Hi all, Looking to install split aircon into a new build house. As I'm not in the Philippines, I'm unable to go into stores and ask, so hoping you can advise. I've been checking the abenson website to get an idea of costs and all the items seem to include both the indoor and outdoor unit. But when I've researched, it suggests the outdoor unit can run upto 5 indoor units? Anyone had similar issues or know the best way to get the aircon installed so I'm not wasting money and space with unneeded outdoor units? Cheers Alex
I've just come back from Cebu where the apartment (airbnb type) we stayed in had 3 split aircons with 3 outdoor units outside on the balcony driving the indoor units... walking round that complex in Cebu almost all the other occupied apartments had (3 units too) i.e. a dedicated outdoor unit for each indoor unit.. My neighbour back in Leyte, who has a extremely large house, also appears to have an outdoor unit for each indoor unit... So I suspect the moral of the story is you could put all your eggs in one basket and save some money on the initial outlay but it's probably not be the best way to do it... Also, if you're out in the provinces building/buying it maybe worth checking with the local aircon engineer(s) what brand they recommend/support as you don't want to buy something they might have to order the parts for or not have the technical knowledge (skill) to repair.
Cheers John, Lots of things to think about. Certainly with only one outdoor unit, if that goes, all those inside stop working too. I hadn't really considered maintenance. Thanks
Hi Alex, When I first had the idea to build a house I did so much research on just about everything pertaining to building there in the Philippines and I was living there at this time, from what I gleaned from my research and listening to the opinions of many other Foreigners for sure the AC units I would go for has to be the Japanese Daikin brand they were one of the very early pioneers in AC way back 100yrs ago, many can be seen in various commercial buildings there in PH including some of the Airports, of course you get what you pay for and they will be that bit more expensive than most other brands, like Honda and Toyota Cars they are more expensive than most other brands but I for one would not drive anything else. Btw, I did build a Wee Hoose there in PH, with the walls having 4 inches of insulation, then constructed a very well ventilated cool roof, we do not need AC in this Hoose just a few Fans to keep the air moving.
I would agree most of the offices I worked in over the last 20 years had Daikin units and I supplied a full software hardware solution to a Daikin distributor in Glasgow back in 1990, it was there I discovered how highly regarded they were.
I have Daikan air-con units in my tiny guest-house. My large home with natural air-flow don't need any air-con units just ceiling fans that are hardly used. Smart planning of the building is required from the start to avoid building a house/oven that needs expensive units and electric to cool it down.
Very nice @Jim - is that an opening on the roof for the hot air to escape ? Is this similar to what you're using ?
No, not as complicated as that. ground floor is open plan, no inner walls so air can flow in the house naturally with the open doors and windows and going up the stairs two more floors which have a landing and another double door we have open. All the doors and windows have mossie screens and metal security bars. Top floor is all open apart from the firewall at the back, gets a bit chilly at night on the 3rd floor. The opening on the roof is for deco only.
Hehehe... my wife would have all the doors and windows shut here as soon as the sun sets if she could... thinks the witches or vampires are going to get in At one time I was thinking I might open our house up to the garden using steel grill for security... but I cannot imagine she'd have been able to sleep at night.
Although slightly off topic this does have some reference to AC and the general topic of house building there in PH, I found this on another Ex-pat site and thought to copy and paste it here, the originator of this seems to know what he is talking about? Generally speaking, when there is a natural disaster such as a quake and there is deaths it is not the disaster itself that kills them it is usually falling rubble from from poorly constructed buildings, this being commonplace in Indonesia where they build in much the same ignorant way as they do in PH, an English guy (which surprised me) named Phil Wilson a Chartered Surveyor writes about this on his web site (mrfixitbali) I was to gain a lot of information from him. Powerful earthquake strikes Indonesia leaving dozens injured and two critical Any building practise that involves using batches of Mortar over time such as Blockwork or Rendering is a complete failure there in PH, the problem being it goes off (sets) too fast due to the high ambient temperature, this not being a problem to the ignorant Pinoy construction workers when it does start to firm up, they will just add water to make in more pliable again, if you were to ask any of these Cupid Stunts why Mortar goes hard their answer would be; when the water dries out? when in actual fact it is a Chemical reaction taking place, once this starts there is no way to stop it, the high temperatures there speed up this reaction time, in the western world retarders can be added to give a longer working time in hot conditions but these seem not to be readily available there in PH? there is a natural remedy for this, adding simple table sugar helps but only around 20grms per 40kg of cement can be used any more has a detrimental effect. So there you have it a CHB structure is doomed from the get go, it is not only the fast setting of the Mortars that causes a problem another major one is these CHB's which act like sponges and take on water fast. Below grade they will not have been rendered and they contain structural steel rebars it will take a long time but eventually the steel will corrode out, just like the high rise in Miami that collapsed, that lasted around 40yrs I think? Septic tanks built using this same method corrode even faster their life span being around 10 to 15yrs depending if done in 4inch or 6inch block, these should only be done in concrete or plastic but they never are. When I did my own build there on going to the hardware stores to collect/order bags of cement the store attendants would tell me I am buying the wrong type all Foreigners use the pure Portland Type and not the cheaper Pozzolan type I would be buying, I would have some fun with this and say; all these Foreigners are stupid they come over here and think they know best, but I take my advice from my construction workers and they tell me the Pozzolan is the best and they know what they are doing my guys have 50yrs of building experience between them all, I only had three and not the usual 10 needed on a CHB construction. This was just a load of rubbish my workers were just as stupid as the rest of the construction workers there, but in actual fact the Pozzolan is the best having around 20% fly ash added to it the reaction time is somewhat delayed and during this time it does not heat up to the same high Temps as the Portland and this reduces thermal cracking, after 28 days has passed it still has the same PSI as the Portland. A CIP concrete house has none of the above problems, mostly concrete is mixed and laid immediately. The Monolithic slab on which I built my steel and hardieflex house, contained 25M3 of concrete this arrived as ready mix and put down in three batches over 1.5hrs, then cured for 10 days under plastic before any work was take take place on the top of this, the chance of this cracking during any quake is slim to non existent. In the event of a quake the steel construction on my house may well bend and twist a little, but I very much doubt if it would be unsafe for anyone inside. Mind you drowning may be a problem if the 100 bags of rice hulls used for insulation were to explode out of the cavity walls but at least there will be no AC units falling off the walls to clonk them on their Heids?
