Air Conditioners

Don't buy cheapo Chinese stuff if you enjoy a good night's sleep - they rattle like crazy.

We have 4 x Daikin units that work silently and very efficiently. Daikin is a Japanese company which is well represented here in Vietnam - in fact one of the main agents is located in the next street to me.

As Fred says: Don't buy Chinese made air con units.

eodmatt wrote:

Daikin units.

We have them in the office - quiet and work well.

Thank you for posting, as I have been wondering some of the same things. Daikin has also been recommended to me. Panasonic is a much more familiar brand to me. Can someone who knows please tell me how the two compare? Daikin vs. Panasonic

Primary criteria for me would be:

1. Energy efficiency
2. Noise level

And a third thing that has interested me is some of the air purification technologies that are now being built in.

Would love to hear others' feedback on this. Thanks!

So, Daikin being the brand of choice, would you call out a Daikin approved agent or buy the cheapest you can find, then find a competent installer?

ejmom25 wrote:

Thank you for posting, as I have been wondering some of the same things. Daikin has also been recommended to me. Panasonic is a much more familiar brand to me. Can someone who knows please tell me how the two compare? Daikin vs. Panasonic

Primary criteria for me would be:

1. Energy efficiency
2. Noise level

And a third thing that has interested me is some of the air purification technologies that are now being built in.

Would love to hear others' feedback on this. Thanks!

I think that the answer is in your own hands now. Panasonic is a good brand name, so have a look at and compare the respective manufacturers specifications and efficiency figures*.








*Then choose the cheapest.

eodmatt,

True enough that I can compare the efficiency figures, but I have not found where the manufacturers list decibel levels.  Also, what is hard to discern from a spec sheet is a company's reputation for long term reliability of their product and the quality of support they provide if/when there is a problem.

Hoping that someone with experience with these manufacturers could chime in on these things.

Not to do with air con but fans. Recently, (last week), we wanted to buy a couple of standing fans with remote control, so went to places like the Vincom Centre and several other large electrical outlets in SG to compare prices.

SERKO seem to the the main name in Vn and the prices were similar in all of the stores we visited. I was about to buy a couple of smart looking SERKO RC fans for around 1.3 million Dong each (wth 2 years manufacturers warranty) from one of the big electrical stores when Her Indoors stopped me and said "let me look in some of the smaller electrical shops". Off she went on her motorbike and on arriving back at home told me that two fans, exactly the same make and type that we had seen in the big electrical stores would be delivered that afternoon. The cost: 600,000 Dong apiece. Saving 1.4 million Dong. The fans came with 2 years manufacturers warranty.

ejmom25 wrote:

eodmatt,

True enough that I can compare the efficiency figures, but I have not found where the manufacturers list decibel levels.  Also, what is hard to discern from a spec sheet is a company's reputation for long term reliability of their product and the quality of support they provide if/when there is a problem.

Hoping that someone with experience with these manufacturers could chime in on these things.

Cant help you there, but those two makes are used in hundreds of thousands of offices and homes. Our experience is only with Daikin and we had Daikin air con units in our apartment in Q8. Again, quiet effective and reliable.

I have bought several from the big box appliance stores in HCM. Make sure you size it properly is the biggest thing. Here, most of the people you talk to about them have no clue how an A/C unit works and will tell you to get the largest one there is. If you do not know how it should be installed that can be a problem. You must watch theses folks at all time. I had to practically walk them through the entire process. I was a little to easy on the first ones and they burnt up the unit when they installed it. Were ready to walk out the door. I said turn it on and lets take it for a trip around the block. Would not work. They insisted I must wait a couple of hours for it to cool. I said I don't think we will need to wait that long for you to remove it and bring someone that knows how to install it. They did, and the next ones I have always watched them do the entire process.

Yes that is a problem - they often use people just out of jail to do fitting as they are cheap to hire, but have no idea what to do.

Also, air con units need to be serviced from time to time, especially those with anti bacteria filters. Don't use Mr. Joe Bong from down the road who "does stuff" unless you know him well. For one thing, if your air con isn't getting particularly cool particularly quickly, he may tell you that it needs "re-gassing" at a cost of hundred of dollars, when in fact it just needs the filter cleaning of crap, insects and debris.