Heat Pump Brands Recommendation

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sonyxperiageek

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#324944 17-Jun-2026 11:33

Hi All,

It appears my Daikin heat pump compressor has gone (right at the start of winter too!) and they have said it's probably better to replace the entire unit for a couple hundred more, than to replace the compressor in the existing unit. Seems like the unit has lasted about 10 years (based on when the house was built by the previous owners).

So I've been getting some quotes on heat pump replacements and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what the best brand of heat pumps are these days? Mitsubishi seems the most expensive vs Fujitsu or Panasonic. Not sure if I want to replace it with another Daikin, but I always thought Daikin were good too in the past, before my current experience with this broken one.

Thanks.

Sony

Jase2985

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#3503729 17-Jun-2026 11:48

Mitsubishi is the most expensive, but it is the gold standard.

sonyxperiageek

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#3503738 17-Jun-2026 12:08

Good to know. Thanks.

If anyone has any recommendations for good heat pump installers in Auckland too that would be great. Just don't know who you can trust to get these things installed these days as there's a few installers around I see.

Sony

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#3503751 17-Jun-2026 13:27

I've had good experiences with Mitsubishi Electric and Daikin

Bad experience with Gree - they do the job of heating and cooling, but build quality is noticable worse and they constantly make loud cracking / popping expansion noises compared to the higher quality units.

pih

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#3503832 17-Jun-2026 19:19

Mitsubishi have two brands, regular Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The latter is the gold standard, afaik: https://www.mhiheatpumps.co.nz/products/category/split-system-heat-pumps/

Personally, I've had experience with Panasonic and Haier, I recommend Haier for price, features and support; I don't have anything particularly bad to say about the Panasonic ones, but I just haven't found the remote layout to be as good, wifi support, etc.

We used Habitat Heating, they're North Auckland but I think they service the whole city. Pretty happy with them.

Batman

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#3503846 17-Jun-2026 20:55

my mitsubishi ones never die.

i have had 2 fujitsu ones die just after warranty expired.

panasonic & toshiba ones are not as old as the mitsubishi ones so can't say.

timmmay

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#3503849 17-Jun-2026 21:07

I have three Daikins. The 10kw ducted unit had the outdoor unit replaced once as it was making weird noises, plus the main board failed at 4 years old. The 2.5kw office unit had the indoor unit replaced as it was making a quiet clicking noise, the replacement is just as bad, but other than that it's good. The 12+ year old had the outdoor compressor replaced when it was 4 years old because it was making a noise, but other than that it's been fine - though the indoor unit mountings where the cover attaches is broken so cleaning is difficult, but overall it's been good. So every one of them has had problems. I'd probably get another Daikin as support is ok ish, but given the problems I'd probably look at Mitsubishi next time, if it can do what I want - for example for ducted units I want the motor to stop entirely when it's reaches setpoint when heating or cooling.

A quick google suggests Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi are different companies, though they have a common ancestor company.

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sonyxperiageek

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#3503861 17-Jun-2026 23:43

pih:

Mitsubishi have two brands, regular Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The latter is the gold standard, afaik: https://www.mhiheatpumps.co.nz/products/category/split-system-heat-pumps/

Personally, I've had experience with Panasonic and Haier, I recommend Haier for price, features and support; I don't have anything particularly bad to say about the Panasonic ones, but I just haven't found the remote layout to be as good, wifi support, etc.

We used Habitat Heating, they're North Auckland but I think they service the whole city. Pretty happy with them.

Looks like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries one is like $700 cheaper than the Mitsubishi AP50, for the same 5.0kW rating installed for some reason!

https://mideahomes.co.nz/products/mitsubishi-heavy-industries-avanti-5kw-heavy-industries-air-conditioner-with-installation-copy?variant=45762981888149&country=NZ&currency=NZD

Sony

rp1790

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#3503868 18-Jun-2026 07:37

I got a Fujitsu installed in my house about 10yrs ago and it's used heavily, winter and summer. It's never missed a beat. About a 7KW size unit, its a small house.

