Aircon units: cost, installation, recommendation....?

Phipplebert · Post by **Phipplebert** » Mon 08 Jul 2013 23:23

Does anyone know a vague cost of fitting aircon units to a house? We are looking at possibly 4 units for 4 bedrooms, no need to be reversible (house has central heating and a fire).
Are there different types of aircon (non portable, I would like a fixed to the wall system)?
Is there anything else we should be aware of?
Can anyone recommend a person or company who can do this? French or English speaking. [/list]

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 09 Jul 2013 01:16

Phipplebert wrote:Does anyone know a vague cost of fitting aircon units to a house? We are looking at possibly 4 units for 4 bedrooms, no need to be reversible (house has central heating and a fire).
Are there different types of aircon (non portable, I would like a fixed to the wall system)?
Is there anything else we should be aware of?
Can anyone recommend a person or company who can do this? French or English speaking. [/list]

You should get a survey done to work out how much cooling you need, this is a function of the room size, building materials and expected solar gain.

You should look at a split system with indoor and outdoor units, Daikin make an outdoor unit that will drive 4 indoor units. Most modern systems are reversible and the added functionality doesn't add much to the cost. Reversible units provide heat at a much lower cost than central heating.

Quietness is important. Particularly if you want to run them all night.

As for cost, it depends on how powerful they need to be. I fitted out 3 large bedrooms a few years ago for around €5000

I can recommend Bailloeuil in Perpignan

malcolmcooper · Post by **malcolmcooper** » Tue 09 Jul 2013 08:19

When I needed air con at my old shop the I purchased 2 of these...
http://www.vial-menuiseries.com/climati ... p4045.html
and the landlord fitted them himself. It's not a DIY job for the faint hearted but equally it isn't brain surgery either. Whether or not you choose to do it yourself at least this gives you a good idea of the cost of equipment. These units ran 24 hours a day for over a year with no problems. Total cost at the time was around 2500 euro including labour. Other quotes were more than twice that.

Allan · Post by **Allan** » Tue 09 Jul 2013 09:08

I seem to remember that buying the units fitted meant that VAT was at the lower rate for the whole deal, whereas a DIY solution would mean the higher rate.

At one stage reversible air con also attracted a tax rebate as it is deemed energy efficient.

In both cases you need to check, rules change.

You can normally get a discount on most quotes

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Tue 09 Jul 2013 11:26

I have two split units. A double for downsairs and a quadruple for upstairs. They are both reversible. Had them for 7 years now and almost no problems. I have Sanyo and Hiyasu. The Sanyo is better.

The cost was about 12 000 to fit the whole system. That was during the tax-rebate so, as usual prices are inflated so the suppliers can cream off the rebate instead of the customer, but even so, I think it was good value and our energy bills are pretty low compared to people I talk to.

The guys who fitted them were complete idiots so I wouldn't recommend them. They are probably out of business anyway - another consequence of subventions.

montgolfiere · Post by **montgolfiere** » Tue 09 Jul 2013 14:15

Watch out if going for DIY types... we have a Honeywell Reversible 'preGassed' split unit and unfortunately this model cannot be Refilled!!! Crazy....

russell · Post by **russell** » Wed 10 Jul 2013 11:53

montgolfiere wrote:Watch out if going for DIY types... we have a Honeywell Reversible 'preGassed' split unit and unfortunately this model cannot be Refilled!!! Crazy....

It must be possible for a competent heating technician to fit a filling valve surely?

I fitted a prefilled DIY reversible unit about 8 years ago. (€275 from Brico Depot) It has been refilled once because I didn't seal the joints well enough but has worked ever since.

Yes, it's definitely worth getting a reversible one. The running costs are about 1/3 that for heating directly with electricity.

Russell.

Phipplebert · Post by **Phipplebert** » Thu 11 Jul 2013 22:18

Thank you so much for all the replies. Handy info as usual. I will go off to investigate and contact the recommended people. There are a number of things there I didn't know / had not thought about so I can go off a little more informed now

malcolmcooper · Post by **malcolmcooper** » Fri 12 Jul 2013 08:25

Please let us know what you decide in the end.

Phipplebert · Post by **Phipplebert** » Fri 12 Jul 2013 09:47

Yes will do, it might take a while as I imagine asking for it to be installed when its hot would be like asking for a pool engineer

; everyone wants one

but I will report back with our findings. Thank you again.

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