Air Conditioning for home offices

[MrPrisoner]

I want to install aircon units in me and my wife's home offices. I've been looking at brands and models, seems like Samsung is the way to go, but thought I'd get some opinions first.

Requirements:

• Each room is about 17 sqm, so 9000 BTU should cover it (right?)
• On the first floor, northern side, but don't get excessive sunlight because of roof overhang.
• We are both frequently in long meetings, so needs to be relatively quiet.
• Running on solar, so power efficiency is important (low max power draw / kW).
• Wi-fi connected would be nice to have, coupled to my Home Assistant I could do some "cool" automations, but not required.

I have a portable aircon but it's noisy and bulky, so not an option.

So what's a good value-for-money option to look at? Something modern and efficient. Not looking to get top-of-the-line bells and whistles, but also don't want to get the cheapest one on the market.

And secondly, where to buy and who to get for installation? I was looking at AC Direct, pricing seems good and they do installations. I'm a bit skeptic of DIY guys installing aircons.

 

[PHalanKS]

My house is basically all jet-air installed by XACT Aircons. The more recent two came with tuya/smartlife wifi control and it works with the tuya home assistant integration.

 

[valiente]

Late last year I had an Midea R32 12000 BTU installed - Honestly the R32 type gas is a game changer, in summer to keep my room cool, it sips on power

https://acdirect.co.za/product/midea-all-easy-pro-r32-wall-split-9000-btu-hr-inverter-air-conditioner-wifi-enabled/

for R500 more. get the 12000 BTU

I have it connected to HA with this integration: GitHub - georgezhao2010/midea_ac_lan: Auto-configure and then control your Midea M-Smart devices (Air conditioner, Fan, Water heater, Washer, etc) via local area network.

Installation from AC Direct is a bit hit and miss, they first came out with the wrong pipes, then the second time they did not have enough length, then the third time they wanted to charge me something stupid for the extra length required per meter.

So I would rather look for someone that is a recommended installer in your area!

 

[valiente]

I want to install aircon units in me and my wife's home offices. I've been looking at brands and models, seems like Samsung is the way to go, but thought I'd get some opinions first.

Requirements:

• Each room is about 17 sqm, so 9000 BTU should cover it (right?)
• On the first floor, northern side, but don't get excessive sunlight because of roof overhang.
• We are both frequently in long meetings, so needs to be relatively quiet.
• Running on solar, so power efficiency is important (low max power draw / kW).
• Wi-fi connected would be nice to have, coupled to my Home Assistant I could do some "cool" automations, but not required.

I have a portable aircon but it's noisy and bulky, so not an option.

So what's a good value-for-money option to look at? Something modern and efficient. Not looking to get top-of-the-line bells and whistles, but also don't want to get the cheapest one on the market.

And secondly, where to buy and who to get for installation? I was looking at AC Direct, pricing seems good and they do installations. I'm a bit skeptic of DIY guys installing aircons.

Some cool automations would be using mutesync to know if you are in a meeting and reducing the fan speed temporarily for even quieter operation - But realistically this thing is pretty quiet.

Other animations I have is to automatically turn on when the room gets too hot/cold - I read this from different sensors around the house as the sensor inside the AC is never the most accurate.

 

[MrPrisoner]

Awesome, thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[JG_RSA]

I'm in the process of replacing some aircons myself.
Quiet and energy efficient are also on the top of the list of requirements.
The installer suggested the Samsung AR8500 range.

AR8500T Wall-mount AC with Wind-Free™ | Samsung South Africa

AR8500T Wall-mount AC with Wind-Free™ (AR18BSEAMWK/FA) - See the benefits and full features of this product. Learn more and find the best Air Conditioners for you at Samsung South Africa.

www.samsung.com

 

[waz]

I've been using Alaska Air – Wholesale and Retail of Air-conditioning for office & home, units are amazing and very well priced. Serviced every year & haven't had any issues.

 

[el_guapo3291]

If you want it to last almost forever would highly recommend Daikin, for your use case the sensira line would be ideal.