What Panasonic says about its range
Panasonic's Australian quote page says the range runs "from wall-mounted units to powerful VRF systems". VRF systems are the large multi-unit setups more often found in commercial buildings. For a home, the installer will tell you which part of the range suits the rooms you want heated and cooled.
The same form asks if the enquiry is for an air conditioner or a hot water heat pump, and if you're a house owner, a business or an architect. It also links to a where-to-buy locator for finding a local dealer.
What we could and couldn't confirm
The business is Panasonic Australia Pty Limited (ABN 83 001 592 187), which the Australian Business Register shows as active since 1 November 1999. Its quote page says its air conditioners come "with a 5 year warranty", but that page doesn't set out the terms.
The only full warranty document we found was a copy hosted by a trade distributor, not by Panasonic, so we haven't relied on it. Ask the installer for Panasonic's current warranty document for the exact model, and read its installation, location and registration conditions before you sign. We're not a Panasonic dealer and we don't sell its units.
Your rights don't depend on the warranty card
Whatever a manufacturer's card says, the Australian Consumer Law guarantees that an air conditioner sold to you is of acceptable quality, and that the installation is done with due care and skill.
If you tell the installer what you need the system to do, such as keep the living room warm on winter evenings, the work has to be reasonably fit for that purpose. That doesn't apply if you didn't rely on their judgement, or it wasn't reasonable to. A contract term that tries to exclude these guarantees is void to that extent.
Questions to ask a Panasonic installer
- Can you give me Panasonic's current warranty document for this model?
- Does the warranty need registering, and by when?
- What does it say about installation, access and coastal locations?
- Where did you source the unit? Some brands only honour cover on units bought through their own network.
- What's your RTA number, and your technician's ARC licence number?
- What's your own workmanship warranty, and is it in writing?
What you can check yourself
You can
- Look up the technician on the ARC's public licence check, by licence number or by name. It shows whether the licence is current and what type it is.
- Check the quote shows the business's RTA number, which starts with AU. A technician's licence number starts with L.
- Write down what you need the system to do, and hand it over with your acceptance of the quote.
- Keep the quote, invoice and warranty document together.
Leave to a licensed installer
- Sizing and choosing the model for your rooms.
- The install. The ARC says even a pre-charged split needs a refrigerant handling licence to install.
- The electrical connection and any new circuit.
What we'd do
If it were our home
We'd treat a Panasonic like any purchase where the full terms aren't easy to see: get the current warranty document for the exact model before signing, and write on the quote what we expect the system to do. Then we'd hand the job to a licence-checked installer who fits Panasonic often enough to know its conditions, and who'll put their own workmanship warranty in writing.