Hitachi RAW012EKD 1.0 Ton A/C review. Review on Hitachi RAW012EKD 1.0 Ton Air Conditioner

Updated after 12 years of usage:

Still running fine with no issues so far. One of the A/c had a gas leakage during warranty period. It was fixed without any hassles. Since then, have never faced any issues. I get the A/cs serviced just before summer, about 1-2 times a year. Earlier I opted for Hitachi AMC, but now get it serviced by a local A/C service shop.

I bought two Hitachi RAW012EKD 1.0 Ton Acs about two months back. I did a lot of research on the net and visited Hitachi's service center before making this decision. The only other brand I considered was O'General.

Cost/price was not an issue for me - I know both these brands are more expensive than LG, Samsung, etc. However, I was willing to pay a premium for features.

Factors I considered before making this purchase:

1. Cooling and energy efficiency - EER of 9.2

   
   




2. After sales service - the service center was close by

   
   




3. Features - outstanding features - programmable modes, in-built modes(cool, dry, power, etc), Kaimin(most useful at night)

   
   




4. Build quality, reliability and life - I expect my a/c to last 10-15 years and not face operational issues

   
   

Hitachi is one of the manaufacturers that builds its own compressors. O'General is the other one that I know. While O'General is excellent in cooling(It is quite popular in the MIddle East), and is undeniably reliable, it simply lacks features. So it fell off my list.

The 1.0 ton unit I bought is pretty compact and one nice feature is the louvres are located on the left(unlike all other ACs, where they are located on the right). This matters to me due to the placement of a/c in my bedroom - it is towards one of the corners.

What I like - Kaimin mode, programmable modes, quick cooling

What I dislike - Noisier. Not that it keeps me awake at night. But O'General seems to be less noisy. Noise is very apparent when compressor is running.

One of the ACs has this irritating noise when the louvres are kept on swing mode. I hope to get it fixed in my first service.

Service: I called the service center to fix the strange noise in the louvres. The service guy came promptly without follow-up. But when he came, the nosie disappeared! It has started appearing now. So I hope to get it fixed during first service.

Why I did not consider Quadricool 1.0 Ton: Actually Quadricool has a higher EER, and it is rated at 13, 800 BTU - slightly more than 1.0 ton. However it is much bigger than this model and moreover, the louvres are on both sides. As I mentioned, due to corner placement in my room, this was not going to work. SO quadricool was ruled out, though the sales guy told me my model is'outdated'. Otherwise there is no difference between this model and Quadricool.