This article has been updated as of January 2018.
Readers, please note that the original article referred to the original line of inverter mini-splits manufactured by Fujitsu. Over the years, many of you have echoed these comments regarding premature system failure and inadequate manufacturer’s support leading to extremely expensive repairs and replacements.
Subsequently, Fujitsu has gone through at least two generation updates to this line of products. They have also updated their warranty policies, indicating a greater confidence in their products.
I have also been told by several installers that the new Fujitsu units are considered tops in the field.
Given these changes, I change my rating of Fujitsu to “Neutral.” I cannot personally recommend them because I have no first hand experience with them recently. However, I do not wish for people to be discouraged from installing their new units.
If you have first hand experience with the new line of Fujitsu mini-split heat pumps, please contribute to the discussion.
Thank you!
(original posting from 2014 follows)
Sadly, I can no longer recommend Fujitsu due to their unacceptable support and warranty policies.
Poor product durability eliminates all cost savings gained from efficiency
A home’s heating system is a capital expenditure. That is, it’s considered a long term investment in your home. Typically, you figure that it will last 15-20 years with some cost for maintenance. And generally, that’s conservative. How many of you still have heating systems in your homes from the 1970’s or 80’s? In general, these systems are very durable. Unfortunately, with the Fujitsu mini-split heat pump, this has not been the case.
I originally purchased a model 12-RLS in June of 2009. The system worked great and I was very happy with its efficiency and performance so I gave it a glowing review.
In November of 2011, our neighborhood experience a huge power surge that blew out all three of my Fujitsu units. This is not Fujitsu’s fault as the surge killed electronics in a broad area. I mention it because the units were totally replaced just two years ago.
Recently, in November of 2013, one of my units stopped heating. I thought it was due to the cold, humid weather we were having and waited to see how it would behave in subsequent weeks.
On December 10th of 2013, I concluded that the system was truly malfunctioning and scheduled a service call. My local installer came out, acknowledged that it wasn’t working, and left.
On January 2nd of 2014, another technician came to diagnose the system. During their visit, they found that the evaporator coils were leaking and one of the temperature sensors was malfunctioning. The prognosis was not good – this would require replacing the entire indoor unit. But since the unit was only two years old, I figured that replacement would be covered by the factory.
On January 28th of 2014, after two months with a non-functional heat pump in my living room, the owner of the company that installed the system contacted me, quite upset. He noted that Fujitsu had been mistaken. The model 12RLS was an old model that only had a two year warranty and my warranty had just expired. Not only that, but they no longer make replacement parts for that model (remember, this was the latest and greatest in 2009) so I would have to purchase an entirely new system. This would cost me about $4,000 with installation, removal of the old system etc. Frankly, this is insane.
The warranty statement on the unit does in fact say that it covers parts for only 2 years. Since my unit failed a few weeks after the two year period, they legally did not have to cover it. But had I known that they wouldn’t even have parts to repair the unit that I expected to own for 15+ years, I never would have purchased the Fujitsu 12RLS in the first place.
Any reputable manufacturer would stand behind their product better than this. If I, who has some of the top search results for my positive reviews of the Fujitsu 12RLS , can’t get them to stand by their warranty that expired just days before the unit failed, then an ordinary consumer has no chance of getting support from them. I have to say, I am utterly disappointed by Fujitsu.
So now I have to basically throw away a several thousand dollar heat pump. I will save this old unit for parts in case the others fail.
This fiasco by the numbers
Years owned: 4.25
Original installed cost: $3,560
Cost per year of operation: $837.65
Total energy use: 10,575kWh
Approximate electric cost:$1586. Cost per year: $373
Based on these numbers, I would have been better off buying a much less expensive system that was reliable but inefficient. So what’s the point of buying the high efficiency Fujitsu system?
Ted's Energy Tips 
Have a Mitsubishi mini split system. Not 3 years old yet and the problems are expensive and non stop. Energy efficient but who cares if it isn’t reliable?
have installed and maintained about a dozen over the past 10 years and my history with them is mixed at best. To be fair, I use them in a commercial application requiring cooling 24/365 in dry-bulb temps ranging from -20 to 105 and welt bulb up to 80 deg. F. We operate multiple units in staged operation rotating lead/lags to maintain equal usage. In reality, residential use could approach fan usage. But unlikely cooling demand.
A major irritant when it comes to servicing them is they don’t follow conventional pressure/superheat calculations to check refrigerant charge. And on some smaller units, there is no place for attaching a gauge to the high side. They want you to pull the charge and reinstall to a specific charge if there is any doubt to charge level. That is simply not tenable most of the time.
My experience with their customer service has been mixed at best as well. Some guys are more insightful and helpful than others. All to some extent want to know that they’re talking with someone reasonably technical on the other end. If you’re an end user not experienced in the ways of air conditioners/refrigeration systems, then your conversation will be strained at best. Typical of a New Jersey-ans…..
With the above said, Fujitsu is a Japanese company and some things reflect that level of precision…and mindset. Others reflect the New Jersey way of life. However that all said, a great number of units are now assembled in Korea and more recently China. And that number is increasing as more competitors join in the market and they use the same sub-manufacturer who likely make identical sub-assemblies for more than one label. Hence the reason why spare parts are not available only a few years into operation. Fujitsu can’t get them either. Especially if they’re no longer using that sub-assembly supplier.
For me, the installed distributed base maintaining a 99.99999 cooling uptime with a 5-7 year swap cycle is still less than installing/maintaining a larger single ducted system with a 20 year lifecycle, energy efficiency not withstanding. Periodic repair/replacement is cost of doing business (not what a residential user wants to hear of course) and maximizing ROI on minimum investment. Value engineering is king today given that quarterly profit cycle mentality. So…that’s the risk one takes when investing in micro-electronics and and precision refrigeration.
