Rinnai RINV25RC (2.5kW)

This air conditioner only lasted 2 years, before the blower bearing started to become very noisy. After spending lots of money to fix the issue, we decided to fully replace with Panasonic. Stick with reputable brands. Show details

Great until you have problems – Horrible customer service! Do not buy one of these if you have any issues it’s impossible to replace unless you use Rinnai contractors. Other companies do not carry their products and it’s almost impossible for another company to purchase replacement parts or they just won’t deal with them. Rinnai WILL charge you for diagnostic testing even… Read more

under WARRANTY that’s almost $300 straight up! If rinnai are at fault and it’s a manufactured problem they will only then cover costs. If it’s not their problem and a lizard has died on the board and fried the circuit you WILL be charged the testing $300 AND replacement which is basically a whole new unit! This test is all of 5mins!!!! So you are not paying for time here! Absolute joke! I understand you pay for replacement if not a manufacturer fault but if you are under warranty the testing should be covered irrespective of outcome! They refuse to just replace a part they must do a test first! So you are completely trapped because you are not a technician and have no idea it ifs a manufacturer fault or environmental (aka lizard, spider, geko). The air con should be better built from environmental factors, it’s not like they have only just become a problem this is actually one of the main causes of the unit not working as I have been told yet not one company can be bothered to build a unit the stops lizards,geckos from getting in and destroying your aircon! Aircon also doesn’t like direct sun either on the outside the tube that runs the water away has disintegrated due to sun exposure this has been about 4 years and water run off goes everywhere when in use Also WIFI has never ever worked and I have 4 of these units! And no one has ever bothered to show me how they work, not the builder who highly recommended them, not the $300 diagnostic technician even when I have asked for help with it.

Makes an Irritating Variable Droning Noise when Heating – From the day this Unit was installed a couple of years ago, is has emitted this painfully irritating variable droning noise. The noise isn't loud, but it is loud and penetrating enough to interfere with concentration and make one feel tense after listening to it for an hour or so. The installer was unable to fix it, suggesting it "would wear off"… Read more

- but it didn't wear off. Rinnai wanted to be paid for a service call if their technician deemed that it wasn't a fault. I refused the service call because I could see how the service call and the likelihood of a replacement Unit would go. So I am stuck with this piece of garbage until it breaks down. When I replace it the replacement absolutely won't be a Rinnai. Be warned - there is obviously an issue that can cause this noise, and once installed it will be hard to get rid of a faulty unit. I have never had this problem with any other brand of air-conditioner, so I suggest you think carefully before buying one of these.

Not Gecko Proof – Have this unit installed on my first investment property. At around two years old my tenant reports that the aircon is throwing a code and not working. Unfortunately the agent had no joy in sorting things out with Rinnai so I took the matter into my own hands. Got the code from the tenant and supplied code Rinnai's tech support after three… Read more

transfers looking for the correct person. Tech support advises its a "PC" board issue and that service would need to be contacted to rectify.

After a bit of fluff in a bizarre love triangle between my agent, Rinnai and myself it appears that I had to make the booking as Rinnai requires a credit card number to proceed (this should have been a red flag), then for me to co-ordinate between the agent and Rinnai the attendance (HEY Rinnai, landlords pay an agent a management fee to "manage" things like this for them). Contact service and arrange an attendance with a clear understanding with the service contact person that their tech department states the "PC" board requires replacement, their service person assures me multiple times that the agent will attend with the correct PC board and would advise me onsite if there were any other issues, neglecting to tell me the over the top call out fee if the item is not found within warranty.

Some 21 days later the agent finally appears at the property (HEY Rinnai, I truly want to be a good landlord especially for my first property, I wouldn't want my tenant in a hot Queensland property to be waiting more than a couple of days for a repair, nor is it fair on them), deals directly with the tenant, and has their admin call me later that afternoon after leaving site. The agent's admin asks for a credit card number as the job is deemed not within warranty and will cost me a call out fee. After a bit of digging I was finally advised that the PC board was not replaced, nor was it taken with them to site. I advise them of what the service call centre contact had advised me and was left with silence on the other end. I requested that they re-attend and fix ASAP, to which the agent's admin replied that it would probably be cheaper to replace the entire unit. I had to ask what had occurred to cause such a costly repair and was met with a awkward reply of "gecko", yes that's right a gecko had somehow managed to do the impossible and bridge two contact points of the PC board. When pushed on a price for a repair/new unit she was unable to tell me, but approximated the board to be within the realm of $700.00 (only recently have I bothered to look up the price of a replacement, yes it would be cheaper). I approved the repair over the phone that day on the 9th of December 2021, to which the agent's admin again asked for a credit card number that I declined informing them that Rinnai had that on file, and although I've approved the repair I asked for a quote to be emailed through (never received).

Ongoing a week later I was advised by my agent after they chased up Rinnai again to find out what was going on due to a lack of communication, that Rinnai advises a part had been ordered on 02/12/21 and will be in stock on 17/12/2021.

