Midea's Edith split systems are here, and the warranty is the real story
Midea's Edith Series split systems are at The Good Guys from $899. Our take on the price, the 7-year warranty and who should wait this summer.
By Laurence Deer
Image: Midea. The “6°C cooler” line is Midea’s marketing, not our measurement.
You know the night. It’s 11pm, it’s still 29 degrees in the bedroom, the fan is just pushing warm air around, and someone in the house says “we really need to get an air con before summer”. Then you see the prices and the jargon, and close the tab.
So here’s one more name for the list. Midea has launched its Edith Series reverse-cycle split systems in Australia. There are six sizes, from 2.1kW for a small bedroom up to 8.0kW for an open-plan living area, and they’re on sale now at The Good Guys from $899.
If Midea doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a huge Chinese appliance maker. It isn’t one of the Japanese names your parents had on the wall, but it isn’t a no-name brand either.
Our take
The price is fair, not a steal. On 28 October the 3.5kW Edith was $1,299 at The Good Guys. That’s the same as Samsung’s 3.5kW and $100 less than the Fujitsu and Panasonic equivalents. At the small end it loses outright: Hisense’s 2.5kW Air Q was $799, a full $200 under the 2.5kW Edith. If price is all you care about, buy the Hisense and stop reading.
The warranty is why we’d look twice. The Good Guys lists 7 years on the Edith. Its listings for the Fujitsu, Panasonic and Hisense units show 5. Two extra years doesn’t sound exciting, but a split system is meant to run for ten years or more, and the last thing you want is a dead unit in year six and a repair bill in the middle of a heatwave. That warranty is worth more to us than every feature on Midea’s list.
Take the headline claim with a pinch of salt. Midea says Cool Flash drops a room by 6°C in 10 minutes. It doesn’t say how big the room was or how hot it was outside. Treat it as a best case on a good day. “AI ECOMASTER” is an energy-saving mode with a very confident name. The feature we’d actually care about is the one with the least exciting name: Outdoor Silent, which Midea says makes the outdoor unit 3 to 7 decibels quieter. If the compressor is going under your neighbour’s bedroom window, they’ll thank you.
Nobody’s lived with one yet. The Fujitsu 3.5kW has 30 owner ratings at The Good Guys, averaging 4.9. The Edith has none, because it’s only just gone on sale, and we haven’t used one either. Its energy rating isn’t clear on the listing yet, so check the star label for your climate zone before you buy.
Why it matters right now
The Bureau of Meteorology has been forecasting warmer than average days for most of the country this spring, with El Niño building. Power prices are slightly kinder than last year, too: the regulator’s default market offer came down for most households on 1 July. A good inverter split is one of the cheapest ways to cool a room, so now is a sensible time to buy.
Our main advice: don’t wait for the first 40-degree week. That’s when everyone else panics, and installers stop answering their phones.
Two costs change the maths:
- Installation. The prices here are for the unit only. A licensed installer will usually add several hundred dollars, and well over $1,000 for a tricky install, depending on your city and how far the pipes have to run.
- Rebates. In Victoria and New South Wales, state energy schemes can take money off an efficient reverse-cycle unit, especially if it replaces an old gas heater. Ask your installer whether the model you want is eligible before you sign anything.
Prices
| Model | Cooling / heating | RRP |
|---|---|---|
| MFEF20VAN/W | 2.1kW / 2.5kW | $899 |
| MFEF26VAN/W | 2.5kW / 2.9kW | $999 |
| MFEF35VAN/W | 3.5kW / 4.0kW | $1,299 |
| MFEF50VAN/W | 5.2kW / 5.6kW | $1,699 |
| MFEF70VAN/W | 7.0kW / 7.7kW | $1,899 |
| MFEF80VAN/W | 8.0kW / 8.7kW | $2,399 |
Who should buy, and who should wait
Buy one if you own your place, want a mid-priced split in before Christmas, and like the idea of seven years’ cover. It makes most sense in a bedroom or a study.
Wait if you’d rather let other people find the faults first. Give it a few months and there’ll be owner reviews to read. Also wait if every dollar counts: the Hisense is cheaper today, and summer sales could bring all of these down.
Renting, or melting right now? A split system won’t help you this week. Our portable air conditioner guide covers units you can plug in yourself, and our cooling fan picks are cheaper still.