Fisher & Paykel’s new Experience Centre with attached Haier showroom in Melbourne is a shrine to product integration across different product categories. John Power paid a site visit to see the Centre in action, and to witness what the company is doing to optimise multi-product selections and specifications.

As the world embraces electrification, including varying levels of personal solar and battery energy systems for the home, plumbers and their building industry partners face new problems, mostly in relation to the selection of mutually compatible technologies and appliances, all with optimised capacities and efficiencies.

In the good old days, the choice of a household hot water system, for instance, was largely dependent on building characteristics and access requirements, as well as the client’s budget and the size of their family.

Today, however, there are added complexities to worry about, most obviously in dwellings equipped with solar energy systems. For example, an excessively large split system air conditioner or an inefficient, old-fashioned hot water system might end up being an unacceptable drain on household solar energy-derived battery reserves, which in turn might have an adverse impact on the functionality or efficiency of other appliances.

In other words, strategic product selection based on mutually compatible configurations, performance controllability, and good design have never been more crucial to ensure hassle-free service.

Mindful of such considerations, Haier have been devoting considerable attention in recent years to the harmonisation of diverse product categories. Now clients can benefit from a whole-of-home offering of HVAC units, heat pump hot water solutions, and solar energy products including panels, inverters and batters – and with Fisher & Paykel and Haier appliances as part of the ecosystem. (Fisher & Paykel and Haier are both owned by the same parent company, the Haier Group.)

So, how do all these different product categories marry up? Now clients can view the full Haier range on the Haier website, and get in touch with the team personally to learn more about Haier heat pump hot water systems.

Fisher & Paykel has several Experience Centres worldwide, with more to open in 2025. The Melbourne Experience centre is the only Experience with the Haier and Fisher & Paykel Home Solutions showroom attached to show home equipment.

One-stop destination

According to Nicole Stock, Fisher & Paykel’s General Manager Marketing – Home Solutions, the opening of the Experience Centre in Melbourne is an important step in helping local architects, plumbers, builders and other design and trade professionals to make sure all home appliances are fit for purpose and harmonised at the ‘specification phase’ of home construction or renovation.

“This Centre is not a retail outlet,” Nicole explained. “You can’t purchase products here; our focus is to allow architects, other trade professionals, and their clients to see what products are available, and to indicate how they might all be integrated to create the most effective solution possible.”

This emphasis on efficient integration, Nicole added, is the guiding principle for Fisher & Paykel, inspired by a desire to minimise carbon emissions across the whole Fisher & Paykel range

“Almost 90% of carbon emissions [from appliances] come from the use of the product, which is difficult for a company to control, but if we can help people to switch to renewable energy for their hot water, etc, then we can help reduce emissions in a direct way.”

Making it easy to switch to renewable energy or choose energy-efficient appliances is a key reason why Haier has recently released heat pump hot water and solar ranges, Nicole said, noting that some customers in older dwellings who adopt solar energy might wish to replace appliances in a staggered – but coherent – manner over time.

“And that’s OK,” she said. “Whether you’re dealing with a new construction or a retrofit, the timing and nature of the upgrade is purely up to the client – they might be in the same home for 20 or 30 years. “And we plan on being around in that many years. It’s not about the ‘hard sell’.”

Energy management

Energy controllability, both pre-programmed and manual, will become more mainstream over time, Nicole predicts, as householders prioritise energy collection and allocation configurations.

A secondary, though no less important, feature of product integration relates to multi-device control via a single App.

Haier’s SmartHQ™ Ecosystem puts new control in the hands of the consumer. SmartHQ™ is a single platform for all products​ creating a Home Ecosystem integrating remote control, voice control, notifications, service alerts and software updates. Developed in USA by GE​, security and privacy is paramount​ and hosted on Amazon Web Servers (AWS).

While Haier solar systems are currently controlled by the Nahui Energy App, shortly to be renamed the Haier Energy App, integration into the SmartHQ app is in development, with delivery expected in 2025.

An integrated future

Many companies have strived to make life easier for their professional trade customers; the launch of Haier solar and hot water along with the new Fisher & Paykel Experience Centre delivers where others have failed, thanks in large measure to the diversity of products across the Haier and Fisher & Paykel networks.

From a specification perspective, anything that makes life easier for plumbers and designers is a great bonus.