Daikin vs Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Two of the most asked about names in the trade, one of which is really two companies. What the published figures actually say.
- REFCOM certified, REF1025662
- Daikin registered installer
The short answer
Before anything else: there are two Mitsubishis. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric are separate companies, both part of the wider Mitsubishi group, both separately listed in Tokyo, and both sell air conditioning in the UK. We fit Heavy Industries. On the published specs the Heavy Industries ZS is the cheapest way into this tier at 2.5kW, at £2,150 against £2,195 for the Daikin Comfora, and it is the quietest unit we fit at 5.0kW, at 22dB(A) against 24 for the Stylish and 27 for the Perfera and Comfora. Daikin wins on reach and on choice: the Perfera and Comfora both go to 7.1kW where the ZS stops at 5.0kW, the Stylish is 41mm slimmer and comes in three finishes, and at 3.5kW and 5.0kW the Comfora is the cheaper unit. Pick the ZS for a quiet 5.0kW living room, a Daikin for anything bigger, slimmer or in a colour.
First, there are two Mitsubishis
This is the single most common confusion on this subject and it is worth clearing up before any spec is compared. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Electric are not the same company and never have been. They are two separate businesses within the wider Mitsubishi group, each listed separately on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, each with its own management, and each with its own air conditioning division selling into the UK.
So when a quote says Mitsubishi, it is a fair question which one it means. Heavy Industries units carry model codes beginning SRK. Mitsubishi Electric units are usually branded Ecodan for heat pumps and MSZ for wall mounted air conditioning.
We fit Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. We do not fit Mitsubishi Electric, so if you have had a quote for an MSZ unit and want it compared to ours, the honest comparison is the one below against the ZS, not a claim that we can supply the same machine cheaper.
The ZS against the three Daikins
Manufacturer published figures for the exact models we fit. The indoor unit dimensions are the ones that decide whether it clears a window head or fits above a door.
| MHI ZS | Comfora | Perfera | Stylish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sizes available | 2.0 to 5.0kW | 2.5 to 7.1kW | 2.0 to 7.1kW | 2.0 to 5.0kW |
| Indoor unit | 290 x 870 x 230mm | 286 x 770 x 225mm | 298 x 804 x 252mm | 295 x 798 x 189mm |
| Applies to | Every size | 2.5 and 3.5kW | Up to 5.0kW | Every size |
| Quietest published | 19dB(A) | 19dB(A) | 19dB(A) | 19dB(A) |
| Sound at 5.0kW | 22dB(A) | 27dB(A) | 27dB(A) | 24dB(A) |
| Finishes | On request | White | White | White, black or silver |
| Fitted price, 2.5kW | £2,150 | £2,195 | £2,300 | £2,500 |
| Fitted price, 5.0kW | £3,250 | £2,795 | £3,700 | £3,800 |
Manufacturer published technical data, read from each manufacturer's own site in August 2026. MHI does not publish a casing colour on the unit pages, so the finish row says so rather than guessing. Fitted prices are our starting prices for a standard installation and include VAT.
At 5.0kW the Mitsubishi is the quietest unit we fit
This is the finding that makes the page worth reading. Every range here publishes 19dB(A) at its smallest sizes, so the headline number tells you nothing. The separation happens at 5.0kW, where the ZS is rated 22dB(A), the Stylish 24, and both the Perfera and the Comfora 27. A living room unit spends its life at 5.0kW, and five decibels below the Comfora is the one thing that genuinely justifies paying more than a Comfora at that size.
Where the price actually lands
The ZS is the cheapest of these four at 2.5kW, but only just: £45 under the Comfora. At that size the two are effectively the same money and the decision is not a financial one.
It reverses further up. At 3.5kW the Comfora is £55 cheaper than the ZS, and at 5.0kW it is £455 cheaper. So the ZS is not the budget option once you leave the smallest size, and anyone telling you Mitsubishi is the cheap one has not looked at a 5.0kW price.
Against the other two Daikins the ZS undercuts both across the board. At 5.0kW it is £450 under the Perfera and £550 under the Stylish, while being quieter than either at that size.
Fit the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ZS when
It is a 5.0kW living room and quiet matters
This is its strongest case and it is a published one, not an opinion. At 22dB(A) it is quieter at 5.0kW than any Daikin we fit, including the Stylish that costs considerably more at that size.
You want the kit rather than the badge
The Allergen Clear filter, the washable deodorising filter and wireless LAN are standard on the SRK-ZS-WF we fit, not options priced on top. The infrared handset is in the box as well.
The room is a normal bedroom and the wall is plain
At 2.5kW it is the cheapest unit in this comparison and there is nothing entry level about it. In a standard Harrow or Stanmore semi, on a wall nobody studies, it is the sensible answer.
Fit a Daikin when
The room needs more than 5.0kW
Not a judgement call. The ZS ladder stops at 5.0kW. A knocked through ground floor needing 6.0 or 7.1kW has to be a Perfera or a Comfora, and the ZS simply does not make that size.
The unit will be looked at every day
The Stylish is 189mm deep against the ZS at 230mm, so it stands off the wall noticeably less, and it is the only range here with a choice of finish. MHI does not publish a casing colour for the ZS at all, which tells you where it sits on that question.
The budget is doing real work at 3.5kW or above
The Comfora undercuts the ZS at both 3.5kW and 5.0kW, by £455 at the larger size. If the room does not need the quieter 5.0kW unit, that is money saved for nothing given up.
The wall is short of width
At 770mm across, the 2.5 and 3.5kW Comfora is 100mm narrower than the ZS, which is a fixed 870mm at every size. In a box room, or a loft where a dormer has eaten the wall, width is usually the constraint that decides it.
What this comparison deliberately leaves out
There is no efficiency column. Daikin publishes SEER and SCOP per model and we quote those figures elsewhere on the site, but the MHI unit pages we verified do not publish seasonal efficiency in the same form. Putting a Daikin number beside a blank cell, or filling the blank with a figure carried over from a similar model, would be guessing dressed up as a spec table, so the comparison sticks to sound, size, dimensions and price, all of which are published for both.
If running cost is the thing actually deciding this for you, size the room first and ask us for the figures on the two units that fit it. That is a shorter and more honest conversation than a table that pretends to compare something one manufacturer has not put in public.
The ranges this applies to
Every price is fully installed and includes the unit, the installation, the electrical work and VAT.
Instant estimate
Not sure which size you need?
Size the room first. It frequently settles this on its own, because above 5.0kW only the Daikins exist. The estimate takes about a minute.