And of course, YMMV
Our company has been installing Fujitsu’s for 5 years and have installed close to a thousand systems. We’ve had a few problems with some of the systems but our Fujitsu representative has bent over backwards for us in order to make our customers happy. In fact, one of our customers had a problem with their system 3 years after it was installed and Fujitsu didn’t blink an eye in replacing their system. We get great feedback from our customers about their Fujitsu’s I wouldn’t sell any other ductless heat pump out there.
This what happened to me with my Fujitsu Systems……..
In early 2010, my wife and I had been discussing A/C for our older home that has oil hot water/radiator heat and we were tired of the large, noisy, inefficient window air conditioners that we had for many years. We started to look on the internet and talk to HVAC companies regarding the best options to cool and have back-up heat installed. As the months went by the mini split AC/Heat Pump units looked like the best option for our home and I proceeded with checking the various websites, talking to HVAC companies and actually contacting homeowners that had the mini split systems…..the conclusion was that we look into purchasing and having these units installed. The next few weeks I visited all the websites that had the mini split systems, again talked to HVAC installers and homeowners with the different brands of units. By the way the Fujitsu mini splits were one of the top rated systems with the almost no problems over the years.
My wife and I decided to have several HVAC companies, all of which were Fujitsu recommended, come to our house and give us price quotes. Because of the “Fujitsu Reliability” and since this purchase is a large capital expenditure we considered this as a LONG TERM INVESTMENT in our home. We figured that it would last 15-20 years with some minor maintenance costs….very much like the new oil burner that replaced the 45 year oil burner back in 2009 with not one issue in 6 years. Out of the 3 HVAC companies we picked the company that was highly recommended by Fujitsu and we decided to install 2 units in the fall of 2010 and have the other 2 units installed in the spring of 2011.
In October of 2010 we had a 9RLS and a 12RLS installed by Hager HVAC Company in Sumneytown, PA at the cost of $5,821.00 which included electrical work for all 4 Fujitsu units. Models: AOURLS, Serial #HRN006293 & ASU9RLS, Serial # HRA006102 and Models: AOU12RLS, Serial #HSN013021. In April of 2011, the other 2 9RLS units were installed by Hager HVAC at the cost of $5,000.00. Models: AOU9RLS, Serial #HRN006862 & ASU9RLS, Serial #HRA006864 and Models: AOU9RLS, Serial #HRN007835 & ASU9RLS, Serial #HRA007911. Since Hager HVAC is a reference based business, I was told that if I recommend Hager HVAC and systems were sold that I would receive a finder’s fee. My house is located on a corner lot in Lansdale and I had many people walking and or driving past and stopping to ask questions regarding the Fujitsu units. I sold many systems for Hager and I got to be good enough to actually go to their location and check their possible installs. I sold a number of units and not one of those systems has had any problems for the homeowners!
September 25th, 2013, Defective Unit #1we encountered an undetectable refrigerant leak in outdoor unit Model AOU9RLS Serial #HRN006293. We contacted Fujitsu, Case # 73209 and that came out to be a “POSSIBLE” coil leak and of course warranty issues were discussed and I was left with decisions regarding repairs, (free coil but high expenses) to swap out coil, etc.etc. My feelings were that Fujitsu should have replaced the entire outside unit, since it was not very old. I decided to replace the entire unit at a discount ($1010.00) price thru Hager, rather than spend alot money getting the coil replaced and still having a possible problem unit. The new outdoor unit is Model: AOU9RLS Serial #HRN006216. The new unit has had no problems since it was installed. Many, many times as I have been talking about any problems with Fujitsu Systems, the owner of Hager HVAC, other HVAC companies, internet blogs or even the customers that I sold systems to, had NO problems with any Fujitsu units. Ok I chalked that up to a very unusual situation and paid the $1010.00 costs.
March 20th, 2014, Defective Unit #2 refrigerant low on outdoor unit Model AOU12RLS Serial #HSA012799 by August 27th system again was blowing warm air and refrigerant was low. Case #85873 was opened with Fujitsu and Service Manager Karol Tamaszewski. Several phone calls between, Fujitsu and Hager HVAC plus calls/e-mails from me to Karol resulted in an authorization of my unit to be repaired by Fujitsu in November 2014. We had no idea what the problem was with the unit until it was bench tested at Fujitsu. Technician found that the compressor was defective and it was replaced since the compressor was still under warranty. I picked up the unit on November 28th and it was reinstalled on December 4th at a cost of $670.50 (this bill was for evaluation, testing, replacing refrigerant, & disconnection/reinstallation of defective unit #2).
• Repair bills from Hager HVAC September 2013: Defective Unit #1 Case # 73209 $282.00 and of course the replacement outdoor unit with installation $1010.00.
• First Hager repair bill for Defective Unit #2 March 2014: $452.00
• Second Hager repair bill for Defective Unit #2 August, October & December 2014: $670.50. (These 3 repairs are on one invoice)
As the only homeowner that has had multiple problems with two different units, in 2013 & 2014 with my 2 Fujitsu units that were installed at the same time, this leads me to believe that even Fujitsu has Defective or Lemon Units. I also do not care about Fujitsu Warranties…my situation seems to be an extenuating circumstance and I want to be reimbursed $670.50 for costs incurred for the Defective Unit #2. Had I known that Fujitsu might not stand behind their products I would never have purchased the 4 units and I would not have sold a number of units for Hager HVAC. Any reputable manufacturer would stand behind their product and assist a homeowner with the unusual issues that I have stated in this document. Why do I as the homeowner have to pay all these costs on DEFECTIVE UNITS (repairs including refrigerant, disconnections, reinstalls, etc.) that should last without much maintenance for 15 or 20 years?
