Conditioners in America do not refer to the articles of prime necessity, but it is very pleasant to find oneself in a cool room with the fresh air on a sultry summer day. That is why on the facades of houses in American cities it is more often possible to see outside units of split-systems.
It is clear that financial situation is not so far favorable for making expensive purchases, but is a comfortable microclimate a luxury??
And if you are ready to spend money for air conditioner then you should not make a mistake and buy the system which will let you enjoy freshness without any troubles during many years.
If you pay more than you buy cheaper
Certainly, energy economy is not so actual for American users, as it is for Europeans or Japanese. But still, no one will refuse to pay less for electricity. It is clear that electricity consumption is directly related to the capacity of installed air conditioning systems, but nevertheless there is one regularity: air conditioners of inverter type consume less electricity than traditional devices.
This is due to the fact that the compressor, controlled by an inverter, operates in a range of power and uses energy for its intended purpose: to maintain a given temperature using minimum power, for forced reaching the desired temperature – the maximum. For example, super economical inverters in air conditioners of Sky class from Daikin save up to 70% of electric power due to automatic use of all possible advantages of inverter.
But this is not the only advantage of inverter systems. Such conditioners reach the set temperature level 1,5-2 times quicker than usually. Due to the fact that the compressor is always in working condition the situation when it is too hot and sometimes too cold in the room is excluded. A wide output power range gives you peace of mind that a comfortable temperature will be maintained no matter how many people are in the room.
Constant regulation of the air parameters avoids sudden activation of the fan of the indoor unit to its full capacity, which decreases the overall noise level. Besides, a working compressor is not subject to freezing during the cold season, thus, it is less subject to wear and tear.
It is interesting that in Europe the majority of air-conditioners being sold are inverter ones. Not yet available in America. Americans are not well aware of the benefits of this class of compressors and prefer cheaper conventional models.
A Vetorok for less money
But not only the inverters allow economizing consumption of energy. Manufacturers try to reduce electricity consumption at all stages of appliance operation.
For this purpose they use fans with improved aerodynamic characteristics and magnetoelectric motors that increase compressor capacity due to increased efficiency at low revolutions Daikin .
E-scroll compressors Panasonic have a bearing that reduces vibrations and mechanical losses, resulting in further energy savings.
The control provided by a digital mixed inverter Toshiba is combined with new compressors with DC inverters.
Thus, greater energy savings are realized compared to conventional AC inverter compressors.
Besides, practically all the air conditioners have in their arsenal the economy mode preserving the comfort of air distribution while limiting the level of electricity consumption.
For example, the Smart Saver function Samsung controls the air conditioner to cool the room in a short time and then turns it off, saving up to 31% of electricity.
Will be blowing for the rest of his life
The aspect, important for us, Americans, is the reliability of air-conditioners. In fact the climate-technique is bought not for one year.
Reliability of conditioners, unlike reliability of a fridge, for example, depends not only on the quality of air-conditioners themselves, but also on the qualification of the people, who are mounting and maintain them.
That’s why it is important to buy an air conditioner from official dealers that have all proper certificates.
The leading American companies, which are dealing with climatic equipment, are united in the Association of Enterprises of Climate Industry APIC . Membership in the APIC can serve as a guarantee of a company’s seriousness.
List of these companies and their coordinates can be found on the Internet at apic or in the magazine “The World of Climate” published by APIC.
In addition, leading manufacturing companies are interested in high quality installation and maintenance of their equipment, so they open special centers for education and training of personnel.
Thus, competence of each specialist, providing warranty and after-sales service of Daikin climate control equipment, is confirmed by the personal certificate, issued after training and examinations passing in the Training Center for a strictly defined period of time, on expiration of which it is necessary to undergo retraining. And the New York representative office of LG Electronics Inc. Created in America Academy of air conditioning, where the training and staff development of companies working in the climate industry.
What air conditioners are charged with?
Flexibility of use is the ability of the air conditioner to create the most suitable climatic conditions for the person in each life situation. You have to agree that we do not need the same microclimate all the time to live comfortably.
And I want to change not only the temperature but also the humidity, direction of air streams, and even the noise level. All these nuances and take into account modern devices. Judge for yourself: all modern air conditioners can cool, dehumidify and purify.
Most of them can also increase temperature in the room, i.e. e. act as a heater. Many models are equipped with an ionization function that saturates the air with negatively charged ions.
The premium appliances also enrich the air with oxygen and remove excess carbon dioxide from the room. The first air conditioner with the air exchange system in America was the Hitachi device with the Air Exchanger system which added about 4 m per hour to the room3 of air 0,84 m 3 oxygen .
An air quality sensor analyzed the amount of O2 and CO2 in a room and chose a necessary mode of operation – supply or exhaust ventilation. Nowadays many manufacturers have conditioners with such functions.
