Common Questions.

Most reputable manufacturers' outdoor unit coils have been treated with an anti-corrosion treatment known as 'Blue Fin', which derives its name from the fact that the coating causes the heat exchanger to give off a blue colour.

This special anti-corrosion coating ensures greater resistance to salt damage and atmospheric corrosion caused by such elements as sea spray and rain. Along with this, proper maintenance, annual treatment of the panels, and positioning of your air conditioner are essential for combatting these issues.

Maintaining the desired temperature in a room and ensuring the efficient running of your air conditioner requires all external doors and windows to be closed, and that any potential way for air to escape easily is sealed.

Having doors and windows open in a room that you are trying to air condition makes it extremely difficult to maintain your desired temperature in that room.

Furthermore, the energy efficiency of your system is affected by how hard it must work to maintain a temperature. Open doors and windows will mean your system has to work much harder.

Over time, the requirements of your home may change due to several factors. Any changes to your general floor plan or home insulation, for example, can affect the output requirements of your system.

When you consider this along with the ever-changing landscape of air conditioning technology and the advancements that manufacturers have made in providing more efficient and effective air conditioning solutions, it is important to make sure you are choosing the best possible system based on what the present has to offer.

Having an air conditioning specialist, such as us, check your updated requirements is advised in making your new choice.

A general 5-Year parts and labor warranty does not cover faults caused by the product being installed incorrectly or not in accordance with the product installation manual.

Therefore it is important to use an experienced refrigeration mechanic in installing your air conditioner, as they will ensure your system is installed as required by your warranty.

The warranty also does not cover the use of consumable items, such as batteries, or general maintenance, such as filter cleaning.

Multi-split systems are designed specifically to operate with any combination of indoor units, using one outdoor unit connected to multiple indoor units to cool or heat anywhere between two to five rooms simultaneously.

Another option would be to install separate split-system air conditioners in each of the rooms that require cooling or heating.

Both these options give you the ability to set individual room temperatures for each indoor unit. Additionally, ducted systems are perfectly suited to providing air-conditioned comfort to the entire home.

Both are ceiling-mounted systems, but fundamentally a bulkhead system is designed to provide air conditioning to a single room whereas a ducted system provides air conditioning to multiple rooms throughout a home or business.

A standard ducted system is designed to provide flexible duct-distributed air conditioning in multiple rooms, with the indoor unit being installed in a ceiling space.

In comparison, a bulkhead system is designed for single-room air conditioning with a minimal duct run and is best suited for installation in drop ceilings.

Zone Control, available on all ducted systems, allows you to group specified rooms within a particular "zone".

This allows you to target within an established zone the specific rooms you want to heat or cool with your ducted system, rather than running your entire ducted system in the entire home or business.

Zoning can help maximize energy efficiency and comfort by specifically targeting heating and cooling. For example, you may want to assign bedrooms to Zone One and the living areas to Zone Two, etc., to thus enable these specific areas to be cooled or heated individually when needed.

When a zone is selected, cooling and heating will not be distributed to rooms outside the zone. The position of the discharge grilles featured in a ducted system can also be tailored to suit the shape of each room within a zone, for optimum air circulation.

Flexible duct insulation is just as important as the performance of the air conditioning unit itself. It is designed specifically for flexible ducting systems and will ensure you keep your energy costs down and your air conditioning system running at its peak.

Ducts that are poorly sealed or insulated will result in heat loss from your branching network of ducts. This decreases the cooling/heating efficiency of your home, which in turn contributes to higher energy bills.

A single-phase air conditioner uses a single-phase power supply, with single-phase being the standard method of distribution of electric power in lighting and heating.

Three-phase air conditioners require a three-phase power supply and are generally used for models with larger heating/cooling capacity. Three-phase electric power is a common method of alternating current electric power generation, transmission, and distribution. It is the most common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer power and is used to power large motors and other heavy loads.

Choosing your air conditioner according to the requirements of a room or space rather than simply the power supply available is essential, and a member of our team will provide such guidance through an on-site consultation when you are selecting your Daikin system.

The key components of a ducted air conditioning system consist of an indoor unit and outdoor unit and a range of third-party accessories that help distribute conditioned air throughout a home.

These accessories include diffusers/outlets (from where the air is released into the home), flexible ducts, return air grilles (which act as a filter to remove household dust), and motorized dampers for zoning capabilities.

The indoor unit is concealed out of sight in your ceiling with flexible ducting distributing air through vents located throughout the home. An outdoor unit is positioned in a discreet location outside the home.

An outdoor unit does not have to be installed on a concrete slab or brackets. There are many different options for installing your outdoor unit, which is best discussed with a member of our team during an on-site consultation to find the most suitable arrangement for your home.

We will explain how the location of the outdoor unit affects noise levels and will advise on the best placements to counter this and other important considerations.