The employees at the Fujitsu United States headquarters in Fairfield New Jersey were absolutely horrible to work with…they have been extremely nasty and unwilling to help me at all. My advice to anyone that are thinking of purchasing Mini-splits systems is to not buy Fujitsu’s Systems. I have never had an experience with any company that I have had a problem except Fujitsu….Do not buy Fujitsu!!!!
I agree completely as I’ve experienced the same type of issues. Defective factory unit, poor ability and unwillingness of certified contractor to service, no support from Fujtsu in New Jersey – same person (Karol). Never ever again. Island Air Conditioning in Maui, Fujitsu – never, ever, ever.
I agree with you. Trying to get one of these repaired is impossible. I had one for two years before our home was it by a flood. Only the outside unit was covered by water. No one wants to look at it to see if it can be repaired. They also said that they no longer make the unit to get parts. Its only two years old and they can’t get parts. The people who installed it wouldn’t even look at it. I spend a few thousand dollar on the unit an only used it two years. I wrote to Fujitus’s Office and received no respond from them. I now have a two years old piece of junk sitting in my shed. I wouldn’t recommend a Fujitsu unit to anyone to buy. Save your money no one will repair it they only want you to buy another complete unit. Fujitus has no repair service they only have a sales department that tricks people into buying their units. Your better off buying a conventional heating and cooling system than buying a Fujitus unit. SAVE YOUR MONEY DO NOT BUY A FUJITUS THEY DO NOT REPAIR THEIR UNITS.
ONLY BUY AMERICAN MADE.
I just installed a Fujitsu AOU36RLXFZ multi split with 4 indoor units (15RLS2, 2 x ASU7RLF1, AGU9RLF) and it has been running for 1 week now. No leaks detected at the connections. It throws alot of heat so I’m happy (so far) with the units.
Honestly, I was their best supporter. The units work wonderfully most of the time and if they’re installed at a good location high up on the wall with good air flow, they generally do their job like a champ.
Hi. I had a 24,000BTU Fujitsu ductless heat pump installed in a double-wide mobile home I bought on Southern Vancouver island. They installed it the day I took possession of my new home which was May 10th, 2015. It worked great and then stopped working around May 3-4. The weather was so nice I didn’t notice but then realized I hadn’t heard it at all for at least a day. It was blinking a warning code and the installers checked it out yesterday.
…They think it needs a circuit board and a new fan!? I asked how long would it take to get the parts and they didn’t know. I suggested under the circumstances maybe Fujitsu should give me a whole new unit and the one guy agreed but said it would be the bosses call. Anyway I was thinking perhaps there is enough evidence here to possibly go for a class action lawsuit. I think I’d gladly switch to a Mitsubishi ductless heat pump if I didn’t have to pay another $5,600.00 (CDN $’s) and take that huge loss on my one month old Fujitsu.
…What do you think?
What brand do you wish you went with?
We purchased five Fujitsu mini-splits, (three wall mounts, two floor models) and two outside units in June of 2014. From day one, when running in a/c mode, they functioned as air moisturizers, significantly increasing the humidity in the rooms in which they were running. I’ve been told repeatedly that a/c units don’t do that and there must be some other reason, but the manufacturers rep was at the house on two occasions, once authorizing a replacement of one wall unit and replacing electronic control boards in the three wall units the second time. Neither effort fixed the problem which was so bad that I had to bring a portable dehumidifier into the master bedroom on several occasions.
After repeated unsuccessful attempts by the local contractor to resolve the problem, I was advised to write to the President of Fujitsu General America, which I did in November 2014. When no reply was received by February 2015, I contacted the NH Attorney General ‘s office for assistance. Fujitsu’s reply to the AG was that they considered this a warrantee issue and would issue a credit to the Distributor for the cost of the equipment, leaving the local contractor or consumer on the hook for all of the labor costs involved. By this response it seems to me that Fujitsu is acknowledging that their product is defective and they don’t know how to fix it. It also appears to be a case of a large corporation sticking it to the local contractor who’s technicians have spent countless hours trying to resolve the problem.
That is totally bizarre and physically impossible. I’m not saying that you couldn’t experience increased humidity in some manner, but the units themselves couldn’t do this. I can state that with 100% certainty.
In order to increase the humidity in the house, there has to be water coming from somewhere. Since there’s no water source in a mini split, and all the indoor units do is circulate air past the heating/cooling elements, it is absolutely impossible for them to increase the humidity in the house.
However, A bad installation could leave a hole in your wall where the refrigerant lines penetrate, which would allow warm, humid air to enter the house. It would have to be pretty severe in order to boost the humidity in a meaningful manner, but that’s a possibility. There could also be a problem with the condensate line so that the water that the air conditioner is extracting from the air is not draining outside and just re-evaporating into the house. But again, this would just be re-introducing the humidity that it extracted from the air.
It sounds like the rep didn’t know what was happening and just randomly replaced components. That’s a bad sign. A problem like this should be approached methodically:
1 – does the system fundamentally work – i.e. is it cooling properly
2 – if it is working, is the condensate properly draining
3 – if both 1 and 2 are working, what other possible sources of moisture are there? Were other renovations done around the same time?
Hi humidity conditions in the house during the air conditioning months typically means there is a large flow of outside air (high humidity content) into the house that is overwhelming the ability of the air conditioner to dehumidify properly. A knowledgeable building scientist / energy auditor would be able to quickly track down such sources using a “blower door test” and a thermal camera. Such a test could be done for a few hundred dollars and would have been far more cost effective for the contractor than randomly replacing parts hoping to resolve the problem.
Good luck with this. If I were you, I’d bring in an independent 3rd party who is experienced in analyzing these type of building humidity issues.
