Mini Split GENERAL AIRSTAGE RL2 12 000 BTU (115V) Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, South Shore and North Shore

GENERAL AIRSTAGE RL2 12,000 BTU in 115 V: the renamed Fujitsu Mini Split Heat Pump that cools a plex apartment without touching the electrical panel

Behind the name GENERAL AIRSTAGE RL2 12,000 BTU is a machine that has not changed by a single bolt: the Fujitsu AIRSTAGE RL2, indoor unit ASU12RL2 and outdoor unit AOU12RL2, with the same values published by the manufacturer and the same warranty of 12 years on the compressor, 12 years on parts and 6 years on labour. The manufacturer has not changed either; it changed its name. Fujitsu General Limited became GENERAL Inc. on January 1, 2026, and the Fujitsu logo is giving way on the equipment as deliveries go by.

What sets this model apart in the line-up comes down to one figure: 115 V. In a Rosemont or Petite-Patrie plex, the apartment's electrical panel is often full, shared with another floor, or simply far from the room to be cooled. Running a 208/230 V circuit up to the third-floor living room sometimes takes more opened walls and more electrician hours than installing the mini split itself. The 115 V RL2 settles the question differently: one dedicated 115 V circuit, the same type as those already feeding your outlets, and the apartment's air conditioning is settled for the summer.

Let's be clear about what you are buying. The RL2 is a model from an earlier generation: it runs on R-410A refrigerant, it predates the current certification lists and therefore carries no AHRI certificate, and its heating is guaranteed down to −10 °C. It is a mini split designed first for cooling, with mid-season heating as a bonus. For a plex floor heated by baseboards, that is exactly the job it is given, and we explain it plainly below.

GENERAL or Fujitsu AIRSTAGE: the same machine

The name change follows a change of owner, not of product. Paloma Rheem Holdings, owner of Rheem since 1988, acquired Fujitsu General in August 2025; on January 1, 2026, Fujitsu General Limited became GENERAL Inc. The head office and the research and development centre are still in Kawasaki, Japan, the factories are the same, and so are the model numbers and the warranty program. GENERAL is not a name invented for the occasion: it is a trademark in use since 1946, and the company, founded in 1936, celebrates the 90th anniversary of its founding in 2026. In Canada, Rheem Canada has handled sales since February 2026; our distributor remains Groupe Master, and AirGreen remains an AIRSTAGE Elite Plus installer.

As long as the transition lasts, the RL2 reaches us with either logo on the box. Rather than pulling a page many of our customers have already consulted, we keep both online and put the values face to face. You will see that the columns are identical, and that is precisely what we want to show.

The original page is still online under the name Fujitsu AIRSTAGE RL2 12,000 BTU (115 V); it describes the same machine, with the same values.

What 115 V changes in a plex. A 208/230 V mini split requires a two-pole circuit run from the panel, and in a plex apartment the panel is rarely in the right place: it is in the basement, in the shared entrance or at the far end of the apartment. The RL2 12,000 BTU is powered at 115 V on a dedicated circuit, the same type of wiring as the home's outlets. The licensed electrician who makes the connection has less distance to cover and fewer walls to open, and the work fits into the same day as the installation. We still check the panel at quote time: a dedicated circuit is still a circuit, and it needs a spot for its breaker.

Cooling first. The SEER2 of 16.0 measures seasonal cooling efficiency: the higher the value, the less electricity it takes to remove the same amount of heat from the apartment. At 16.0, the RL2 does what you expect from a unit of its generation: cool a living room or a double room of a plex without the appetite of a window air conditioner, and pull the humidity out of the air along the way, which matters as much as the temperature on a third floor of Petite-Patrie in July. Its 12,000 BTU suit a good-sized living room or an open living-dining room; the rest of the apartment enjoys the cool air through open doors, without ever dropping as low as the room where the wall unit sits.

