, then unless your air con is child-proof or what, something is going to spoil right.

I'm not sure about National Cool but i like natural cool. Approached them because i heard quite a number of my neighbours having good experience with them. However, they are very very slow to respond to calls and email. Best course of action is to go there in person. The sales rep sat down with me for 3 hours going over many many different possible aircon configurations for my home and in the end when i never commit to buy from him on the spot he also not black face. Tell me to think about and let him know if i do want to get from natural cool. =)

Edited June 10, 2009 by stormcontrol

[adrian_john 1]

I almost got a System 4 with 12, 9 , 9, 22 combination and I believe the compressor was 32K btu - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. My view on 4 bedroom apt, I might opt for System 3 and System 2. Ideally the living should have at least 22k btu.

Yupe I'm in SSOG and RSeries. Are you there as well?

Thanks again for your insights.

Yup, I'm on SSOG, but I don't drive a Stream though, I drive an Odyssey, like the SSOG boss.

[brascal 0]

I got a question, if i have a place with an existing single split Mitsubishi Heavy SRK24CEV (R22) setup and I want to install another fan coil. What is the best option for me?

1.Rip out the existing unit and install a new multispilt.

2.See if there is a way to use the existing compressor and add a new fan coil unit?

3.Get a new compressor and additional fan coil unit that is compatible with the existing system (But is there a compatible system?)

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[DSA 0]

U should looking at the cooling capacity of the COMPRESSOR unit - Sum of FCUs' cooling capacity = Cooling capacity of compressor unit.

[DKCH 0]

Hey when you guys say Natural Cool, are you referring to NationCool? The one at IMM?

My ID usually sources from one guy from Nation Cool at IMM. He came over to my place before I signed anything and viewing the place, recommended a System 3 9btu (common room), 12btu (masterbedroom) and 21btu (living/dining room). He also says that the compressor should be MXY-3A28VA.

Price he gave, if use back the same piping, is SGD3050. If need to change piping, concealed piping, would be SGD3650.

I asked GainCity about an hour ago and for the same system, they quote SGD3099. For changing the concealed pipes, they need to come down and evaluate. But the salesperson says that it would be about SGD300-SGD500 extra PER FCU! So, maximum top up SGD1500. Faint...

Anyway, I have asked around and to see how much BTU you need for your place, you should take your square feet x 80. That's the ballpark figure. Then of course, see if you got super high ceiling, or you got huge heat generating machines, or you have a huge family, then you have to add a bit more cooling. Just FYI.

Hmmm, SGD3650.... to do or not to do...

[DSA 0]

Anyway does anyone knows GC 5 year warranty covers what items? Only compressor? Does it cover leaking n so on?

Terms & Conditions of GC's Protection Plus Extended Warranty Service Contract is listed on GainCity.com.

[stormcontrol 0]

Hey when you guys say Natural Cool, are you referring to NationCool? The one at IMM?

...

Anyway, I have asked around and to see how much BTU you need for your place, you should take your square feet x 80. That's the ballpark figure. Then of course, see if you got super high ceiling, or you got huge heat generating machines, or you have a huge family, then you have to add a bit more cooling. Just FYI.

Hmmm, SGD3650.... to do or not to do...

Nation Cool is not Natural Cool. Natural Cool has their own *building* somewhere in paya lebar and that's the only showroom they have. Near the Charles & Keith head office.

Actually with regards to how much cooling capacity you need, it's all very confusing one. Some people advocate multiplying your floor area in sq ft by 65 (coolserve), some by 80 and some by 85. And to add confusion to it all, there's also some debate as to whether it is ok to oversize or undersize (a little!) your aircon fancoil. The official US (Air Conditioning Contractors of America association) stance is to undersize. Rationale being that aircon unit take awhile to reach peak efficiency. The always running undersized aircon will in the end use less energy than the stop-start oversized fancoil. Also, the always running undersized aircon will control humidity better than an oversized one. Lastly, *not* buying a larger fancoil than you need will of course save you some money!

However, if you talk to people in the airconditioning industry here, they will always advice you to oversize. Their worry is that if the fancoil is not big enough, the room will not be cold enough. Also, most aircon techs in the showrooms will also say that undersized fancoils will keep on running and consume more electricity while the stop-start oversized aircon will not consume so much electricity as it is not running much of the time. And most singaporeans are not that adveresly affected by humidity anyway. (in fact we seem to be prone to dry skin!)

Btw, when comparing aircon quotes have to also check how thick the insulation they are giving you, and how thick is the copper piping. These affect the price alot. Insulation thickness sizing comes in 3/8" and 1/2" usually. While copper pipe thickness comes in either gauge 23 or gauge 24. Smaller gauge number = thicker copper pipe. Thicker insulation = less chance of "sweating" or condensation. Thicker copper piping = better cooling efficiency.

Also, which gaincity you go ah? When i went to GC in CCK earlier this month and asked for 9k+12k+18k setup, they don't have leh. Tell me only have 9k+9k+9k or 9k+9K+21K. Pricing also seems to have come down leh. Earlier this month 9k+9k+9k from GC already cost 2900++ leh.

Edited June 25, 2009 by stormcontrol

[simpleguy80 0]

So Gaincity offer what type of default installation?

[DKCH 0]

Hi Storm,

Wah, your insulation explanation complicated lah. Haha. I think I will ask my guy to provide sufficient insulation so that the place does not leak/sweat. If not, I'm gonna bang some balls

I went to the Gain City at AMK. Their HQ. The exact models would be MXY-3A28VA (compressor), MSXY-GA10VA, MSXY-GA13VA and MSXY-GA22VA. I think they should also have 18000 BTU as well. Price would then probably be a bit cheaper.

[streamrsz 0]

Hey when you guys say Natural Cool, are you referring to NationCool? The one at IMM?

My ID usually sources from one guy from Nation Cool at IMM. He came over to my place before I signed anything and viewing the place, recommended a System 3 9btu (common room), 12btu (masterbedroom) and 21btu (living/dining room). He also says that the compressor should be MXY-3A28VA.

Price he gave, if use back the same piping, is SGD3050. If need to change piping, concealed piping, would be SGD3650.

I asked GainCity about an hour ago and for the same system, they quote SGD3099. For changing the concealed pipes, they need to come down and evaluate. But the salesperson says that it would be about SGD300-SGD500 extra PER FCU! So, maximum top up SGD1500. Faint...

Anyway, I have asked around and to see how much BTU you need for your place, you should take your square feet x 80. That's the ballpark figure. Then of course, see if you got super high ceiling, or you got huge heat generating machines, or you have a huge family, then you have to add a bit more cooling. Just FYI.

Hmmm, SGD3650.... to do or not to do...

Most of the concealed is going above the false ceiling. So if you are doing a reno to your place, then you should try negotiate for a non concealed type pricing esp if you are redoing your false ceiling.