Ted,
Thanks for your response and I agree that this situation is totally bizarre, but if the problem was caused by any of the reasons you mentioned, why would Fujitsu agree to issue a credit for all of the equipment. The local contractor has been in the HVAC business for over 30 years and has never run into this type of situation before, but has heard from his competitors of several other similar cases in the NE over the past year. If you give me a physical address, I’ll send you a copy of all the documentation.
Dick
Sometimes (not often!) companies will do that as a show of good faith. I’m glad your contractor is willing to stand behind their work – that’s excellent.
I’ll email you offline and we can talk more…
If you would like the name of the local contractor, I’ll be happy to provide that off line. I have no issue with him. His technicians have tried many times to fix the problem and he has told me that he will make me whole, even if that means he has to eat all of the labor costs.
Ted, here’s one possibility: Relative humidity depends on temperature as well as water content of the air. If for some reason the A/C unit was cooling the room, but not disposing of the condensation properly, then the relative humidity would actually go up as the room cooled, for the same amount of water vapor in the air. Could it be as simple as a plugged condensate line?
Great point. You’d think that would have been one of the first things checked (i.e. see point #2 in my step-by-step), but you can never tell.
If it was that simple, well, let’s just say I’m sure there would be a few ‘choice words’ for the contractors!
Eric,
The drain was one of the first things that the contractor checked and I kept a pan under the drain of one of the units to make sure it was draining. The problem continued all summer and with all five units, although the wall units created more humidity than the floor units.
DickV
Dick – well, that’s just weird. I mean, from a pure physics POV – where could the excess water possibly come from? 🙂
That’s the $64k question, Eric.,No one has been able to figure that out. I’ll post a couple of examples of specific humidity readings tomorrow if that would be helpful.
Ted,
Do you know if mini-splits from a different manufacturer can be installed using the infrastructure, (power, refrigerant, drainage lines) that are in place for the Fujitsu units? I would gladly replace what we have with ones that work.
We had a Mitsubishi mini-split , a/c only, in a previous home and it worked great. Our contractor originally proposed similar system by both Fujitsu and Mitsubishi and stated that in his experience, both worked well. The Fujitsu proposal was $500 less expensive, so I opted for that. Big mistake. You get what you pay for..as the old adage goes.
DickV
I had exactly this done when my Fujitsu died in my living room. they kept the condensate lines and electric and even able to reuse the refrigerant lines when I moved to Mitsubishi.
Of course this may depend upon the specific installation and equipment because the electrical and refrigerant lines will vary depending upon the size of the unit. but the installation contractor would be able to advise you on this.
Sounds like a classic case of condensate from the outside is being attracted into the cooler interior because your home has no vapor barrier between the cooler interior and the insulation.
All of this is interesting reading and so very disturbing. If the unit was installed incorrectly, off level like the ones I am now familiar with, the condensation that is suppose to drain, instead pools. Mildew grows and is blown into the room when the unit operates not only raising humidity but infesting home with mold. Discovered just days after warranty ran out in our elderly friend’s home, the shocked installers rushed in and reinstalled 4 out of 5 units while boss was out of town. Days later the “highly regarded” contractor refused to admit any fault or to even help with clean up costs (he is not insured for mold damage). This 93 yr. old WWII bomber hero homeowner was stunned by the lack of integrity of this well established contractor in SE WA state, leaving him personally responsible for over $10 K in clean up costs.
Our friend died 5 months later and I am sure the mold was a contributing factor to his health decline. I believe it made me ill after spending over 2 weeks doing mountains of laundry, taking out draperies, bed spreads, antique quilts, clothing, etc.. to dry cleaner & cleaning up on top of hiring a restoration company to kill surface and airborne mold & renting dehumidifiers.
The new homeowner has now had to hire a mechanical engineering firm to evaluate how to “fix” the problem and whether the application was even appropriate in a very tight 60 year old brick and concrete home that never had humidity problems before. While the wall units have been reinstalled, they were not cleaned so the mold is still inside the units. We now know the outdoor units have installation problems too. Who knows how long they will even run if cleaned, given some of the other stories I have read here. Think long and hard before trusting anyone to possibly ruin your home and your health, like this.
We had two condensers (Fujitsu AOU24RLXFZ) and 5 heads (varying from 7K to 18K) installed by Next Step Living in November 2014. Something is wrong and they will not call back! Our issue is that out KW have more than doubled since the install (and we are not running both condensers at the same time). (Our electrical service was also ugraded to 200 amps.) During two test periods of running the system compared to using oil (and factoring in heating degree days) our daily KW usage rose from 18 KW per day to between 37 and 44! Sales rep guaranteed us a 7 year payback! Not even close.
Anyone have advise? (We have started the complaint process with the BBB.)
Hi Bill, there’s some pretty easy tests that can be run on the system using a clamp on amp meter. Someone should be able to run it at various levels directly reading the power draw and see if it’s within spec.
Of course finding somebody who will do this even though it’s trivial maybe a challenge. But you sound sophisticated enough to do these tests if you’re running heating degree days calculations.
Bill, surely the payback is as compared to using oil, right. So your kWh/day will go up, but of course your oil consumption went down. I did some calculations on heating with a mini-split vs. natural gas a while back, and for our gas & electric rates at the time, the mini-split came out just slightly ahead.
Anyway, it sounds like you’re saying the mini-splits are using between 19kWh and 26kWh/day? We have 2 heads each with their own compressor, and when we used them for heating last October, on the very cold days I saw as high as 5kWh per day per head. (I monitor them independently) For 5 heads, ~20kWh doesn’t sound out of the realm of possibility.
