A Hunting We Will Go... (for an Air Conditioner)

So to end my troubles... I've made several round trips to big electronic/applicance chain stores in Hong Kong, Broadway and Fortress. Looking for the right air conditioner. Of course, there were also trips on the web to check out air conditioner buying guides... just to help me not to sound daft when talking to the sales persons in actual stores. (Amazing how much the Internet can help you... or how little.)

• First thing in buying air conditioners: Size of room.

It seems that buying an air conditioner inappropriately sized for your room with be the first of your problems. We all know about getting undersized air cons: You don't want to get "steamed" in your room, but I was also surprised to find out oversized air cons isn't the best thing to decide on either. Aside from the difference in monetary value, there's also a matter of the fans within the air cons overperforming, cycling on and off too quickly, and resulting in a poor job dehumidifying the air, as well as waste of power.. and in effect, bigger, unnecessary electricity bills, and dehimidifying less. (Well, it might be obvious for some people, but it ain't for me :) )

• Second thing: Decide on how much air con capacity you need based on 1.

These things are either measured in BTU/h (I believe this one stands for British Thermal Unit per hour), or Horsepower. Lots of BTU calculators out there on the net to help the helpless buying to calculate their air conditioner needs. Unfortunately once I calculate my requirements.. it seems to pop out with 5500 BTU, but going over to the appliance store, they say i need 7000 BTU. I'm not quite sure if there is a discrepancy in the calculation. A BTU is a BTU is a BTU, isn't it? Its like saying a car can run 1000km in HK, but the same car can run 500km in the States. Or am I missing something? Either way, I decided to take the sales person's advice. Besides, the lowest being sold in HK is around 7000BTU :)

(Sometimes its also referred to as the cooling capacity, and can be measured in kW.)

• Third thing: Previous air conditioner window/platform size.
  

Do you want it reinstalled for a bigger/smaller sized air conditioner? This is actually something that depends on the buyer. Usually there are extra changes for reinstalling the air conditioner platform size .. to make the air con fit. Either that, or your choices are cut down by the airconditioner sizes available in the market. If you had an oddly sized air conditioner for the existing (and about to be replaced) one, then, too bad for you. Additional installation expenses will have to do. Well, at least you get to have wide range of choices :P

• Fourth Thing: Energy Saving, Dehumidifying, Circulating and Cooling Features (and all other specialized stuff)

This is the bulk of the air conditioner specs. You'll find that they all sound the same. Marketing tries to fadoodle with your mind by having different units to measure all these different specs, and it will probably drive you crazy like how it did to me. I almost just wanted to go to the store, and flip a coin and let fate decide. But a little patience would help here. There are lots of resources out there that will help you compare air conditioner specs side by side. Unfortunately, I felt most of them were U.S based sites, so some models in Asia do not exist in their site. I had to do it the hard way... research about each feature, what good they do, how they're measured, standardize them to see which one really IS better. (Oh and I did a spreadsheet on that... and on OpenOffice too!)

In short descriptions:
* Energy Saving - basically says how efficient the air conditioner is in using electricity. Usually measured in EER ratings, I believe. The higher number, the better. (measured in BTU/hr/W)
&COP or Coefficient of Power - the higher the better. This seems to be the
efficiency of power usage... but seems dissimilar to EER. Measured in W/W
&Electrical Data - Voltage, Running Current, Power Input Consumption
* Dehumidifying - something that I was surprised to find out. I've suspected air conditioners do dehumidify, but this confirms it. Take note to buy one with a decent dehumidifying spec, esp in places where its very humid (like Hong Kong :) ) Measured in L/hr or Pt/h
* Circulating - have something to do with the fans. If an auto-louvre is installed, it means that there's windows inside that go left and right, or up and down. This is ideal so it can cover more space. As the first two, the higher, the better. Measured in m3/min, ft3/min
* Cooling - well, you know. The temp :) How much the air conditioner can convert warm air to cold air.
* Noise - some are really loud, so beware. Take note of this, especially when you're installing it in a room where you have a baby :) For me I dont really mind, because my new PC is already loud enough as it is :P
*Others - blue fins, compressor, warranty. Warranty on parts, and compressor.

There's also a point to take note of. There are a couple of brands in the market... that are exactly similar, but with just different brands, it seems. It means that the manufacturer is the same, and sometimes, the actual model is also exactly the same. I've heard this from several friends: Condura is same as Carrier, Panasonic is same as Rasonic, Fortress brand is manufactured by the same manufacturer as Hitachi (although the models are different... but at least you know the reliability based on the manufacturing company). So take note of this when looking for one.

I ended up deciding to get a Rasonic (not Panasonic :) just because its cheaper) because their specs look exactly the same, the salesperson said so, and models side by side.. they look identical, except for the small tag that has their brands on.

Initially I was thinking of the Fortress brand, but had second thought when i realized the aircon depth was suspiciously short (only 52cm compared to others which are normally 58cm, or occasionally 53cm, but NEVER 52cm) and did the math on the specs. If my calculations are right, turns out that its less energy efficient (only 9 compared to others with 9.5 or 10 rating) the dehumidifying specs is less by 2 pts, and the aircirculation is not as good either (it doesnt have a auto-louvre maybe) . Anyways, a Rasonic 3/4 Horsepower no Remote Control (its a difference of 400-600HKD.. ugh, never mind.) 7000 BTU/h aircon. (RC-C72J).

Well,... I'll have it installed next Saturday. Can't wait to sleep well again....

Oh and the Rasonic air conditioner included 24 free cans of Coke. :) So weird. But weird in a good way :P