I am a domestic (UK) user with A/C units at home. Our first was Mitsubishi, and we later had a Daikin unit - just whatever our supplier was fitting at the time.
Both systems came with WiFi network connectivity as standard, and the Daikin web/app is easier to use, but as you confirm the most recent Daikin will not / cannot connect to HA. Mitsubishi use MelCloud (which is rather clunky as a web page) and that is now able to integrate into HA. https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/melcloud
I use Google Home, and both systems are integrated with that, so I can ask Google the temperature in the house, turn on and off A/C, change settings and so on all by voice.
Mitsubishi units are integrated into HA using MelCloud, and works well - I have controls on a dashboard for desk use when Google commands are too complicated for voice control, such as changing fan speed (Google can do it but the commands are too complicated to remember everything correctly). Controls for on/off, mode (heat/cool/fan/dry), fan speed, horizontal and vertical vane settings and of course target temp. There are various sensors, so I have room temperature and energy use, which are very useful. Since I mostly use the system using Google voice commands when at home HA automation is unnecessary, but I am looking at tying it into the solar pv so that when the bedroom temperature is high on a sunny day with excess electricity the system automatically turns on.
MelCloud integration does depend on the cloud but seems very responsive. In the past MelCloud could only respond to each A/C unit when it ‘phoned home’ every 30 seconds, so there was often a long wait until MelCloud could do anything. Now it seems almost instananeous whether using Google Home, HA, or MelCloud directly.
As @aceindy already mentioned, Midea and its labeled alternatives are in my opinion the best way to go for now. The Midea integration is the only one I know, that works totally local. All other brands, including Mitsubishi, are not truly local, where ESPHome is. This has, especially in a business environment, a lot of advantages. I for one don’t like to rely on the Internet to get my AC working (or not).
If you want to, send me a PM, I can recommend a supplier from Germany. These guys are good (not great or perfect, but who is ), you can reach the telephone hotline (despite you need to wait a bit), and that is not self-evident in the middle of the summer for an AC selling company.
I like them, I ordered my AC from them years ago, and I talked my orthopedic into some AC units from them this year. He needed some ACs to cool down his x-ray machines because they stopped working…
Disclaimer: This is only a recommendation based on personal experience, I don’t have any (business-) ties to them, I don’t get any money, nothing. And I can’t guarantee, that everything runs smooth, I’m not working there! Not that I’d expect something going wrong, but you never know, and I’m not the guy for being held responsible. I’m just saying this, because I had some bad experiences with another company I recommended and things went sideways and suddenly I seemed the guy to blame…
I have 3 mistubishi’s and they are working perfectly. I’m not even sure where their original IR remotes are… i do all via HA. It’s cloud based, which i don’t like, but in this case i made an exception, since there’s no other option.
Well, guys! Thank you so much for your detailed opinions and experiences! I will defenitely look further into both recommendations, Mitsubishi and Midea. I dived a bit into programming ESPhome and to be honest I’m a novice but I accomplished successfully two projects, a automated shelf for a Laser TV and a linear motor for my roof windows. So whatever it takes to re-program the midea devices, there is hope, I can do it @paddy0174 : How does the ESP work with Midea? Is it natively integrated? Do I have to reflash it? Anyways, it sounds pretty interesting.
The advantage with Mitsubishi is, it is a fairly known brand and reliable. Downside, it is not truly local. When I think back to my Ewelink devices when they were only cloud based, I really really prefer a direct Lan alternative if this would be possible.
Midea is a well known producer and manufacturer of all kinds of “white goods” (you know the german “weisse Ware”), somewhere around the TOP3 manufacturer of ACs in China, and I believe somewhere in the TOP10 worldwide. So they are one of these big companies, that no one knows in Europe (not no one, but… ). The sell under various lables, I made a thread with a list (which I need to update later today), like Comfee, Carrier, Midea, Olimpia Splendid and whatnot.
In Germany you might have heard about Midea recently, as they upped their stocks in KUKA (the robotic manufacturer) to nearly 30%. They also did some aquisition from Toshiba (household devices) a few years back. Looking at the numbers, Midea is far bigger than Mitsubishi in terms of ACs… As I said, not a familiar name, but big in business.
IMHO the biggest advantage is the ESPHome connection for these models (no matter the label). You easily setup an ESP with the component. Put it in the AC, where you’d normally put the provided (or seperately sold) Wifi dongle from Midea. Start the AC and have fun with your only locally controlled unit. That’s it! If you have already flashed some ESPs, it’s exactly the same. No need for programming or stuff like that, it really is an easy and comfortable way to use your AC.
But you need to be careful (your newest post), not all models from all labels are compatible! There are some Comfee units (just an example), that can be used, others not.
I’ll write you back on your PM with some more infos, but it will not be sooner than today evening.
EDIT: Here’s the list for the ESPHome component, that is different to MacZhous component! MacZhous relies on the Cloud as well, only the official Midea component from ESPHome does not!
Cooper and hunter airco’s are supported via the gree integration. They tend to give you other apps but it works just fine out of the box. Even with local connectivity!
Daikin used to be local too but not anymore. Hence why I now went with cooper and hunter (have 4 of them)
To be honest guys,
this is one of the best threads about this topic here on the forum. You gave me so such an absolutely brilliant input, so that I can really make some night long research to find the best A/C system which fits to my situation. Great! Hopefully, many people will profit from this! I keep you up-to-date about my efforts!
As nice as at least an IR connection is, this can’t be recommended. It is really only if nothing else works good.
IR has the big disadvantage, that you only have an uni-directional component. You never know the actual state of the device, it is always only an assumption. That is not really the way to go, especially not, if you buy new. In this case you should always prefer an A/C unit, that is connectable via some kind of bi-directional communication.
My Mitsubishi has power (i mean kWh used) measurent already as factory default, with original wifi module and cloud integration. Although i didn’t find yet how (if possible at all) to reset power to zero. But, honestly, i didn’t look much yet…
There is I have all my mitsubishi connected with a 2 euro wemos d1 mini on the cn105 with tasmota firmware. Rock solid, cheap and it works with mqtt on my lan. No cloud.
), you can reach the telephone hotline (despite you need to wait a bit), and that is not self-evident in the middle of the summer for an AC selling company. 
