Panasonic released no less than 32 new products at this year’s ARBS Exhibition in a bid to cement its position as a leader in the air-conditioning industry with a full range of options to suit any situation.
“We’re really showing off that we’ve now got the complete range, with common themes of energy efficiency and innovation throughout the products that we’re launching,” according to Shane Quinn, the national commercial sales manager at Panasonic Australia.
The star of Panasonic’s 2016 line up is the brand new range of large capacity ducted split units, suitable for both residential and commercial applications. With four new models available – 16kw, 18kw, 20kw, 22.4kw – they all feature a compact side discharge outdoor unit that will fit down the side of a house without blocking the pathway.
Panasonic is the only company to offer a 22.4kw single split ducted side discharge unit in Australia.
“It’s a very slim outdoor unit which you’d generally see in a lower-capacity system that you can then fit down the side of the house and still get the bin or wheelbarrow past,” Quinn joked. “It isn’t a large footprint, the usual kind of top-discharge outdoor unit, which is about 1m by 1m and blocks up the side of the house or the backyard. Likewise for commercial applications as well, sometimes there’s not that sort of space available for a large outdoor unit for a shop or an office application. It offers more flexibility for residential and commercial customers.”
In keeping with the growing wireless trend, Panasonic has released a brand new cloud control system, offering access to the single apartment or 128 sites - from the couch or the other side of the world.
“The facility management team in the head office can basically monitor, interrogate, track energy efficiency down to a unit level, but obviously in a very user-friendly, easy-to-navigate system,” Quinn said. “Likewise, it also alerts building managers to any faults or maintenance, even if it’s just a filter that needs cleaning. Instead of walking around the office and all the different sites to inspect controllers, we offer one central PC-based system, all living in the cloud.”
The units are compatible with the company’s full range of products, both new and existing, and can be controlled via a PC interface on a smartphone or tablet device.
Quinn expects the Cloud Control System to help usher in a new age of energy efficiency. “What we’ve found so far, especially where it’s been trialled overseas is that it’s not about necessarily improving technology to make energy efficiency savings,” he said. “It’s actually about improving business practices and you can’t improve business practices unless you’ve got useful information.”
Other new products on show from Panasonic’s comprehensive range included new side discharge VRF outdoor units, expanded ranges of multi-splits and wall-splits, ventilation fans, control solutions and design software.
“They’re all best in class in terms of energy efficiency,” Quinn said. “That is definitely a common theme. Everything’s innovative and everything’s energy efficient.”
For more information about Panasonic air conditioning, visit www.panasonic.com.au.