2015 air conditioners follow the owner and blow precisely on the silhouette all the time

As soon as the summer comes, the weather forecasters report that the current season of mass vacations promises to be very hot – for those who stayed at home or at the cottage. It means that we should urgently install an air conditioner. A? Of course, the choice is up to the customer, but we will consider the trends on the HVAC equipment market and new products from the manufacturers in terms of the best consumer parameters.

Trends in the air conditioning market 2015

Our native consumer is seriously thinking about buying split-system or conditioner after the abnormally hot summer of 2010. At that time we were buying everything without thinking too much. Now the buyer is more exacting and correspondingly the quality of air-conditioners presented at our market has considerably increased and new technologies are actively introduced.

The first thing a buyer pays attention to is the energy consumption, because electricity tariffs, compared with the same in 2010 have increased markedly. Energy consumption has been drastically reduced thanks to the use of inverter converters, more advanced compressors and an increasing introduction of electronics – 3D ISee Sensor control sensors and online KKRP01A controllers. If to compare with older models, today’s conditioners consume 45-50% less electric power with the same capacity, having reached A+ to A indexes+++.

The next achievement of today’s “conditioner-builders” is the division of air streams from inside units of split-systems into different directions, taking into account the location of people in the premise. This is achieved by individual control of the flow direction system. Occupancy sensors located in the room analyze the environment: where exactly are people, height of ceilings, where is the warm air coming from, where is the device that heats the air such as TV , and other factors. Based on this information, sensors adjust the capacity and direction of the chilled air flow and the degree of cooling. Operational temperature range is increased by 5-10⁰ and size of indoor units became smaller due to sliding ventilation panel.

The infrared movement sensor switches on air conditioner as soon as a person enters the sphere of its responsibility. Its mechanism of operation is simple: it has a Fresnel lens which focuses infrared rays from the whole room to the sensor and a sensitive sensor which detects the number of people in the room and the degree of their activity. As always, everything is brilliantly simple! And in this case it is also convenient.

The air conditioners of the previous generation were notable for the accumulation of a variety of bacteria that would infect people or cause allergy attacks. This was slowly fought by installing a variety of filters. Now there’s a breakthrough on that front: new, upgraded Plazma Guard plasma fine air filters. These volumetric filters clean the air from mites and allergens up to 94% and destroy bacteria and viruses up to 99% as manufacturers assure .

Today’s “conditioner” has become “a smart” one! It can now be controlled over the internet. Phobia “where is the remote control??!The “air conditioner” lost its topicality and is slowly becoming a thing of the past: a modern air conditioner has got a built-in Wi-Fi module. A user can switch on/off the device, choose temperature and operating mode without using a remote control, but with the help of smartphone, tablet or laptop.

And you don’t need the immediate vicinity of an air conditioner, you can control it from your car, your office or even from another country. Imagine: you leave your work, remotely set the necessary parameters for your split-system, and come home in comfortable conditions. But that is not all: with the help of Wi-Fi Smart technology it is possible to make a desirable program of work of the device for a long term, for example for a week. True, so far such control is only available to owners of mobile devices built on iOS and Android platforms.

Modern conditioner became noticeably “quieter”, the noise level varies within the limits of 19-21 dB. To understand this figure, imagine: 60dB is the sound of an electric shaver, 38dB is the sound of a moving elevator through a wall, 25dB is a quiet garden in windless weather. Such parameter of a sound is reached thanks to the new technology – Skew Fan. With this technology the fan blades are placed at a certain angle to the fan axis. The air resistance decreases considerably and accordingly the noise is reduced.

In modern air-conditioner they use the principally new refrigerant – R32. This refrigerant is interesting because it is less dense and viscous than others, for the same capacity it needs 30% less. And the low viscosity minimises pressure drop, thereby increasing the overall performance of the air conditioner – so units using the new refrigerant cost less and use less electricity. The R32 refrigerant is practically environmentally friendly.

