Many of us feel that air conditioners have become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. In Singapore, the sweltering weather makes it difficult to carry on with our daily activities without the soothing comfort an air conditioner brings. Our malls, homes, offices and public transport come equipped with many air conditioners to provide us relief from the erratic weather. Now, knowing that you can find air conditioners in residential and commercial buildings, do you think that there’s a difference between the two? Some of us may assume that it’s appropriate to purchase a commercial air conditioner for our huge house since commercial air conditioners serve large spaces, but that’s an incorrect way of thinking. Commercial units are not suitable for residential use, and we’ll explain why in this article! Size Differences As you might have guessed, commercial air-conditioning systems are bigger and designed to meet the needs of large commercial buildings. The requirements they command to condition an area are also different. When it comes to buying an air conditioner, it’s important that you consider the size it’s meant to cool. If you get a unit that is too small, it’s going to be inefficient and your employees will not feel the cool air. If it is too big, you will incur expensive electricity bills for your house. You want to avoid finding good aircon promotions and getting an affordable air conditioner that is unfortunately the wrong size for your house, or even worse, having to spend money and searching for aircon repair Singapore to fix any problems that might occur. System Placement Because commercial units are huge, they’re usually placed on top of buildings. It doesn’t make sense to place them inside offices because they’re so big. Technicians will also have an easier time fixing faulty units on the wide open space of the roof. On the other hand, residential air conditioners typically involve placing the indoor unit inside and the outdoor unit outside on the window ledge. Operating Power The larger the air-conditioning system, the more energy it consumes and output it creates to meet an area’s needs. As commercial air-conditioning units are significantly larger, they are more powerful than those suited for regular homes. As a result, commercial appliances have a greater operating power and operating needs. Different Systems Apart from the split system air conditioners you’ll usually hear of, there are also packaged systems. These systems are designed for commercial buildings and have a higher cooling and heating capacity as compared to split air conditioners. They also tend to be more complex as a result. Compare this to split system units that only have an indoor unit and outdoor unit. Installation Costs Big commercial systems are definitely going to cost more and require greater effort to install than smaller residential systems. Technicians need to put together various components and parts to get the entire system working effectively. Maintenance Since commercial systems are large, they also need plenty of maintenance. Building owners may engage a dedicated technician to check and maintain the different components. You can expect maintenance to be costly as well. It’s unlike residential units where some people can even undertake DIY maintenance on smaller, less significant issues.