I bought a Fujitsu mini split heat pump thinking that the name was good as other products that they make. it was a much better price than the Mitsubishi, that’s for sure. It was installed last November 2014. i didn’t really use it until it started to get hot here in So. California. Immediately I found that it was not cooling due to all the refrigerant leaking out. I called the installer and a guy came out and said that there were a couple lose connections and put new refrigerant in it. That only lasted 2 weeks! Yesterday, two guys came out and found out that all the connections where ever they were were leaking! They had to take off both of the heads and redo all the attachments even welding a few. I asked why this was done properly when the unit was installed? I have had 3 service calls now in less than 6 months. Luckily they have all been under warranty. This just worries me for when the warranty runs out! So far, I am not happy! I have only been able to use the unit with it running correctly 3 times!
Well, that’s bad luck. Or more accurately, I should say that installation. In this particular case, I would say that the adage about the system only being as good as the installer is true.
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I bought an AOU36RLXFZ in December 2013. It broke down for the FIFTH time in November. Turns out this time the compressor is toast. Previous problems included a wobbly fan, broken seals… can’t remember all the service calls. The guy STILL hasn’t fixed it. I asked for a full refund since it has had so many problems and it didn’t even last a year. He said today that the manufacturer won’t allow a full refund. Biggest waste of $5800. I don’t even know if he’s going to come and fix it (it’s been 4 months already!). It would have been cheaper to just get more baseboards. I’m telling everyone I know to stay away from these things!
I recently installed an AOU36RLXFZ that has a noticeable fan wobble. Everything else seems to run properly but I’m not sure what to do with the condenser fan. Is there a replacement fan mount, or does the mount come loose over time? In my case, a very short time?
How did you end up fixing this?
As the only homeowner that has had multiple problems with two different units, in 2013 & 2014 with my 2 Fujitsu units that were installed at the same time, this leads me to believe that even Fujitsu has Defective or Lemon Units. I also do not care about Fujitsu Warranties…my situation seems to be an extenuating circumstance and I want to be reimbursed for costs incurred for the Defective Unit #2. Had I known that Fujitsu might not stand behind their products I would never have purchased the 4 units and I would not have sold a number of units for my HVAC Company. Any reputable manufacturer would stand behind their product and assist a homeowner with the unusual issues that I have stated in my previous document. Why do I as the homeowner have to pay all these costs on DEFECTIVE UNITS (repairs including refrigerant, disconnections, reinstalls, etc.) that should last without much maintenance for 15 or 20 years? DO NOT BUY ANY FUJITSU PRODUCTS!!!!! There is no customer service in Fairfield New Jersey and if you happen to get someone they are rude and extremely nasty to customers!!!!
I have a brand new as of August 2014 Fujitsu Halcyon system for my office. Today is in the negatives and I came into a freezing cold office. The fan on the unit is spinning but there is NO heat. I tried running it on AC, and flipping the breakers a few times to ‘reset’ it but still no heat. If I have to have it serviced this will be the 2nd time since August. I abhor this system so far. Also, Fujitsu is always closed and even their ‘certified’ technicians seem to have no idea what they are doing. I still never got an answer for what was wrong the first time they came out; pretty sure there is a ‘reset’ button on the master unit outside and that was all they did. Today is a fake holiday (President’s day) so of course Fujitsu is closed. Does anyone know why these systems don’t work in the cold? Is it frozen? Can i unfreeze it? It’s not going to be above freezing all week here.
I have to say thank you as I really find this forum very beneficial.
Can anyone explain how the 15RLS units shut down when the temperature falls below -15? For my unit, it seems to shut off around -11 and the timer light flashes green 3 times. I assume this is because then installer put in an external thermometer sensor (which I assume is to help reduce their warranty calls). Do these units have a built in safety feature that stops the compressor after the temperature falls below a certain level. I guess I am a little frustrated that it stops heating at -11. Any help is very much appreciated
Most heat pumps have some sort of low temperature lockout to protect the compressor. The compressors have an optimal range of operational pressures. Neither too low nor too high is good. In addition, at low temperatures, they may put out so little heat as to hardly be worth running so most systems have a backup heat source. In central systems, that’s usually part of the system. With mini-splits, the assumption is that there will be another heater available for use when it’s too cold. Some of the new units have capacity down below 0F, but even they have their limits. The conundrum is, how frequently do you need the low temperature capacity. If it’s often, then these units are worth the added expense. If less frequent, then backup heat using another source can be more practical in the long term. But you’ll curse the unit when it does fail to keep you warm 🙂
Here’s a technical reference:
Electric Heat Pump Lockout
This discusses the general case for heat pumps that are used in central heating systems. The physics are the same as for the little Fujitsu units.
And of course, there’s this discussion:
Understanding Heat Pumps
I bought a 12rls just because of your review, I self installed it, and love it! ( i use it for winter basement heating, so it does not get much use here in Virginia), I also bought a Carrier Greenspeed inverter type unit for ducted whole house, I keep my fingers crossed on this much more expensive investment and bought the 5 year labor warranty. The HVAC industry is one of
poor product design and reliability. This keeps the industry rich in parts and service calls and new replacements. I thought that all HVAC would go to inverters for the superior technology and energy savings but I think they would rather sell low end junk. Please keep up your reviews and don’t let them wear you down, you will help sell the next quality product that comes down the pike!
Cheers, thanks for the feedback Matt.
Beach Spa Bed and Breakfast installed five Fujitsu AOU24RML with dual ASU9RMLQ in 2007 new construction. Since then we have replaced two of the Fujitsu mini splits with Panasonic and continue to have problems with the remaining three Fujitsus. We are budgeting to replace the remaining Fujitsu with either Panasonic or with Mitsubishi. Never ever will I buy a Fujitsu product.
Fujitsu cannot take full blame, the installers, Mr. Comfort, also failed to install and charge system properly. So if you live in the Hampton Roads area do not hire Mr. Comfort for your HVAC needs.