For example, having the outdoor unit installed directly on the ground may cause excessive vibration and/or noise without the use of a vibration eliminator.

In most cases, you cannot reuse piping and cabling from your existing air-conditioner if you are replacing it with a new unit.

This is because different systems use different piping, oils, and refrigerants and have their own specific electrical requirements. There are certain systems that allow the re-use of existing pipework, like the Daikin RZQS outdoor units.

Give us a call if you would like more information about this topic.

Modern inverter air conditioners are a technical and complicated piece of engineering technology, which is why a qualified licensed professional is needed to install, repair, and service your system.

It’s also illegal for technicians or tradesmen without a license issued by the Australian Refrigeration Council to ‘handle’ refrigerant gases (commonly used in domestic and commercial air conditioners).

A properly licensed specialist, such as our Sunshine Air & Mechanical team, allows you to rest assured that your system is being handled by fully qualified professionals who understand fully the responsibility of handling your system’s installation, repair, and servicing.

The outdoor unit of a split system air conditioner requires adequate clearance in order to function correctly.

Its performance depends upon efficient outdoor heat dispersal, so covering the unit will affect this.

Allowing at least 1 meter of clear space on each side of the air conditioner is a good rule of thumb to utilize.

If you would like to cover your outdoor unit, give us a call and we can advise you on the design of the cover so your air conditioner will still function correctly.

There are a few factors worth considering when installing your air conditioner’s outdoor unit. Installing the outdoor unit in a safe, dry, and well-ventilated area is advised.

Keeping the unit out of extended direct sunlight is also beneficial, as exposure to hours of the harsh Australian sun will mean your unit has to work much harder to combat its own internal temperature.

Finally, keep in mind also the location of your bedrooms and of course your neighbours, as the outdoor unit does make some noise when operating.

Your home layout and desired air distribution will affect the sizing and placement of your ducting, so as long as the ductwork meets the requirements of both the new unit and the air-conditioned space it is servicing then it is acceptable to use the old ducting (if it is still in good condition).

This would need to be confirmed by one of our tradesmen when assessing your home during our on-site consultation.

The right air conditioner will make a big difference to both the energy consumption and the experience of an environment.

Our experienced tradesman will assess all factors impacting your indoor temperature and influencing your home's heat load.

Every home is different, and the right air conditioner will depend on many factors, such as room orientation, window size, and ceiling insulation, just to name a few.

It's an important decision to get right, as an air conditioner that's too small won't adequately heat or cool your home, and one that's too large will be inefficient and expensive to run.

An energy label is required for all single-phase and non-ducted air conditioners and provides consumers with information on the energy efficiency of a product.

The higher the star rating of an air conditioner, the more efficient the product is.

‘Cooling capacity' is the measure of an air conditioning system’s ability to remove heat from a room, thus making the room ‘cooler’.

The reverse of this gives you ‘heating capacity’ (i.e. an air conditioner's ability to remove heat from outside and transfer this into the room).

Capacity in these instances is always measured using the rated conditions specified in the official document: Australian/New Zealand Standard: Performance of electrical appliances – Air conditioners and heat pumps (also known as ‘AS/NZS 3823’). Generally, the unit used for this measurement is specified in Kilowatts (kW).

The filters in your indoor unit can be replaced.

To purchase additional filters, please give us a call.

As a rule, you should clean your air conditioner filters every 3 months. In more dusty or polluted environments, you should clean your filters more regularly.

Cleaning your filters is the most important maintenance task you can do to care for your air conditioner. Blocked filters can reduce a system's efficiency significantly.

Replacing a blocked-up filter with a clean one can lower your air conditioner's energy consumption by anywhere from 5% to 15%.

At a minimum, you need to clean and maintain your air conditioner's filters, as any build-up of dust or dirt will restrict airflow and reduce the energy efficiency and capacity of your system.

Having your air conditioner checked each year by a qualified refrigeration mechanic, like our team, before the most extreme conditions of summer or winter set in is ideal for making sure your system will perform at its best.

Aside from this, remembering to keep your filter clean and the outdoor unit free of leaves and debris are essential for ensuring your air conditioning system operates at full capacity throughout the peak seasons.

Re-gassing an air conditioner will never be necessary if it is installed correctly.

However, if the pipe connections are not flared (a type of compression fitting) correctly or tightened correctly, or if the pipes themselves degrade over time causing cracks in the pipes then you may need a re-gas.

Terms such as 'stale gas' or 'expired gas' are not something that occurs in air conditioning units. If there is a gas leak in your air conditioning system, it should be inspected by a qualified refrigeration mechanic.

Give us a call to arrange an inspection of your system. Our tradesman will find and fix the leak and pressure test your system again to confirm there are no leaks before we re-gas the system with the correct refrigerant charge.