LG split system installation Melbourne, with the app set up before we leave

LG’s current DUALCOOL AI Air line-up for Australia is ten wall units, and they fall into three groups.

DUALCOOL AI Air Deluxe at 2.5, 3.5, 5 and 7.1 kW. The full smart set: AI Air, which uses the ThinQ app and your set position in the room to choose between direct, indirect and Soft Air airflow; DUAL Vane, two louvres that LG states carry airflow up to 22 metres; Comfort Humidity Control; Sleep Timer+; Energy Manager+; One-Click Scheduled Cleaning; and, on the Deluxe alone, an allergen filter, LG’s Plasmaster Ionizer+ and a five-step cleaning routine where the Standard has a three-step one. This is the one for the main living room, or for a bedroom where someone has allergies.

DUALCOOL AI Air Standard at 2.5, 3.5, 4.8 and 7.1 kW. The same ThinQ features – AI Air, DUAL Vane, Comfort Humidity Control, Sleep Timer+, Energy Manager+, Window Open Detection and scheduled cleaning – at a lower price, without the allergen filter and ioniser. For a study, a spare room or a rental it is the sensible choice.

High Efficiency Reverse Cycle at 8.5 and 9.4 kW. The big units for an open-plan space that a 7.1 kW head cannot hold on a 38-degree day, and for the long room in a 1990s estate home where the kitchen, dining and living are one volume. The office will tell you honestly when a room needs one of these, and when it needs two heads on a multi split instead; our sizing guide is the arithmetic behind that call. These two keep built-in Wi-Fi, Sleep Timer+ and Auto Clean, but LG’s brochure lists Energy Manager+, Window Open Detection, Comfort Humidity Control and One-Click Scheduled Cleaning for the Deluxe and Standard only.

Model names and capacities are as listed on LG’s Australian site at the time of writing. LG changes its line-up; the office confirms the current model before it quotes.

Every brand has an app now. What sets LG apart is that several ThinQ features are about the bill rather than the remote.

Energy Manager+ lets you set a limit on energy use, in cooling mode, and have the unit hold to it. Window Open Detection drops the unit into energy-saving mode when it senses the sudden temperature change of an open window or door; it is switched off from the factory and set up in ThinQ, so we turn it on for you. Sleep Timer+ learns the previous night’s pattern in cooling mode and adjusts the temperature through the night, which is the answer to the bedroom that is freezing at 2 am and stuffy at 5. AI Air, on the Deluxe, aims the airflow at or away from where you have told it you sit.

All of it needs home Wi-Fi that reaches the unit, the ThinQ app on a compatible phone, and the product registered, which is why the form asks about your Wi-Fi. On install day we pair the unit, register it, switch on the features that are off by default and show you where each one lives. A smart unit with the app never installed is just an expensive remote.

Two honest caveats from LG’s own footnotes: Energy Manager+ and Sleep Timer+ work in cooling mode, and the 22-metre airflow figure was measured under LG’s test conditions, in fan mode with the unit mounted at two metres. Real rooms with furniture and doorways do less, which is one more reason placement of the head is decided with you, on the day.

The LG DUALCOOL range has more built-in cleaning functions than any other brand we fit, and we clean split systems for a living, so this is the section we can speak to.

Auto Clean+ runs the fan for up to 20 minutes after cooling to dry the indoor coil, which is what stops the musty start-up smell that comes from a wet heat exchanger sitting overnight. It is on from the factory. Freeze Cleaning ices the coil and then thaws it to loosen dust; LG states it helps remove heat exchanger dust and a named bacterium by up to 99.9 per cent. One-Click Scheduled Cleaning, set in ThinQ, runs condensation, Freeze Cleaning and Auto Clean+ in sequence on a schedule you choose.

What those cycles do not reach is the fan barrel, the drain tray and the back of the coil, and they do nothing for the outdoor unit. LG’s own advice is to clean the pre-filter every two weeks in use. Ours is to do that, use the scheduled clean through summer, and then have the unit professionally cleaned when the airflow drops or the smell returns despite it. An LG kept that way stays efficient for years; one relying on the self-clean alone still ends up on our LG service guide with a black fan barrel.

Because the same company installs and cleans, we set the cleaning schedule on the day and the office reminds you when a proper clean is due.

The physical install is the same discipline as any split. The head goes on a level wall plate fixed to studs or masonry. On brick veneer and weatherboard the pipes go straight through to a back-to-back outdoor unit; on double brick we core drill; on an internal wall the line set runs in a duct cover to the nearest external wall, and the quote says so before the day.

A licensed electrician runs a dedicated circuit where one is needed and fits the isolator at the outdoor unit. An ARC-licensed technician pressure-tests and vacuums the lines before the valves are opened, then commissions the unit in both heating and cooling. The 8.5 and 9.4 kW models draw more current than a bedroom unit and often need that new circuit, which the office checks when it quotes rather than discovering at your switchboard.

On warranty: LG’s Australian site states 5 years parts and labour plus 5 years limited parts warranty on the compressor for its residential air conditioners, described on its split system pages as a 10-year compressor parts warranty, with terms and conditions on LG’s warranty page. The warranty is LG’s, and a licensed, documented, registered installation is what keeps it intact. We photograph the finished job inside and out, and register the product in ThinQ while we are still on site.