Still without resolution almost a month later (11/01/2022) I've contacted the Rinnai service team again. After over an hour and a half on hold spoke with a nice sounding agent who's only doing her job, but was advised that they have no further detail if the job had been completed or not (despite me telling them it wasn't). I went back over the story and asked why hadn't I at least been provided the costings, to which she replied it was policy that costings were not provided until after the work was completed (HEY Rinnai, so now you just expect people to hand you blank cheques?). I then informed her since its taken so long I now want the works quoted and a comparison quote on a wholesale replacement, to which she said she'd contact the agent to confirm works had not been completed if I held the line (again), to which I complied until the call dropped and over an hour later am yet to receive a call back.

Hey Rinnai if you at all see this (which it appears you frequent this site), since your team can't remedy a fix in a timely manner, particularly when it was known prior and proven after the issue was with the PC board as diagnosed and should have been taken to site as promised, I've asked my agent to chase up quotes on a replacement, you've got 10 business days to make the repair or I go elsewhere and process the claim with Consumer Affairs to have the service fee wiped as you did not have the part onsite as requested and agreed to. I know Corona and its derivatives have taken their toll, but we're two years in and you should have smoothed out the process by now and it shouldn't take over two months and multiple visits for something that was correctly diagnosed by your tech support over the phone. It would also be great if you are honest and up-front with you customers about what costs are out of warranty, that a customer has no opportunity to decline the call out fee if its deemed not within warranty by an agent onsite (most vendors I've dealt with for similar issues do not charge unless it is known prior to attendance that the item is not within warranty and are upfront about the costs). Not only is my investment property full of Rinnai appliances, I've recently upgraded the hot water at home to an Infinity, and now I'm left with concern if I ever need to process further potential (non-gecko related) warranty claims. Oh and you may want to take down you claims of made for Australian conditions, if a simple Australian gecko can cause so much damage to a relatively new system.

To the audience, if you're still with me after my long winded story, can you recommend a gecko proof split-system aircon?

Edit - 17/01/2022: On the afternoon of 11/01 I sent Rinnai an enquiry through their website (as they don't advertise an email address) as can be seen in one of the attachments. I had a call at 8:15 the next morning (word to the wise don't give me grief before my morning coffee) with a tone I didn't appreciate at that time of the morning something along the lines of "what do you want", well not exactly but I can't remember the specifics but basically I told her what occurred, that they were not to proceed with the repair, not to contact the tenant and had 48 hours from the time to get me a quote to approve...

Well they never got back to me and I guess they weren't listening as instead the issue appeared to gain more traction through this negative review. On 13/11 (after the requested 48 hours had passed) I got a request for more info related to a ticket on this site by Rinnai, that info was provided and email contact was established with an automated "a case file has been opened for you" and "someone will get back to you in the next three business days. Followed on 14/11 with a "thanks for your patience, but we'll get back to you", which I took as a we're going to start this all again and you're tenants will have to wait another few months. As such I've taken it upon myself to replace what would have been a relatively new air conditioner with another new air conditioner which is not Rinnai branded and will be installed early on the week of 17/02/22.

On the morning of 17/01 I got an email with the pricing as requested and basically what I felt as a stuff you and your request we're going ahead with the repair and going to charge you anyway. To which I've replied along the lines do not proceed as previously stated and you're no longer needed as I've fixed it myself to avoid further costs from your delays.

Inside unit vibrates, poor design and function – Cools and heats fine, but the problem comes once the room reaches the correct temperature and the fan slows down. Instead of just stopping the fan and waiting until it's needed again, it keeps spinning continuously at a very low rpm that vibrates the entire unit and the wall it is mounted on. Seriously, why does it need to spin if it isn't doing… Read more

anything? The way it has been programmed boggles the mind. Once the fan kicks back in again properly it's fine. It's just at idle that is absolutely horrendous. Again, why does it spin idle at all?

Beware of charge out rates on warranty – I have purchased 5 units recently. 4 x 2.5kw and 1 x 7kw. All working fine so far bar 1. It has vibrated conyinuously on one of the inside unit 2.5kw unit, not so bad on full fan, but eco is awful. Requested a warranty call out. Told I have to agree to a fee of $225 for call out and first hour, then charge of $40 per 15 minute increments if they… Read more

decide it isn't the warranty. So if the guy takes 10 mins to look and says its not warranty, I'll be down half the units cost. No room to say no to rates I would refuse to normally pay. They will not come out unless you sign them!!!! So beware. Great units but only if you don't have a warranty claim. They also do not provide this info when you buy it. Had I known I would not have purchased any units. I certainly will not be purchasing any more for other houses. I feel completely blackmailed. In addition they are using a local subby round the corner. I'm interested to know what the normal charge r as tes are, as these seem to be provided by Rinnai not them ( happy to be corrected, and will apologise if this is untrue)