here's a great website to read if you are doing research on aircon... http://singapore-aircon.blogspot.com
Basically, the top-most thing that should be on your mind when getting an aircon is the installation. The aircon is not nearly as important as having good and proper installation. All it takes is for the workmen to run your piping wrongly, using the wrong materials or angling them in a way that causes water or air to flow wrongly, and you'd have many problems. So the best is to get a good and reliable company to do the installation for you, at least you can be sure they will be providing after-sales service should there be any problem.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
air-con
we made our order for air-con last Sunday. After months of research, we decided on a Toshiba invertor system. Most stores would say it's a good buy as the compressor is made in Japan, as opposed to all the other brands which have theirs made in china or Malaysia. We also decided on the invertor to be eco-friendly. Of course, some might say we should do without air-con to be truly eco-friendly! But err...Singapore very hot ah...how to sit on my sofa and not sweat while watching TV...
We saw an ad in the newspapers for a sale at Gain City and decided to go down to check it out. Alas, there weren't discounts on air-cons but there was a free extended warranty thrown in. Usually, the compressor is warranteed for 5 years while the air-con units are for 1 year. With the extended warranty, the air-con units get a 5 year warranty as well. We opted for the lowest BTU capacity of 9000BTU for the 3 bedroom units and a 16,000BTU unit for the living room. The price came up to 3760 including top-ups of $230 for thicker pipes and thicker insulation. While we're on this topic of top-ups, we'd like to bitch that air-con stores in Singapore are really sneaky to persuade customers to pay additional for thicker pipes and insulation. If you take a look at the "basic" stuff they give for the price, you'd be appalled. The foam used for the insulation looks like a DIY job with handicrafts from the art store. Also, most shops will tell you that invertor systems require the better materials to prevent condensation and prolong the life of the air-con piping. We argued that it seemed a bit of a "cheat" to have us pay more for something that we cannot do without, but with the whole industry charging the same way, we guess they have little choice but to follow.
As for pricing, we heard that Gain City IMM usually charges lower prices as compared to others. We took a trip there as well but because of the free extended warranty (worth about $400+) that weekend, salesmen were reluctant to lower their prices. Also, the guy at Gain City IMM said that installation was done in one day and a charge of $80 is imposed if the installation is done over two days. That's disgusting, everyone knows that a day isn't enough to install a system 4 invertor and whilst the house is under renovation too! We then went back to Gain City at AMK where the guy seemed more honest and upfront with costs.
A check with HongTa also sealed our decision to go with Gain City. Surprisingly HongTa is charging 3900+ for the same configuration that Gain City charges about 3800 for.
So it was expensive but we all need air-con in this heat eh?
We saw an ad in the newspapers for a sale at Gain City and decided to go down to check it out. Alas, there weren't discounts on air-cons but there was a free extended warranty thrown in. Usually, the compressor is warranteed for 5 years while the air-con units are for 1 year. With the extended warranty, the air-con units get a 5 year warranty as well. We opted for the lowest BTU capacity of 9000BTU for the 3 bedroom units and a 16,000BTU unit for the living room. The price came up to 3760 including top-ups of $230 for thicker pipes and thicker insulation. While we're on this topic of top-ups, we'd like to bitch that air-con stores in Singapore are really sneaky to persuade customers to pay additional for thicker pipes and insulation. If you take a look at the "basic" stuff they give for the price, you'd be appalled. The foam used for the insulation looks like a DIY job with handicrafts from the art store. Also, most shops will tell you that invertor systems require the better materials to prevent condensation and prolong the life of the air-con piping. We argued that it seemed a bit of a "cheat" to have us pay more for something that we cannot do without, but with the whole industry charging the same way, we guess they have little choice but to follow.
As for pricing, we heard that Gain City IMM usually charges lower prices as compared to others. We took a trip there as well but because of the free extended warranty (worth about $400+) that weekend, salesmen were reluctant to lower their prices. Also, the guy at Gain City IMM said that installation was done in one day and a charge of $80 is imposed if the installation is done over two days. That's disgusting, everyone knows that a day isn't enough to install a system 4 invertor and whilst the house is under renovation too! We then went back to Gain City at AMK where the guy seemed more honest and upfront with costs.
A check with HongTa also sealed our decision to go with Gain City. Surprisingly HongTa is charging 3900+ for the same configuration that Gain City charges about 3800 for.
So it was expensive but we all need air-con in this heat eh?
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