Heating, down to −10 °C. The RL2's heating is guaranteed down to −10 °C. Concretely, in Montreal, that covers fall, spring and the milder winter days; the January nights that dip below that threshold remain the job of the baseboards or the existing heating. We prefer to say it as it is: this model reduces the baseboards' share in mid-season, it does not replace them in the dead of winter. If your goal is to switch off electric heating in January, the same line-up includes models certified down to −26 °C and we will show them to you; if your goal is a cool apartment in summer and a pleasant boost in October and April, the RL2 does the job without making you pay for a deep-cold reserve you would never use.

Noise and everyday comfort. The indoor unit runs between 23 and 43 dB(A) depending on fan speed; at its lowest setting, it is quieter than a kitchen refrigerator. The outdoor unit sits at 51 dB(A). In a plex, where the backyard is shared and the neighbour's window is close, we choose its location with you, often on the rear wall, mounted on a bracket away from the bedrooms. Wi-Fi is offered as an option: useful if you want to start the air conditioning from the metro before getting home, pointless if the remote is enough for you; we add it to the quote only if you ask for it.

The installation in a plex apartment. A plex brings constraints a bungalow does not have: an exterior staircase, an alley, a shared wall, a shared yard and sometimes a landlord or a syndicate to consult before drilling through the brick. Here is how installation day goes with our refrigeration technicians:

• The wall unit: mounted high in the living room, on the wall that lets the air travel the length of the apartment, with enough clearance to pull out the filters.
• The passage: a single hole in the wall for the insulated 1/4 and 3/8 in copper refrigerant line, the cable and the drain, all protected by a line cover outside.
• The outdoor unit: on a ground pad or on a wall bracket, high enough that snow does not block it and defrost water drains away, away from bedroom windows, yours and the neighbour's alike.
• Drainage: summer condensate leaves by gravity to the outside; on an upper apartment, we make sure the drain does not drip onto the balcony below, and we install a condensate pump when the slope is lacking.
• Electrical: a dedicated 115 V circuit connected by a licensed electrician, with a breaker reserved for the unit at the panel.
• Commissioning: nitrogen leak test, vacuum, start-up, supply-air temperature check and a walk through the remote's functions before we leave.

Maintenance and indoor filters. The indoor filters pull out by hand, rinse under water and go back in once dry. In a plex apartment, where street and alley dust comes in through open windows, it is a step to repeat a few times per season to keep the airflow and the efficiency. Outside, cleaning the coil in spring and clearing the snow in winter are enough. The annual service by a refrigeration technician checks the R-410A refrigerant charge, cleans the coil and the drain pan and checks the electrical connections; the parts are those of the Fujitsu RL2, since it is the same unit.

Grant and certifications, plainly. The RL2 is not ENERGY STAR certified and it is not on the list of heat pumps eligible for Hydro-Québec's LogisVert program, according to the list of October 27, 2026. So we promise you no amount for this model. It predates the current certification lists, hence the absence of an AHRI certificate, and the values on this page are those the manufacturer publishes. If a grant weighs in your decision, tell us: we will propose a listed model, and you will compare the two quotes at your own pace.

Who this model is for. The owner-occupant of a Rosemont or Petite-Patrie plex who wants to cool the apartment without redoing the electrical; the landlord equipping the upper apartment, the one that bakes all summer under the roof, with a unit that is simple to maintain; the baseboard-heated floor where a mid-season boost is wanted rather than a replacement for the heating. If the living room exceeds what a 12,000 BTU can cool, or if you really want to heat with the heat pump in January, we will steer you toward another capacity or another series at the time of the visit.

Free quote in Rosemont, Petite-Patrie and everywhere in Montreal

Call us at 514 316-2973 or request your free quote online. We come to see the apartment, the panel, the line route and the exterior wall before confirming that the 115 V RL2 is the right choice, and you receive a written price. We install the GENERAL AIRSTAGE RL2 12,000 BTU in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, on the North Shore and on the South Shore, in plexes as in houses.

AirGreen is an RBQ-licensed HVAC contractor and an AIRSTAGE Elite Plus installer. Whether the box carries the GENERAL name or the Fujitsu name, you receive the same unit, the same warranty and the same team to maintain it.