Well, a few words about design. Producers mostly think about the technical part, producing units with more and more advanced characteristics. But one of the flagships of manufacturers of climatic equipment – the South Korean company LG – has put on the market a new line of air conditioners ArtCool, which includes a model ArtCool Gallery. This model – a light picture, illuminated with different colors. Now the indoor unit is a complete detail of the interior. The user can hang a reproduction of Aivazovsky or Claude Monet on the wall, which will condition the air.

Announced 2015 models

Daikin will further develop its FTXR Ururu-Sarara line of inverter air conditioners. These split systems provide high precision indoor climate, including humidity. Naturally, the air conditioners of this line have a low level of energy consumption.

For example, a Daikin FTXR28E model designed for a room area of 25m² and a ceiling height of 3m, consumes only 0.5kWh. Split-system has a volumetric airflow 3D Flow with Autoswing mode, ambient fresh air system of double purification, fine air purification system and a number of other options and features.

This year Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric is staking on the split-systems of MSZ series, the first models of which appeared at the end of the last year – MSZ-EF25VEW and MSZ-FH26VE. Both of these models are designed for a small area up to 25 m² , and the new split-systems are multizone, with the free configuration of indoor units. They are inferior to Daikin in noise level, but nevertheless the level is decent – only 21 dB. Energy saving and high performance with air treatment system – Plazma Guard volumetric plasma filters.

The medium-high price segment is distinguished by the company Timberk. They introduced a new line of split systems. The “highlight” of this range are indoor units in different colors, with wooden decor and colored lacquer coating. Such units can easily blend into any interior. But the leaders in this class are still Korean manufacturers – LG and Samsung.

In a budget segment the leader is Supra. The models of this firm are not bad quality and not expensive. But they have got a competitor – Japanese Suzuki company. The famous company has produced a line of economy-class split-systems of very high quality.

Choice of split system

If you are a jack of all trades and you do not like strangers invading your territory, then the floor air conditioner is your choice. It is easy to install and maintain. Thanks to its modern appearance, such a device will fit in any interior.

Three drawbacks of the “floor lamp”: first – with a wrong capacity in the apartment it could cause a draught. Second: you have to regularly drain the water from a special tank. The third is noisy. The plus – no need to drill a wall and call for this masters

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For all others: first we have to decide what kind of system. That is just air conditioner, split-system, multi-split-system or duct system. The last one is applied very seldom, because in a city apartment it is unreal to put it, and in a private house the premise under it and the ducts are installed at the construction stage. On this basis, we will not consider it. For a one-room apartment the choice is not so great – a simple wall-mounted conditioner or split-system . That’s why let’s consider split- and multisplit-systems in details.

Split-system is actually the same conditioner, but more perfect for example, the system heats air more warm . By analogy with cars – “air conditioner” and climate-control. That is a split-system is a climate-control.

Multi-split-system – it is possible to hang several internal ones on one external unit. So, let’s choose. I will not give complex formulas, you just need to understand that for a standard room with a ceiling height of 3-3,2 meters you need 100 watts of power. That is for a 20-meter room you need a unit with power of 2 kW. Huge advantage of multi-split-system – it is necessary to drill through an outside wall only in one place, and the rest of distribution will go through the apartment.

It is more preferable to chose an inverter type system. Such systems are much quieter and significantly reduce temperature fluctuations. And they consume less electricity. But inverter system is more expensive than the usual one.

One should not be guided by the producer: believe me, products with identical functionality from well-known Mitsubishi and from Chinese Supra will cost approximately the same. You should focus on the features and functions that you consider necessary. But you should not buy a device from firm without a reputation.

And more. If you are not an expert, do not try to install split-system by yourself. There are specially trained people for this purpose. If you install the system by professionals you keep the factory warranty and often get additional warranty from the company-installer. The second – you can always present a claim to installers and sellers in case of incorrect appliance’s work. By the way, Dmitry Yanin, the head of International Confederation of Consumers’ Societies considers that trading companies, shifting the guarantee responsibility to installers, impose installation through their firm. The guaranty obligations remain in any case if the installation was realized by the licensed installer. Proceeding from this, you should demand a license from the installers. And if there will be a conflict situation when a seller and an installer refuse from their guarantee obligations, do not argue but apply to the representative of a producer. As a rule, they value their reputation and will solve the question with their contractors themselves.