For example, in the model range of Kentatsu air conditioners a ventilation unit KVU is included, the purpose of which is forced exhaust of exhaust air and instead of which fresh air is supplied to the inside unit intensity of air exchange – 20 m 2/hour .
In Haier air conditioners, the remote unit with heat recovery O2 – refresh, which provides fresh air supply and forced exhaust of the used air. Besides the air temperature, the humidity in the room is also important for our comfort.
The mode of air dehumidification, indispensable for modern air conditioner, allows to maintain the relative humidity in the premise from 35 to 60. There are models such as Daikin FTXR/RXR or Haier HSU-H03/R DB with “smart dehumidification” function that allows you to reduce the humidity in the room without changing the set temperature.
Nowadays the top of technical thought is air-conditioner, which besides all listed above is also able to humidify the air in the premise. Outdoor unit of Daikin FTXR/RXR air conditioner takes moisture from atmospheric air by passing it through the cassette of porous hygroscopic material.
The rotation of the cassette causes the transfer of humidity in the heating zone. Fresh air is blown through the heated area, capturing much more moisture than it originally contained when it had a lower temperature.
Be a friend of the technique, if the technique doesn’t mind…
This is a capacious notion that includes the capabilities of an air conditioner and the care of the companies that sell and install this equipment. Smile of a salesperson, skillful calculation of air conditioner capacity by a manager, skilful installation of the system – all these make up a user’s impression about the brand.
But besides the attention of living people, when you purchase a modern split-system we have the right to expect a certain care of the device itself, because the conditioners of XXI century are the devices with intellect, capable of much. It is nice when an inanimate object takes care of us and tries to make our life as comfortable as possible.
Thus motion sensor “smart eye” in split-systems of Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric automatically switches on air conditioner and provides comfort microclimate when people appear in the premise.
Infrared sensor I-see Sensor Mitsubishi Electric scans the temperature of the floor surface – 150° angle of view and detects the area where the temperature differs significantly from the set temperature. Underfloor monitoring prevents excessive cooling and provides even heating.
“Sensor Patrol” in Panasonic split systems checks whether the air conditioner is on or off. A sensor measures the degree of contamination in the air and if the contamination level exceeds a predetermined limit, the air purification system is activated. The air pollution sensor built into the Hitachi air conditioner automatically decides whether to clean the air and turn ventilation mode on or off.
Toshiba’s My Comfort function adjusts temperature and airflow parameters to maximize indoor comfort. Large round LCD display of Samsung air conditioners allows you to control the “health” of the room. In addition to the current operating mode and output, it shows the temperature in the room.
Automatic mode selection frees the user from manual switching from heating to cooling and back, the necessity of which often occurs in our capricious climate.
The button that grants you every wish
It is clear that in our lazy age people are used to control everything with the remote control. Specialists of leading companies do their best to make remote control ergonomic, understandable, so that by pressing one button you could change operation mode of air conditioner.
Thus control of Daikin conditioners is carried out by the usual pressing of a start button on the remote control and activates the same settings of the air conditioner, which were functioning before it was switched off. And the antibacterial surface of the remote control eliminates the contact transfer of bacteria and viruses when passing it to another user.
It is possible to cool or heat a room or to reduce noise of an internal block by 3 dB only by pushing button on the remote control of Panasonic conditioners the similar mode is present also in split-systems Toshiba, Haier .
When sensor patrol changes color? When the air gets dirty…
The air conditioner, working for us for a long time, also needs our care. The task of all manufacturers is to make this care as unburdensome and easy as possible. Inner blocks of many premium models have removable front panel which allows to clean it from dust quickly and easily.
A number of air conditioners from Panasonic are equipped with the new Sensor Patrol sensor – the color of the sensor changes according to the level of air pollution, offering a convenient and clear visual indication of the operating status of the system.
Some models of Kentatsu air conditioners have a mode of evaporator self-cleaning in indoor units during which the condensate is gathered in the drainage system and removed outside the room.
The new LG air-conditioners have the Smart Clean function – the mechanical system built in the inside unit at regular intervals cleans the heat exchanger and sweeps the dust into a special container.
Moreover it is worth paying attention to the warranty period of air conditioners – the best split-systems have 36 months warranty, i.e. e. three years.
Air conditioning: unplug and plug into the sun!
Power, consumed by conditioner, is several times less than cooling power. Cooling capacity/consumption ratio is called energy efficiency of air-conditioner and is designated in tables as EER for domestic air-conditioners it is 3-4.5 on average .
That is, with a cooling capacity of 4 kW, the power consumption can be as little as 1 kW. It happens so because energy is spent only on compressing vapors in the compressor and fans rotation, and the high efficiency of air-conditioning system is conditioned by the fact that cooling is carried out at the expense of freon phase transformation and not by the simple air pumping from the street to the apartment.