My system was installed in late 2011 but wasn’t used until 2012. After the first scheduled maintenance in 2013 one of the inverters began to drain on a bookcase ruining it and the books before we noticed it. After a second service call it was determined that the wrong type of drainage lines were used in my crawl space. These were replaced at no cost. At the beginning of winter in 2014 three of the units (one heat pump) failed to heat and the defrost cycle wasn’t helping. By the time the technician came out on the first service call the units were working properly. Within two weeks they were not heating again. On the second service call the technician raised the heatpumps off the ground by putting plywood under units. I was told that heatpumps were no longer installed on the ground due to units freezing. Within two weeks after second service call the units would not heat. This time the service technician tested the condenser and informed us it was bad. About a week later the condenser was replaced with labor charges only. Did I mention that my house was 50-55 degrees when heat was out. I wrote less than desirable rating on Angie’s List due to numerous service calls before condenser was even checked. The contractor responded with a nasty response putting the blame on me for not having preventative maintenance performed every six months along with a denial that I ever told them my bookcase was damaged (not true). Of course a PM wouldn’t have detected a faulty condenser and since when was maintenance required every six months at a cost of $125??
Aargh, that is truly a horror story. In this case I would put a lot of the blame on the installer. Incorrectly running drain lines is pretty inexcusable. And it sounds like they had no idea how to fix the problem when you started having heating issues. I’m glad you were able to warn others on Angie’s list. Too often these types of things go unnoted.
Let’s hope you don’t have any other problems like this in the future. If your system continues to have issues I would try to contact Fujitsu directly to find a local service company whom they recommend. Explaining that you’ve had multiple problems with your existing contractor which is making them look bad.
Good luck
Hello, my name is Adar, my uncle recently bought 4 units of the Fujitsu 12RLS2
After one week! We encountered the first malfunction, the fan motor burned, we changed the motor and the indoor control unit to make sure that everything is runnibg smoothly. In the following two week two other units had the same problem. Again, we changed the motor and the indoor unit. Now, a month later, the 4th unit joing the rest of the group, we changed the indoor control unit but the we do not have a spare motor.
After we contacted the company we we’re told that we are the only customer that this malfunction occours. Now, I doubt that we have bad karma. If anyone had the same experiance I would appreciate if you can send me an e-mail stating the problems you had, date, and the way you solved it, as well the response of company in case you contacted them.
Thank you all in advance
Adar_g@hotmail.com
We have a late model Fujitsu Halcyon Model # AOU24RLXFZ.
I previously believed that the Fijuitsu products were top of the line. I am sorry to say that I no longer believe this is the case.
I had my motor mounting bracket and fan replaced this week. This occurred after the fan hit the cowling of the unit. Fujuitsu provided a new reinforced mounting bracket replacement and fan for free , however, the labour cost was $99.75. The contractor who repaired our unit said Fujuitsu recognized that the original mounting bracket was defective but it was not willing to cover the labour costs because there is not a recall. To make this matter worse, my neighbour who had recommended Fujuitsu to me and has an older model had exactly the same defective mount as mine and it was replaced and labour costs covered under a Fujuitsu recall.
What I find morally and corporately unconscionable are: Fujuitsu knew that these mounting brackets were defective but continued to install them in later models; and secondly, its failure to fully stand behind its product despite the obvious flaw.
Thanks for sharing your story. That’s truly shameful.
I had the 15RLS ,12RLS 9RLS installed back in 2011 and it seem they are still performing as the day i got them. I’m in NY and the temp has been down to the signal digits this week which should be around -15 C. I haven’t notice any shutdown temp on all the models. I had all my units mounted on the wall. I guess i’m lucky they are all working as they sure. I did had one unit 9rls which i feel is not producing enough heat compare to other. I later find out that i need to clean the filter.
Thanks for adding to the conversation.
2 out of the 3 systems I have are working like champs. So fortunately it’s not all bad. Overall, the systems are excellent still. I just hope they last a long time.
Question / Reply
I have the Fujitsu ductless units. (Two outdoor units with 6 heads) The system worked well this summer cooling the home. It also worked well all fall and the first few weeks of winter. We are having 5 to 0 degree days the last few days and the system is failing miserably. I can barely get it to 60 degrees in the house. The system is running outside but is failing to supply a continuous source of warm air inside. I read that it may be the outside units thawing out and when that happens there’s a ten minute break in warm air, but this thing must be thawing out every thirty minutes because I can not maintain warm air. Is anyone else dealing with this? Could it be that it’s just that cold out that it needs to keep thawing? I am not sure if both systems are not working or this is just how it runs on cold days. I would not mind it so much if the house was actually warmer. Thanks for any input.
What you are experiencing is normal. The capacity of the unit falls to about 6,000 BTU/Hr at 0 degrees. I find our Mitsubishi 3ton and 2.5 ton units will cycle on and off every 30 minutes in such cold weather. They ice up and the unit needs to de-ice by going into the air conditioning mode which takes about 30 minutes to de-ice the unit. Then it will deliver about 8,000 Btu/Hr with our 3 ton unit at 5 degrees F.
My other major complaint is the rest power usage (parasitic loss) of 1 amp at 240 volts or 240 watts 24/7. Use a multimeter to measure the amperage on the power line inside your unit and see what you read with no air handlers turned on some day. Would love to hear back on what you measure.
which model did you installed. it’s depend on it capacity to produce heat at those low temp.
make sure your filters in the indoor units are clean, all units calling for heat., if you still dont get heat then likely a refrigerant leak.., from a technician
Hi Gregg,
We have ours through Master.ca as well and have a 10 year parts and labour warranty. We too had to have a blower motor replace as soon as it was installed, it was making noise it should not have been making. Overall we are very pleased with our Fujitus 12RLS and 9RLS indoor units. We live in Nova Scotia and last winter was our first winter with our mini ductless system, no complaints.
