Then the most critical decision is what size unit do you need? Sadly for most salesperson the attitude is how cheap can I make the proposal as they believe that gives them the
best chance of winning your work. If you learn anything in life, it’s that the cheapest service or product is NEVER the best quality. The first law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot.
Another huge concern is someone telling you a system is a certain size which it may not be. Inverters unfortunately by their very nature make this easy for a salesperson to do. Inverters have a manufacturers rating which will be shown on their brochure and let’s say it says 12kw. They also show the operating range of the unit which may be say 4kw – 14kw. When seeing this you know the system is a 12kw unit, NOT a 14kw.
This means the system can ramp up to 14kw for a period of approximately 20mins in the case of most Japanese manufactures then drops back to 100% till it’s turned off, then on again which resets the unit. Toshiba and ActronAir Que is a known exception to this and can run at its top rating indefinitely.
The logic behind the unit ramping up is to cool or heat you quickly and then drop in capacity to maintain your desired temperature, and at this point the unit should be running extremely efficiently.
An undersized inverter running at the higher end of its capacity will be totally inefficient and therefore cost you a lot more in running costs, and possibly discomfort if it can’t cope with the area it’s trying to cool or heat.
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Does the brand that’s being recommended have local support, are the parts expensive once you’re out of warranty? Are parts readily available? Where is the product made? How long have they been manufacturing and supplying equipment in Australia. Really important questions for your long term peace of mind.
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Before engaging any company for a proposal decide at what outside temperature, which could be 35deg C OR 38deg C or even 40deg C, you want your system to be able to provide you
with your desired inside temperature. E.g. 25deg C, 24deg C. When you’ve determined this, ALWAYS ask the salesperson “what temperature will your system be capable of delivering inside your home on the outside temperature you selected.
And be AWARE that you will most likely need a different sized unit for each of the outside air temperatures above. Be mindful that if a salesperson says it will provide you with a 10deg C or 12deg C drop from the outside temperature, when its 40d C out there, the best you can hope for is 28 – 30deg C inside, and will you be comfortable and happy with that? If the salesman tells you it WILL DO what you have asked for make sure he puts it in writing.
If it’s not in writing it never happened. He should be confident enough to say “if it doesn’t deliver what I promise, I’ll pull it out and upsize at our company’s cost.” Anyone that will put that in writing can be trusted and of course vice versa..
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