EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Mini split

jeff5may · 08-12-13, 01:11 AM

MN,

I understand your point about buying the best and scrutinizing the rest. But this is the world we live in today: the big dogs sell their designs to the highest bidder when they come out with a new model/revision/product line. Not just with HVAC equipment; it's with everything. Last year's Sony stuff is this year's Emerson/Sylvania/Westinghouse/GE stuff. They change the plastic face/shell, and presto! New product. The guts that do the work are 99.9% the same.

I've never heard of Ideal Air, but I bet if you look under the hood you'll find industry standard guts that will cross directly with a Haier, Sanyo, LG, Samsung, or other major manufacturer's previous generation of units. Ideal Air most likely bought the rights to this "obsolete" product and threw in the sealed lineset as a marketing gimmick. They are making a product for a market that badly needs such a solution. They probably didn't design the units, and may not even make their own plastic shells or assemble the units. Since the unit was "AHRI" or "ASHRAE" tested by the previous OEM, Ideal Air may or may not feel the need to recertify/retest/pay again for the same approval.

However, this doesn't automatically mean the units are garbage. The company may have a few sharp mechanical engineers behind the helm. Who's to say these fellows can't beat Mitsubishi or LG (Lucky Goldstar: Philips bailed them out) at their own game. The big dogs are not about to market a unit their dealers cannot install for heavenly margins. It doesn't fit into the business model.

08-12-13, 01:11 AM	#7
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,431 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	MN, I understand your point about buying the best and scrutinizing the rest. But this is the world we live in today: the big dogs sell their designs to the highest bidder when they come out with a new model/revision/product line. Not just with HVAC equipment; it's with everything. Last year's Sony stuff is this year's Emerson/Sylvania/Westinghouse/GE stuff. They change the plastic face/shell, and presto! New product. The guts that do the work are 99.9% the same. I've never heard of Ideal Air, but I bet if you look under the hood you'll find industry standard guts that will cross directly with a Haier, Sanyo, LG, Samsung, or other major manufacturer's previous generation of units. Ideal Air most likely bought the rights to this "obsolete" product and threw in the sealed lineset as a marketing gimmick. They are making a product for a market that badly needs such a solution. They probably didn't design the units, and may not even make their own plastic shells or assemble the units. Since the unit was "AHRI" or "ASHRAE" tested by the previous OEM, Ideal Air may or may not feel the need to recertify/retest/pay again for the same approval. However, this doesn't automatically mean the units are garbage. The company may have a few sharp mechanical engineers behind the helm. Who's to say these fellows can't beat Mitsubishi or LG (Lucky Goldstar: Philips bailed them out) at their own game. The big dogs are not about to market a unit their dealers cannot install for heavenly margins. It doesn't fit into the business model. Last edited by jeff5may; 08-12-13 at 01:14 AM..