As for T.D. comments regarding only a 2 year parts warranty, the Fujitsu website states 7 years. So maybe you did get hosed by your distributor.
fortunately, for newer customers they have updated their warranty. I have an official Fuji warranty card that gave the information I posted.
I live in Brooklyn NY. I have 8 units installed in my two family house. all eight systems has been running for three yes now and have no issue so far. Last winter was pretty cold and all the unit was able to keep up. i didn’t notice one of the unit in the bedroom 6x9rls was not heating too well. i discover that the filter was yuk. after cleaning it, the heating is back to normal. Now as everyone point out, my heating bill is fairly low compare to gas i was using earlier. i did a full gut and put foam to insulate the exterior wall. So air tightness is the key to energy saving.
Hi KL –
Would you mind sharing the information for your installaer? And if so, would you recommend them? I am in Brooklyn and looking to have a ductless A/C system
Thanks
AL
AL,
below is the company i used back 2011. All my systems still issue free beside cleaning it every season after use. I do recommend them to my friends. i would also suggest you go to Fujitsu site and look the list of contractor. i know they were there back in 2011.
H2O Concept Plbg & H2Oplbg@yahoo.com
our unit just turned 5 yrs old. 3 mo ago a tech said the outdoor control panel was failing to communicate with a bedroom unit, new control board was nearly $600 so we opted not to fix it. Today the main unit in the dining room quit…..
Wow, that would be really frustrating. Sorry to hear that.
I really hope they’re newer level of quality control is much higher because none of us can afford to have to replace these units after 3 to 5 years.
Fujitsu, I hope your listening. Nobody is going to buy your products with a failure rate like this
Just to add an anecdotal datapoint: We’ve had a Fujitsu 12RLS2 unit for 3 years with no problems, and added another last summer.
Just FWIW – I have had no problems so far with a 3-year-old Fujitsu 12-RLS2. We added a 2nd this past summer. Figured I’d throw in my anecdotal data point. 🙂
That’s fair enough.. You do recommend Mitsubishi though,right? …Airconditioning is very important to me. The house doesn’t have a cooling system. So I am definitely wiling to invest in the ductless system for cooling… As far as the furnace goes,it’s big and takes up space, the radiators are ugly and take up space. I’d hope to save $ switching to the mini splits also… The house is being renovated from top to bottom, so it will be air sealed and insulated. I do fear taking the radiators out and the mini split not providing enough heat in the freezing NY winters. Being able to adjust each rooms temp separately is also a nice feature….Does heating and cooling come built into the splits or can I choose between the two? Thanks again for your help.
Mitsubishi has been the workhorse in the industry for years so they’re easy to come by and plenty of companies to do service. At this point, they’re units are equal or better to the Fujitsu in efficiency so they’d be my number 1 choice.
Since you’re doing a full rehab of your home and would like to get rid of the radiators and boiler, the mini-splits could be a very good choice. You’ll get heating and cooling (as long as you choose the heat pump model). They also have AC only versions so your options are air conditioning only or heat pump which gives you both.
Because of the cold winters, I would urge you to investigate the “hyper heat” models. These are designed to provide full heating capacity down to quite cold temperatures.
If you can afford it, it’s worth going all the way with insulation and spray foam the inside of the walls. This will give you the air sealing and excellent insulation in one shot. I don’t trust any construction crew to properly air seal then insulate with fiberglass batts – it’s just too labor intensive and difficult. With the spray foam, it fills in all the nooks and crannies and gives you a tight, comfortable home.
Last suggestion – it would be a good idea to install some baseboard electric heating in each room to provide a backup for cold temperatures. Baseboard electric heaters are inexpensive to install and pretty much foolproof. So if anything happens to the heat pumps or you get a cold spell and want it a little warmer, you can turn on the baseboard. Some jurisdictions also require some form of backup heat in homes with heat pumps and this provides a simple option.
Good luck. Sounds like an exciting project!
(T.D.) I’m a Fujitsu & Mitsubishi contractor. Yes, any HVAC product can have a defect however I find that many times the cause is damage in shipping, improperly trained installers, or an installer beating the stuff up during installation. One fact I’d like to point out is that with at least the recent Fujitsu models, Mitsubishi does not match or come close to the low temp performance in their domestic systems (M series). The Fujitsu XLTH series will heat down to -15 below zero with no baffles or “Air Re-directors” on the outside unit. Mitsubishi requires these “baffles” to achieve their claimed low temp rating. Further, Fujitsu’s RLS2 units go to -5 below zero with no “baffles” as well. I believe the main problem discussed in this blog is not bad equipment, but rather a lack of effort by the contractor/installer to be responsible to the customer. On the other side of the coin, many customers are looking for the “cheapest” installation, and then love to complain when they get what they asked for.
I definitely agree that people often get bitten by going with the lowest bid. I know in my case, that definitely wasn’t the problem. The contractor I used was one I’d used for a number of other jobs and had a professional relationship with. He’s definitely mid to high end. Any issues were absolutely not installation related. The internal coils leaking and sensors going bad can’t be attributed to poor installation. In addition, on these mini split units, the installer just hooks up the refrigerant lines between units and runs power.
I purchased the Fujitsu’s initially because of their high performance-they beat the pants off the Mitsubishi’s of the time. And it sounds like the latest generation is doing a wonderful job as well. The problem is, they just don’t seem reliable and the company isn’t willing to make exceptions their warranty policy for issues that are clearly due to construction that is inadequate for long life. I’ve had these type of problems with other bleeding edge products. It’s unfortunate but more and more I’m coming to the realization endorsed by most of the installers I know that going with a workhorse that might be a few percentage points less efficient is a much better idea than going for the ultra efficient products that are not time-tested.
