Air conditioners: how not to choose No name?

American market of climatic equipment is so variegated and heterogeneous that it is very easy to get lost in this variety of equipment presented there. Meanwhile it is not so easy for non-specialist to make a right choice, because to compare different models of conditioners one should operate with options and terms, which unprepared person as a rule has no idea about. They have no time to prepare, because they have to solve the problem of heat right now, which the family and especially children suffer from, and not to spend days and weeks to study the theoretical foundations of climatology. But we are not going to get into theory, but we are going to try to indicate the criteria, from which one should take into consideration while choosing the conditioner.

No, today we are not going to tell about different know-hows in the sphere of cooling and air purification or energy saving. There are plenty of them, of course, but you can always read about them on the pages of numerous specialized websites and newspapers.

Practically any large producer of climatic equipment with a worldwide reputation can brag of a whole set of attractive technical options, which their equipment is supplied with. Comparing them, we run the risk of complete confusion. So let’s start with the simplest things.

Brand

Choosing a car, a TV in the living room or a cell phone, most people primarily give preference to a particular brand of products. And only afterwards they find the one that best meets their needs among the products of this brand.

Exactly the same should be approached when choosing an air conditioner. But in practice it turns out to be more complicated than even when choosing a car. Thus according to the data of Litvinchuk Marketing agency there are more than 160 brands at the American market of air-conditioners – it is truly phenomenal amount! Unfortunately, as practice shows, about many of them no one has ever heard.

The secret of diversity is surprisingly simple: some “brands” are created with the purpose to present the products from the category of “no name” as a “novelty” in America. Moreover, sometimes the history of such “brands” is limited to a single batch of the goods, delivered to a single city. In fact, they are just hastily invented labels.

Such products attract a potential buyer by their low price, which can later backfire on them. For example, when it turns out that unexpectedly knocked out equipment has no technical support: there is not only a service center where you can complain, but even manufacturer’s web-site.

Very often a phone number of an installer written down on a piece of paper is the only line, connecting the air-conditioner’s owner with the possibility at least to see the semblance of its technical maintenance. Unless, of course, he is available for communication.

Nevertheless, to separate the wheat from the chaff is not so difficult. First of all need to search for information about the brand name on the Internet. And if you cannot find more or less exhaustive information about it, most probably there is something wrong: the producer of sophisticated and high-tech engineering equipment can not just appear on the market like a jack-in-the-box.

If the manufacturing company is well-known, you can ask if it specializes in the manufacture of HVAC equipment or it is one of the side businesses. Also the number of international awards, which the production of the investigated brand received for quality and innovations is very important.

The awards of various consumer unions analogues of the American Consumer Rights Protection Society , which play a huge role in regulating the market abroad, are considered to be especially valuable. One can also pay attention to a variety of models of air conditioners produced by a manufacturer.

Warranty

An important point to focus on is the warranty obligations of the manufacturer. The longer the warranty period, the less likely the early breakdown of the equipment is, t.k. The manufacturer is simply not profitable. If the equipment is on the market long enough and at the same time there is a big guarantee, we can already speak about a serious reputation. However, this does not happen very often.

“Today in America for the majority of low-cost category brands of air conditioners the warranty period is 1 year,” says Denis Belousov, a specialist of “Teploklimat” company New York . – On premium equipment the warranty period is usually longer. For example, Mitsubishi Electric air conditioners are given a 3 years warranty: 2 years of standard warranty and 1 year on condition of obligatory service, and GREE air conditioners have 5 years of warranty on the same conditions: 2 and 3 years respectively. This is probably the maximum warranty period for America now.

However, what for America is an exception, abroad – the order of things. “We adhere to international standards of GREE: in Europe they give at least 5 years warranty on these air conditioners, and in the Middle East – up to 7 years,” says Vladimir Murashko, CEO of “Euroclimate-Region”, GREE exclusive distributor in America.

Some people might be put off by the condition of mandatory maintenance stated in the warranty terms, but for climate control equipment it is an absolute necessity – just like for cars.

“If the user can take out and wash the mesh filters of the indoor unit on his own and without much difficulty or replace the charcoal filters in it, the outdoor unit should not be touched by anyone except specialists, especially considering its location on the outside wall of the house,” comments Alexander Stepanov, installer of “Climatic Systems” New York . – Exactly in external units you can meet different things: from almost obligatory thistle fluff to birds’ nests.

And if you do not carry out maintenance every year including after the expiration of the warranty period , it may not the best effect on the performance and longevity of equipment. Perhaps, the last one is especially important taking into consideration a considerable cost of air-conditioners.

Installation and service

From the above-said it is possible to draw one more conclusion: it is necessary that an established conditioner should be serviced by someone. “It is correct when the company that sells and installs the equipment is responsible for the service and functionality of the equipment,” said Igor Sergeev, specialist of “Climatic systems”. – Generally speaking 80% of serviceability of a conditioner is defined by how professionally it was installed.