Yoban

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#3503886 18-Jun-2026 09:12

hi all,

I have had nothing but daikin across two homes and spanning the last 20 years and all have been split wall installs. I currently have two multi system compressors and 5 indoor units.

first install went well and unit ran flawlessly - this was unit was circa 7kw. Installer was Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning Systems | Absolute

second install and influenced (daikin again) from the first some 8 years later and now 8-9 years ago was two multi - split wall with both units running two indoor units. All plumbing was up through the walls due to a renovation at the time - this I would think twice again in some areas/walls. a month after the install one of the valves broke was replaced under warrantee - it sounded like a creek running under house (where plumbing went) when the unit was on. This noise continued and one of the indoor head units was replaced under warrantee - resolved the issue somewhat. Now we get a reduced burbling when unit is on heating in winter and after reaching set point shutting off and turning back on again and refrigerant running through the pipes. this is in the master bedroom. we also hear the refrigerant running up the wall of the room next door as pipes are in the common wall. Installer was Air Conditioning & Ventilation Engineers | Auckland | Edmond Air and did a good job.

third install was an extension off one of the outdoor units - different unit to what feeds the master bedroom that has had issues. pipe work went under house, up outside of wall. this has run flawlessly and quiet. Installer was chosen as they do nothing but daikin Auckland Heat Pumps Ltd did a good job and very informative. I got him back after getting him to replace a motor on an indoor unit from the second install - very loud ticking sound which has come back ever so slight in the last week or so in upstairs wall.

All in all I do like the daikin product, I am not convinced of the quality of outdoor units that may be the cause of the noise issues though. Installers have been good and would go back to Auckland Heat Pumps.

johno1234

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#3503890 18-Jun-2026 09:25

rp1790:

I got a Fujitsu installed in my house about 10yrs ago and it's used heavily, winter and summer. It's never missed a beat. About a 7KW size unit, its a small house.

That's a biggie.

We installed an 8.5KW Haier split heat pump in our lounge last year. The downside is it looks like someone mounted a coffin up on the wall. The upside is that it warms up the room in a few minutes despite the room being large, high ceiling and with vast areas of single glazed glass. It has WiFi built in which is handy but it also probably means that Xi Jinping is listening to our conversations. The outdoor unit is quite loud if you stand next to it outside, possibly because it faces a rock retaining wall that reflects some of the fan noise back. It is not noticeable inside.

We used Happy Air on a recommendation. I would use them again as they were good.

Disclaimer: Due to long standing business association I would never purchase anything other than Fisher & Paykel and Haier.

Nate001

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#3503895 18-Jun-2026 09:35

sonyxperiageek:

pih:

Mitsubishi have two brands, regular Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The latter is the gold standard, afaik: https://www.mhiheatpumps.co.nz/products/category/split-system-heat-pumps/

Personally, I've had experience with Panasonic and Haier, I recommend Haier for price, features and support; I don't have anything particularly bad to say about the Panasonic ones, but I just haven't found the remote layout to be as good, wifi support, etc.

We used Habitat Heating, they're North Auckland but I think they service the whole city. Pretty happy with them.

Looks like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries one is like $700 cheaper than the Mitsubishi AP50, for the same 5.0kW rating installed for some reason!

https://mideahomes.co.nz/products/mitsubishi-heavy-industries-avanti-5kw-heavy-industries-air-conditioner-with-installation-copy?variant=45762981888149&country=NZ&currency=NZD

They are two complete different brands. Go with Mitsubishi Electric.

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duckDecoy

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#3503959 18-Jun-2026 13:16

sonyxperiageek:

Good to know. Thanks.

If anyone has any recommendations for good heat pump installers in Auckland too that would be great. Just don't know who you can trust to get these things installed these days as there's a few installers around I see.

We used Heat and Cool to buy and install our heat pump. The sales person definitely knew his stuff and, unlike the other two outfits we got quotes from, was happy for us to position the heat pump where we wanted rather than where was easiest to install. He was also the only one out of the three sales people we had to note that the natural place to put the outdoor unit didn't have enough surrounding clearance and would therefore violate the manufacturers warranty.

sonyxperiageek

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#3504092 18-Jun-2026 19:08

Nate001:

sonyxperiageek:

pih:

Mitsubishi have two brands, regular Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The latter is the gold standard, afaik: https://www.mhiheatpumps.co.nz/products/category/split-system-heat-pumps/

Personally, I've had experience with Panasonic and Haier, I recommend Haier for price, features and support; I don't have anything particularly bad to say about the Panasonic ones, but I just haven't found the remote layout to be as good, wifi support, etc.

We used Habitat Heating, they're North Auckland but I think they service the whole city. Pretty happy with them.

Looks like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries one is like $700 cheaper than the Mitsubishi AP50, for the same 5.0kW rating installed for some reason!

https://mideahomes.co.nz/products/mitsubishi-heavy-industries-avanti-5kw-heavy-industries-air-conditioner-with-installation-copy?variant=45762981888149&country=NZ&currency=NZD

They are two complete different brands. Go with Mitsubishi Electric.

Lol pih was saying go with the latter Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as that's apparently the gold standard?

Sony

Lostja

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#3504103 18-Jun-2026 19:50

Have purchased 3 Fujitsu's for 2 houses and 2 have needed warranty repairs. Never again will I buy a Fujitsu again