How do you buy a Daikin?
Through a dealer. Daikin's FAQ says its air conditioners are "exclusively available from a Daikin Specialist Dealer". Its dealer page describes them as independently owned businesses "hand-picked by Daikin" that "undergo rigorous training", and gives the network size as both "over 450+" and "over 500".
The dealer page has a postcode search and a Request a Quote button, but doesn't say whether one request reaches one dealer or several. If the installer who takes your job isn't a Daikin Specialist Dealer, ask them early whether they can supply a Daikin at all. A good one will tell you straight, and name the brands they do fit.
What's in Daikin's Australian range?
Daikin lists split systems, multi splits and ducted air conditioning, cassettes under its light commercial range, home air purification, an underfloor heating system and Daikin Altherma home heating. Its site menu also links to domestic hot water.
Its history page says the business began in Sydney in 1969, started local production in 1982 and in 2019 received Australian Made certification for products produced in Australia. That isn't the same as every Daikin model being made here.
What does the Daikin warranty cover?
Daikin's warranty card gives Split, Multi and SKY products 5 years parts and labour. Repairs are done in normal business hours, by Daikin or a repairer it arranges.
The clock starts on the date the original owner bought the equipment, not the day it went on the wall. Buy in spring and install in autumn, and those months come off your cover.
The card also excludes problems caused by "Incorrect or poor installation", units fitted in a caravan or boat, and units re-installed somewhere other than the original location.
Living near the sea
Daikin's coastal FAQ says all its outdoor unit coils carry an anti-corrosion treatment called Blue Fin. It adds that maintenance and positioning, as the installation manual sets out, still matter, and it gives no rule for how far from the sea is safe.
The warranty card is firmer. It makes the owner responsible for "additional corrosion protection" in sea air, and excludes coil damage from salt air. Treat Blue Fin as a head start, and ask the dealer what extra protection they'd add for your spot. Our coastal homes guide goes further.
What to check on a Daikin quote
- The dealer's business name, and confirmation that they're a Daikin Specialist Dealer.
- The full model number of every indoor and outdoor unit, which you'll need to find the manual on Daikin's operation manuals page.
- Heating and cooling capacity in kW, and which rooms each unit serves.
- Where the outdoor unit will sit, and any extra corrosion protection for a coastal home.
- The business's Refrigerant Trading Authorisation number. The ARC requires it on quotes and invoices.
- A purchase date on the invoice, since Daikin's 5 years run from it.
Looking after a Daikin yourself
You can
- Clean the indoor unit's filters. Daikin suggests doing it every two weeks as a general rule, and more often if it's dusty or polluted where you live.
- Keep leaves and rubbish clear of the outdoor unit. Daikin says debris makes it run less efficiently.
- Look up your operating manual by model number on Daikin's website.
Leave to a licensed installer
- A tune-up before summer. Daikin suggests a licensed technician cleans the coils, checks the refrigerant charge, tightens electrical connections and flushes the drains.
- Any corrosion treatment for a coastal home.
- Moving the unit to a new address, which Daikin's card excludes from cover.
What we'd do
If it were our home
If we'd settled on a Daikin, we'd get the quote from a Daikin Specialist Dealer, since that's the only route Daikin describes, and book the install close to the purchase date so the 5 years aren't eaten into. Near the coast, we'd want the extra corrosion protection written into the quote. For a ducted Daikin, we'd pick a dealer whose main work is ducted.