Air con

[hughnique]

I know it's a bit late now as I suspect every company will be extremely busy, just wondered if anyone has any knowledge or experience of installing domestic air con in a house here in France. Cost, contractors etc. TIA

[RobertArthur]

No experience myself, only two introductions by the French consumer organisation UFC-Que Choisir:

1/ Climatiseur split.

2/ Climatiseurs/ventilateurs.

By Système D:

3/ Les alternatives économiques.

[Spectrum]

Yes fitted it in the old house, then in this new one, fitted two "Cassette" type units, ie flush ceiling as seen in shops they were all from "Airton" and the first one was pre-filled with gas, worked very well, these second two also pre-filled with gas, but Madam didnt like where I was going to put them, so had to extend the pipe and electrical runs there by loosing some gaz then the problems started. No one would come out to re-gaz them, because I had fitted them myself, it is a new house so fitted them before ceilings were put up, Airton gave me some phone numbers but I couldn't make myself understood, my French is poor. But think we have found someone so will try this autumn, if they come out now the cost will be stupid . Did get two quotes first from pros to fit one unit 80 sq Mt open plan, cost 7/8K the two units + the extra piping/fittings 4k. If you can fit one without extending the pipes then a pre-filled one will be fine look on the website, there are UK websites that do the same, but delivery is doubtful. As you can guess the DW has had a lot of hassle and leg pulling this past few days .

[ajm]

Waiting to have a monosplit system in stalled in our 35 sq.m bedroom for €1600

[Bayleaf]

Whoever you get to fit it, make sure they have good after-sales service, and some sort of guarantee. Some elderly clients had an AC unit fitted, just for their lounge, and within two years they had problems with it, and the supplier/fitter had gone off the radar (but still in business). They eventually found a brilliant Dutch guy to fix the problem - who knew so many things could go wrong/need checking, so quickly?

[L Austin France]

Whoever you get to fit it, make sure they have good after-sales service, and some sort of guarantee. Some elderly clients had an AC unit fitted, just for their lounge, and within two years they had problems with it, and the supplier/fitter had gone off the radar (but still in business). They eventually found a brilliant Dutch guy to fix the problem - who knew so many things could go wrong/need checking, so quickly?

I guess it depends on luck.
My first ,self fitted, 'old school' Airton unit lasted about 10 years until I had the latest inverter Mitsubishi unit installed as it was much more efficient. This is now been running for 6 years & neither had a spanner on 'em.
The only work done was a regular vaccuum of the filters & coil on the inside unit by yours truly.

[ajm]

Whoever you get to fit it, make sure they have good after-sales service, and some sort of guarantee. Some elderly clients had an AC unit fitted, just for their lounge, and within two years they had problems with it, and the supplier/fitter had gone off the radar (but still in business). They eventually found a brilliant Dutch guy to fix the problem - who knew so many things could go wrong/need checking, so quickly?

Good point. The guy who is going to put our a/c in has done lots of work for us so no problem. Always use local artisans.

[hughnique]

If I am reading this correctly, it is called a split system as it consists of an outside unit, large fan looking thing and the inside unit which delivers the cold air, these two items being connected together electrically and by rigid pipework. Again if I am correct it appears that these items, in kit DIY form, come as 1,2,or 3 inside units and possibly a larger outside unit graduated accordingly.
Now when installed you have the capacity to cool the room when the weather dictates, so what supply is required, and is that just to the outside unit, the indoor units then being connected directly to that. Then there seems to be another option to reverse the hot weather function and actually heat the room in the winter via the same system, which would save me lugging bloody firewood in the house, if so does that work by reversing the operation of the cooling cycle.

[Spectrum]

Again the two system I have used were differant, the first one was power to the internal unit, the switching and power cables went to the outside unit so no outside socket needed, my other units take their power from the outside units so exterior supply needed, as this was a new house a direct feed was planned into the scheme, so straight to their own Mcb. The pipes are flexible, yes you can have multiple indoor units to one compressor, each with its own link, so bare in mind what I said about extending pipework, differant lengths are available. Yes they are able to heat as well as cool, but with the multiple indoor units they all have to be on the same setting, you can alter the temps individually.

[A.N.Other]

I can't believe the prices I'm seeing being quoted!

Here in Spain branded monosplit systems can be bought for under €500 with standard fitting rarely costing more than a couple of hundred Euros. For anyone with moderate skills DIY installation is very straightforward.

E.G.

https://www.condizionati.es/pt/monospli ... -r-32.html

No name units start from around €300

Rent a truck and come to Spain and load up with them, you'll make a small fortune!

The problem with panic purchases for one off events is that just like A/C's in cars regular use is essential, lack of use will cause problems in the mid to long term. If you do buy one be sure to give it a full blast run at least once a month.