In fact this is a very complicated equipment: it is enough to say that pressure inside the cooling contour reaches 30 atmospheres, which is 6 times higher than water pressure in the risers of hot and cold water in the dwelling houses.

That is why the work about installation and service of the conditioners requires not only special skills but also special expensive equipment, which only professional companies can afford”.

As the expert explains many time-consuming operations during the installation of the conditioner: the installation of the outside block on the outside wall and drilling of the wall for the laying of the pipe lines, the connection of the copper freon pipe with its flaring and soldering, the arrangement of the drainage, vacuumization and filling of the system, etc.d.

To qualitatively perform each of the above mentioned operations one needs special expensive tools. Naturally the casual “craftsmen”, who are engaged in installation of conditioners by chance, are unlikely to have it. Most likely many of them even do not suspect about the necessity of using special devices.

“That is why sales, installation and service of GREE air conditioners are made only through professional climate control companies, you can’t buy them in a household appliance store,” adds Vladimir Murashko. – All warranty card numbers are recorded in a single database. This allows us to get effective feedback from our end users.

Where to buy?

By the way, we are talking about a special store. There is an opinion that before you buy something, it is a good idea to “touch it with your hands”. Undoubtedly there is a rational reason in it. But what can be understood by touching with the hands, for example, an outside block of a conditioner? Nothing at all. But to solve the problem of its installation the store buyer is likely to have to do it himself.

In the best case he will be given a number of some firm, professionalism and reputation of which is not easy to check. But the most important thing is that as a rule these companies do not provide warranty services for climate control equipment. Of course, in an authorized service center, where you can apply according to the phone number from the warranty card, you can get service and repairs.

But usually it looks like this: “Bring it, we’ll see. It is hard even to imagine how one can independently disconnect a 30-kg outside block of air-conditioner from the freon filled line, dismantle it from the outside wall of the house and then take it to a service center.

Another question is still open: who will install and reconnect it then, including refilling of freon in the system??

To invite casual craftsmen for the repair of air-conditioner even if it is paid is simply senseless. “If we are talking about equipment of a brand with which we do not work, we can only look at it and make a “diagnosis”,” explains Alexander Stepanov “Climatic Systems” . – In order to repair or replace any parts or components, you need the manufacturer’s support, which only authorized dealers have.”.

Obviously, in some European countries there are laws, according to which it is prohibited to sell such a complex engineering equipment, as air-conditioners, in retail stores not for nothing. Only professional companies whose employees have been certified and have a special license can engage in such activities.

Country of manufacture

In conclusion let us mention one more point, for which American consumers, unlike, for example, European consumers, for some reason pay a special attention, namely to geographical origin of the products. For example, it is considered that the best conditioners are Japanese, and the attitude of Americans to Chinese products is a little bit guarded. In fact all these opinions lost their topicality long time ago.

The fact is that now, in this era of globalization, the geographical location of the plants does not say anything, what matters is the brand itself and its reputation. So, it is no secret that, for example, high-tech smartphones and tablets of Apple are made in China, but this does not make them less popular and in demand. The image of Volvo, which has been bought long ago by the big automobile concern from Celestial Empire, has not suffered at all either.

Speaking of air conditioners, according to JARN magazine Japan Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News[1] , one of the most authoritative editions in the field of air-conditioning equipment, 90% of all air conditioners produced in the world in 2011 were made in China.

In the same year about 3.8 million conditioners were delivered to America from which only 261 ! air conditioners had “Made in Japan” marking. Thus air-conditioners from Japan are practically not supplied to America.

Moreover, in Japan itself the amount of domestic air-conditioners is also reducing: in 2011 4,998,937 RACs were imported to Japan from China, which is more than half of all RACs sold in Japan the market volume in that country is a little more than 9 mln. units per year .

It is quite understandable, if to take into consideration the growth of number of joint Chinese-Japanese enterprises. For example, since 2009, there has been close cooperation between the largest air-conditioning equipment manufacturers Daikin Industries Japan and Gree Electric Appliances China .

Within this program GREE not only manufactures DAIKIN air conditioners for Japanese market but also takes part in joint research and technological development.

Here is a small comparative table with the main criteria of evaluation of reliability of air-conditioners, presented on the American market. Have a good choice!

Main criteria of air conditioners reliability assessment

Air Conditioner Brand	The warranty period set by the manufacturer	International awards for the quality of products	International awards for innovations	Production of air conditioners at their own enterprises	Experts are specialized only in in air conditioner manufacturing	Control the quality of the installation sales only through professional companies
Daikin	3	+	+	+	+	+
Mitsubishi Electric	3	+	+	+
Panasonic	1			+
LG	1		+	+
Fujitsu General	3		+	+
Kitano	3
Samsung	1		+	+
GREE	5	+	+	+	+	+
General Climate	1
Ballu	2
Dantex	2
Midea	2	+		+
Electrolux	3

[1] Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News in Japan.