The fight for cool air
It’s been a saga but we’re finally getting airconditioning! YAY!
R hunted around the websites etc and discovered the right model for the house, and then managed to get us several hundred dollars off the RRP 
We rang around, then went to the Good Guys big clearance center on the Nepean Highway. Someone came to help us out but he was basically unwilling to do anything more than read me the details off the screen – which I could have done myself, so we wandered off and ended up getting the unit from retravision. The Good guys fellow did give us a number we could use to talk down the retravision guy though But I won’t be going back to them – their ads are annoying enough but that guy was useless.
Anyways, we finally have the unit, R picked it up a few days after we ordered it, so all’s good there. Next problem, we can’t get anyone to install the damn thing before christmas. We had a couple of people come round and give us ridiculous quotes – then one fellow did a proper inspection and discovered a number of mildly alarming things about our power supply.
Turns out this house is running on a 35 amp connection – where the current standard is 80 amp. Which explains why the house keeps getting overloaded… The original guys who rewired the house didn’t bother to get the mains upgraded – which isn’t always required when rewiring is done but considering they were supposed to be rewiring for the express purpose of stopping the short circuits we keep getting… So it looks overall that the guys we used, ShipLec did a fairly ordinary job. They didn’t replace any of the switches which apparently is fairly standard practise because if you don’t, you’re guaranteed to have at least one of them fail – which happened to our toilet light. The big problem is our aircon unit draws 20 amp… which means we’ll have to turn off a number of things while we’re running it, and not run it at night when the water heater is going. Plus when the condenser kicks in the lights will dim momentarily However that will all be fixed when the upgrade the mains….
Basically the guy from ShipLec, Craig, just had his apprentices do all the work and then he checked it over cursorily and left. So we got a poor job done. The next surprise is that the house doesn’t appear to have a mains earth. Not only that, but it needs in fact two earths, as there has to be a seperate one from the hot water service which is also electrical.
Now the fun part – the cable that connects us to the rest of the power grid is being rubbed through in several places by a tree on the nature strip. Our friendly electrician informed us that it wouldn’t last a 12 month – which means fun and games. For those of you who don’t know, the power cable coming to your house from the overhead wires brings power in but also sends excess power back out. The problem we face with the wire getting exposed is that all of a sudden, power wont be able to get back out. And with no earths and an electrical hot water service – every tap in our house becomes a live contact. NOT something that makes you feel secure I’m just glad B isn’t in the habit of poking things in powerpoints…
So we’re working to get the owner to agree to have the mains upgraded, which my wonderful landlord is getting organised. We do however have an electrician – friend of a friend at work – to come round today and wire in the new circuit and powerpoint. And we had a quote of 200 or more for some guy to put the aircon unit through the window, but we borrowed the handy man from next door (he’s working on their renovations) and he said he’d do it for 120 – plus he really seemed to know what he’s doing so I’m happy!
So once again R saves the day with the organisational skills, and we’re gonna have airconditioning for Christmas! And the handyman also gave us his evaluation of the unit and the house, and said it would easily completely cool the lounge and dining room (the latter being where all the ‘puters are) and blow out into the hall as well, so again, R picked the perfect unit What a babe.
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Funny how you skipped on the Good Guys and ended up buying at Retrovision. We did a similar thing last month when we went in to Harvey Norman and pretty much couldn’t catch the attention of any sales staff despite 3 of them standing around gasbagging. We walked into Retrovision, he matched the price, threw in delivery, installation and promised to remove our old washing machine and we were happy to pay. Retrovision must be getting lots of customers by default thesedays.[Reply]
I thought they were just another retail chain, but maybe they’re lifting their game. I was a bit surprised when you told me your story, DFV, but now a pattern is emerging…[Reply]
Retravision are the unsung heroes for bargain hunters when it comes to large appliances. JB Hi-Fi are the same for anything hi-fi related.<br /><br />I think Retravision stores are still individually-owned franchised stores and from memory, the Good Guys are a breakoff from the original Retravision group. <br /><br />If a retailer knows you are really intending to purchase, they hate losing the sale to another shop. My favourite trick for bargain hunting – shop in pairs when you can and play good cop, bad cop. If you are shopping alone, walk in with the opposition’s catalogue. It also helps to know the manufacturer’s RRP – get that online – because then you have an idea of how far you can push a deal. <br /><br />I agree with DFV about Harvey Norman, My pet hate is being treated like a dumb female and ignored by male staff – that’s guaranteed to get me shopping around. One of the reasons I decided money was not to be spent at Good Guys – not even if they’d offered a significantly better price / installation / delivery date etc – was that the late fifties, male assistant barely spoke or looked at me, despite the fact that I had the listing of suitable units with model numbers, specs, prices etc and Toby had to refer to me for anything remotely technical about any of them. What the?[Reply]
….and thank you for the credit, honey![Reply]
I won’t go near clive peters Wayne had 3 offers of help while noone came near me even though i was picking up the video units so that i could check the connections on the back. Yesterday a young guy in jaycar also did the wrong thing when after turning down his original expensive idea he showed total lack off interest in showing me alternatives. Bad Move Buster[Reply]