Office Aircon Question

[markjay]

In short...

New office.

Daikin or Fujitsu..?

2-Pipe or 3-Pipe?

Thanks!

 

[Piff]

How big is the office?

 

[markjay]

Just shy of 4,000 Sq ft in total.

It is in fact two adjacent commercial properties linked together.

 

[Piff]

Out of my advice area then

 

[markjay]

If you have any familiarity with the brands, this would be helpful.

The contractor basically said "Daikin is best, but Fujitsu will give you same quality and cost less".

 

[davidjpowell]

Clients have both, neither give hassle.

Buy on price, warranty and maintenance package.

Half the office will be too cold, the other too hot. Make sure the controls are lockable to avoid AC bounce....

 

[Piff]

I have a Hitachi heat pump - does the job
Neighbour has a Daikin heat pump - does the job
Mine is noisy - you can hardly hear his

 

[Chromeeda]

I'd go for the DAIKIN. I'm in an insurance claims department - we have more claims for Fujitsu and Panasonic.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

If you have any familiarity with the brands, this would be helpful. The contractor basically said "Daikin is best, but Fujitsu will give you same quality and cost less".

Go for the Daikin not sure on the cost difference but they are a great brand, if not the best for air con.

 

[st13phil]

...and a three-pipe system as it will switch between heating and cooling automatically as required. A two-pipe system has to be manually switched between modes which is a pain when ambient temperatures are such that you need heating first thing in the day, but cooling as the building starts to benefit from solar gain and other heat inputs (people, PC's, monitors etc.).

 

[markmifsud]

Does it have to be manually switched on a 2 pipe system? We have to large ceiling systems and they are just set to auto. The only issue I see is that they have to do a full defrost cycle before they kick out any heat.

 

[st13phil]

On a small split system, two pipe is OK but on a larger system with multiple fancoil units all have to be in the same mode at the same time which makes life difficult if different parts of the space require to transition from heat to cool (or vice-versa) at different times.

 

[markmifsud]

Ah, that would be correct then, as all of ours are 1 evap to 1 cond

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Put the rubbish one up the end where the women will sit and the good one up the other end.

Sorted.

 

[st13phil]

Put the rubbish one up the end where the women will sit and the good one up the other end.

Sorted.

If only.

I manage a team that is predominately male. The women in the office are constantly complaining that it's either too cold or that they're in a draught. Only one of the blokes (who, being brutally honest, is actually a bit of an old woman) complains.

 

[HR17]

If you have women in your office, you're wasting your time and money. They'll walk in on a cold day and complain its stuffy, and turn the temp down. On a hot day, they'll walk in and complain its chilly, and turn it up to the point everyone's sweating. Stick with a fan/fan heater combination so they can keep themselves happy.

 

[markmifsud]

as above, quite often they will open the windows as they complain the a/c makes a cold draught

 

[st13phil]

Stick with a fan/fan heater combination so they can keep themselves happy.

In a previous facility, one of the women constantly complained of being cold so she had a fan heater under her desk which solved the problem - for her, anyway. The side effect was that the rest of the office froze because she was located right next to the thermostat, which switched off as a result of the additional local heat source

You really couldn't make it up...

 

[Satch]

In a previous facility, one of the women constantly complained of being cold so she had a fan heater under her desk which solved the problem - for her, anyway. The side effect was that the rest of the office froze because she was located right next to the thermostat, which switched off as a result of the additional local heat source

You really couldn't make it up...

Oh yes.

In my previous workplace it was a nightmare. Winter, Spring, Summer & Autumn: it was always too cold. Started lodging formal complaints.

Eventually told that an the office was not going to be heated to a level that everybody else found deeply uncomfortable simply to suit her and in particular a constant refusal to do something really difficult like, oohhh, wear appropriate clothes.

So one afternoon she walked out and found a no win no fee lawyer to sue for constructive dismissal and "cold injuries".

Two years to make that one go away.