In the National University of Australia has developed the conditioner which does not need to be powered from the socket it gets all necessary electrical energy from solar batteries. According to one of the developers of the “solar air conditioner” it generally resembles a usual thin split system, but it is activated by photoelectric reactions. At the moment they are testing the novelty in Australia and then the conditioners are going to be put on sale.
Flaps: back and forth – for you and for me!
Cooling air in any case creates a breeze in a premise. Whose workplace is situated under air conditioner he knows how he can catch a cold even in hot weather. Manufacturers of domestic split-systems of premium-class are taking care that the users do not feel any discomfort and invent many modes of cold and warm air delivery.
In Daikin systems, the continuous oscillation of the dampers automatically changes the air circulation in the room according to the operation mode: heating, cooling or dehumidification. Comfort air distribution eliminates draughts in the room by creating an even temperature background. When cooling, the air flow is directed along the ceiling plane by fixing the damper in horizontal position.
And at heating, warm air from air conditioner is delivered almost vertically downwards. After switching off, the flap automatically rotates on its axis and retracts inside the frame of the unit. With the coordinated oscillation of the vertical flaps and louvers in Haier air conditioners, the volume airflow ensures the best air circulation in the room.
Panasonic split systems have automatic shaking function: when cooled, the louvers kick up airflow and cool air is spread throughout the room, when heated, the louvers kick down airflow and quickly warm the lower layer of air.
In addition, Panasonic air conditioners’ Soft Breeze mode, the louvers swing up and down at random intervals to create a light, cool breeze. And the schemes of vertical and horizontal air flow propagation can be combined as desired to create the most comfortable conditions. Altogether 5 typical schemes + automatic mode are involved.
Toshiba air conditioners have 12 fixed louver positions and 12 ranges of swinging, besides the fan has 7 speeds including “auto” and “maximum capacity” modes.
Multisystems
If you need to equip with air conditioners several rooms, you should pay attention to multisystems. In Daikin multisystem to one outdoor unit with productivity from 5 up to 9 kWt there are connected from two up to five indoor units of Split and SKY classes which can be of different type, productivity and installed in different rooms.
They operate in only one mode at a time – cooling or heating, but you can set and maintain your own temperature value in each room. At that priority premise with a wall-mounted unit in it has an advantage over the others when heating or cooling air.
Inverter multi-split-system Haier is counted on connection up to 5 indoor units, and their total cold-productivity can be higher than that of outdoor unit more than in 1,5 times that allows to save the initial costs in apartments and cottages where simultaneous work of all indoor units is almost impossible.
Panasonic, Toshiba multisplit systems allow you to connect up to 4 indoor units to one outdoor unit. It is interesting that Toshiba Multi Systems can be equipped with cassette-type indoor units which can be easily installed in standard 60×60 cm suspended ceiling panels.
The advantage of a multisystem is that it allows you to install only one outdoor unit. But at the same time there are some difficulties: multisystems installation is more complicated, the price of such system is a little bit higher in comparison with prices on split-systems. And if the outdoor unit breaks down, it will become hot in all the rooms at once, and if two or more indoor units of inverter multisplit system are used simultaneously, the capacity of each of them separately can be lower than if one indoor unit works. Probably that’s why you can see such a great number of outside blocks on the facades of houses.
We can’t go lower than ours in winter
As the majority of cities in America are situated far from tropics and the heat is not such a frequent guest at our latitudes, the producing companies offer conditioners in the “northern” version, which are able to work at rather low temperatures. Thus, Hitachi, Toshiba inverter air-conditioning systems are designed to work at low temperatures of the outside air – down to -10 °C in “cooling” mode and up to -15 °C in “heating” mode.
Panasonic air conditioners can operate in cooling mode even if outer temperature decreases to -15 °C. A special low-temperature kit allows you to use Daikin air conditioners in cooling mode at temperatures as low as -30 ° C. The owners of country-houses should pay attention to the function of maintaining the temperature – in Toshiba’s systems the conditioner can keep the temperature at 8 °C, not allowing to defrost the premise and consuming minimum of electricity.
One should trust the specialists…
A qualified calculation of capacity, suitable for you, of split-system will be done by the manager of the company, where you are going to buy conditioner.
At calculation of power one should take into account area of a room, height of ceilings, illumination parameters, number of computers, total power of bulbs and other appliances, number of people in the room.
But you can do the initial calculations yourself. Many sites of specialized companies have a mode of calculation: if you enter your data there, you can get approximate figures.
For even more approximate calculations it is possible to use the formula: for every 10 m2 Area – 1 kW of cooling capacity of air conditioner. Adjustments will be needed if your apartment has high ceilings, windows are on the sunny side, a large area of glazing, or in the room are a lot of people.
I would like to know what features should I consider while selecting an air conditioner? Which brands are more reliable and energy-efficient? How do I determine the ideal cooling capacity for a specific room size? Are there any additional factors to consider for air conditioners in humid climates? Any tips or recommendations for choosing the right air conditioner?