A heat pump can heat or cool – it is built into every unit – so you get two for the price of one.
I would keep the radiator system for backup heating in really cold weather. If you have radiators in every room you already have zonal heating because you can turn off the water flow valve at the radiator in rooms you may not want heated.
Mini-splits heating performance falls off pretty steeply in cold weather. I have two Mitsubishi units I purchased in 2012 for about $15,000 installed (including 7 air handlers for 7 rooms) – a 3 and a 2.5 ton for a 3000 sq foot home on three levels. At 47 F the units work great. The 3 ton unit will put out 30,000 BTU/hr at 47 F, 18,000 BTU/hr at 17 F and 9,000 BTU/hr at 6 F. When 32 F or lower the unit will go into a de-ice mode for about 10 minutes at a time (every 20 to 30 minutes) before heat is produced again. So, the capacity numbers just cited are not possible 24/7 which makes the units struggle to maintain a desired comfort temperature in a room. This also makes them use more electricity when de-icing. We put in a propane insert in our fireplace to agument our heating during sustained cold weather like we had last January when the outside temperature hovered around 10 F for weeks. Further, if you lose electricity you lose your heat pump capability. I assume your water heating system is natural gas (very inexpensive) and that does not require electricity to operate so you have a nice set up if you do both.
Heat pumps are great for cooling so that would be a real plus to your remodeled home.
if all you want from a mini split is cooling, dont waste your money on a cadillac(mitsubishi)., truth be told, for the dozens of brand names out there, theres only 7 major production plants. Big brand names are just that, names…
Hi, that 12rls model is no longer being sold right? So would you recommend the newer ones or should I just stay away from the brand all together? I’m renovating my house and currently have a furnace ( hot water I think) with 5 radiators scattered throughout. Is it a good idea to replace that entire system with a ductless cooling and heating system? I live in Jamaica, NY, 2,000 sqft two story house. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I prefer not to comment on the newer version since I haven’t had personal experience with it. The original RLS line apparently had issues with the coils developing leaks but the RLS2 has a longer warranty so perhaps Fujitsu has more confidence in them.
The larger question is whether you’d want to switch from a boiler with radiators to mini-splits.
An primary question is: how important is air conditioning? Your current system is heating only, requiring a different system for air conditioning. If you don’t have air conditioners, then you’ll get that as part of the change to the mini-splits. If you do already have forced air in the house with air conditioning, then that opens up options for you.
You’ll want to ask yourself “what are your reasons for considering switching from radiators to mini-splits?” – without knowing that, it’s difficult to provide guidance. Radiators provide high levels of comfort, especially for older homes that might not have the best insulation and air sealing. Heat pumps, like the mini-splits, can struggle in a leaky home. On the other hand, mini-splits allow every room to control its own heating/cooling. This can be greatly advantageous when you don’t use some rooms. For example, in my house, we have a finished basement that is mostly conditioned with a mini-split. When our son was off at college, we could turn it off completely or set it to a mild temperature. You could accomplish the same thing with some radiator systems but shutting off some zones. But that’s not always possible.
If you comment more on what you’re looking to accomplish in your renovations, we could discuss possible solutions that are most applicable to your specific desires.
by all means, put in some mini splits, but dont look at it as replacing the radiators, look at it as supplementing the rad system, any heat pump is going to shut down after -15 C to -20., youll be glad you kept the radiators then. But dont get stuck on fuji., LG makes nice units , so does panasonic
Agreed. Fujitsu units are unreliable and their support is nonexistent. I wasted nearly six grand on a dual head unit. Run don’t walk. There are better manufacturers out there such as Mitsubishi and Daikin.
Whoever told you that parts are no longer available more than likely lied to you. I am getting parts for these every day. Just to add, if it was a mechanical part, you can most likely find and install a similar part with little affect. If it was the indoor head, the new head will probably work with the old outdoor unit, why don’t you call a service tech and find out. sounds to me like you were being scammed. Have a nice day.
That’s really strange. The installer is a friend/business colleague who I’ve done a lot of work with. He called his distributor who told him that the non-current model of the 12RLS indoor unit wasn’t available and the new one was incompatible because of the controller electronics communication between indoor-outdoor units.
The problem was a leak on the indoor unit. The would have had to either replace the coils or the entire head. Labor for the coil replacement would have been as much as replacing the head. I got impatient and just replaced the entire system with a Fujitsu, saving the old parts since I’ve got two other Fujitsu units of that vintage.
I really appreciate this thread. I purchased a 15RLS in April 2008 for 4600$ installed. It came with a 10 year warranty parts and labour (supplier is Master.ca). I have had minor issues with it as required 2 service calls; one associated with heating performance and the other was to replace the blower motor on the indoor unit. My understanding was the unit was supposed to function to -15 Celsius, however I discovered there is a external thermostat the controls the shutdown for cold weather and it was set at -12. Does anyone know if this is part of the normal unit or would it have been something the contractor installed to try and avoid hard usage of the unit (live in Canada and get cold temps with unit usually not working for about 2 weeks due to below -15 weather). One thing I have noticed is that the heating performance seems to be getting worse each year. Is there something that can be done to address this or is it just the unit wearing out?
I can’t comment on the shutdown temperature.
As for performance decreasing each year, it isn’t “normal.” As long as the coils are clean (both indoor and outdoor units) and the refrigerant isn’t leaking, the performance should be relatively constant. It is possible for the compressor to wear out though I’ve never heard of a system getting noticeably worse each year unless there’s a refrigerant leak.
All things considered, I’d recommend that you have a certified service company come out and run a check on your system, letting them know of your observations and concerns.