GENERAL AIRSTAGE CENTAURI Wide Ceiling Cassette Heat Pump | 18000 BTU

GENERAL AIRSTAGE CENTAURI 18,000 BTU Ceiling Cassette Heat Pump: large-format airflow that stays gentle in a daycare

At nap time, the mats cover the floor and the youngest children sleep just a few centimetres above it. That is the height at which a daycare's comfort is measured, and it is the kind of room we install the GENERAL AIRSTAGE CENTAURI 18,000 BTU in. It is the Fujitsu AIRSTAGE CENTAURI of the same capacity, sold under its manufacturer's new name: same ceiling cassette AUUH18KUAS, same outdoor unit AOUH18KUAS1, same AHRI certificate 215434552, same certifications and the same warranty of 12 years on the compressor, 12 years on parts and 6 years on labour.

The manufacturer changed only its name: Fujitsu General Limited has been called GENERAL Inc. since January 1, 2026. What matters to an educator or a daycare director is how this cassette moves air in a room full of children: from above, out of several sides at once, with no unit on the wall or on the floor.

A daycare comes with constraints a house does not have. The walls hold artwork, cubbies and coat hooks; the floor is for playing, eating and sleeping; and anything at a child's height will sooner or later be touched, pulled or climbed. A cassette recessed into the ceiling frees all of that at once: only its grille stays visible, out of reach, and the room keeps all of its usable space.

GENERAL or Fujitsu AIRSTAGE: the same machine

The new name comes from an acquisition, not a change of factory. In August 2025, Paloma Rheem Holdings, owner of Rheem since 1988, acquired Fujitsu General, which took the name GENERAL Inc. at the turn of 2026. The head office and the R&D centre stayed in Kawasaki, Japan, and so did the factories; AIRSTAGE products kept their model numbers as well as their warranty program. In Canada, Rheem Canada has handled sales since February 2026, and Groupe Master remains our distributor.

During the transition, the Fujitsu logo is gradually disappearing from the boxes, and the same machine is sold under both names. That is why we keep both product pages online: the director who searches for "Fujitsu" on a colleague's recommendation should land on exactly the same unit as the one who types "GENERAL". The table below lines up the two versions, row by row.

The page under the original name is still available: Fujitsu AIRSTAGE CENTAURI 18,000 BTU, large-format ceiling cassette. You will find the same values there, down to the last digit.

The air leaves from the ceiling, not toward the children. The cassette draws room air in at the centre of its grille and sends it back out through several sides, along the ceiling. Instead of a single jet that leaves a wall and hits whatever stands in front of it, the air spreads out in a layer and then settles slowly toward the floor. Airflow reaches 618 CFM at top speed; spread across several outlets, it mixes the whole room. In winter, that is what gets rid of the cold corner by the window, the one where nobody wants to play. In summer, it is what cools the room without blowing on a sleeping child.

A quiet background for nap time. At its lowest speed, the indoor unit runs at 28 dB(A); at its highest, at 34 dB(A). During nap time the fan idles along and blends into the calm of the room. Outside, the outdoor unit runs at 52 dB(A): we choose its location with you, away from the windows of the nap room and out of the yard where the children play.

Heating a room where life happens at floor level. The following values are certified and published on NEEP (ashp.neep.org) under AHRI certificate 215434552. At −8 °C, at the certification's reference operating point, the Heat Pump delivers 14,400 BTU with a COP of 3.01: every kilowatt-hour of electricity becomes a little over three kilowatt-hours of heat. At −15 °C, it can climb to 17,100 BTU, with a COP of 2.28. At −21 °C, the coldest point of its certification and the limit of its guaranteed heating, it still delivers up to 14,400 BTU, with a COP of 2.06. On a January morning, as the first parents arrive, it is still producing twice as much heat as the electricity it consumes.

Over a full season, the HSPF2 of 11.4 sums up heating efficiency: the higher the number, the less the unit uses to deliver the same heat. In summer, the SEER2 of 26.3 and the EER2 of 13.6 mean economical cooling, and dehumidification of up to 3.6 pints/h removes the moisture given off by a room full of children on the move. The model is ENERGY STAR certified, with the cold-climate designation.

What the large format asks of the ceiling. This CENTAURI's cabinet is 33.07 in. per side and 9.69 in. high: this is the large format, too wide to slip into a 2 ft × 2 ft suspended-ceiling grid. In a suspended ceiling, we therefore adapt the grid around the unit; in a drywall ceiling, we cut an opening to fit the cabinet, after confirming there is enough clearance above. The finishing grille and the control method are confirmed in the quote. Everything else happens above the ceiling, out of sight and out of reach:

• Refrigerant line: insulated 1/4 and 1/2 in copper, run with the communication cable to the outside wall.
• Drain: we plan a continuous slope to the drain point or a condensate pump, depending on the route; the solution chosen is specified in the quote.
• Electrical: a dedicated circuit, sized from the manufacturer's values (MCA of 15 A, MOP of 20 A).
• Access: a removable tile or a hatch in the drywall, for maintenance.
• Commissioning: leak test, vacuum, start-up, airflow check on each side of the grille, then a walkthrough of the chosen control method for the staff.

We set the work date with management, ideally on a day the daycare is closed, so the job site and the children do not cross paths.

Filters that come out through the grille. In a room where children sleep, eat and play in the same place, dust and fabric fibres build up quickly. The filters come out through the grille, from a stepladder; you rinse them, let them dry and put them back, which keeps airflow at certificate level. A periodic visit from our refrigeration technician completes the picture: coil, condensate pan and drain, line connections.

The LogisVert grant. This model is on Hydro-Québec's LogisVert list, for a grant of $1,728 according to the list of October 27, 2026. Eligibility depends on the type of building and on the applicant; we check it with you, whether the daycare occupies a house or a commercial space. The list changes: the amount is confirmed in the quote, and our invoice names both models and the AHRI certificate to support the application.

Who it is for. For the CPE, the private daycare or the home daycare that occupies one large room or a finished basement and wants heating and cooling without putting anything on the wall or the floor. For the team that wants simple operation, with Wi-Fi available as an option to schedule hours remotely. One clarification: capacity is chosen from the room, its windows and its insulation, not from the number of children enrolled; our estimator calculates the load before confirming this step in the series.

A ceiling cassette for your daycare in Saint-Eustache

An HVAC contractor and AIRSTAGE Elite Plus installer, AirGreen installs the CENTAURI 18,000 BTU in Saint-Eustache and across the North Shore, as well as in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil and on the South Shore. Our estimator examines the ceiling, measures the clearance, maps out the route for the line and the drain, then gives you a free quote that names both models and the AHRI certificate.

To book the visit, call us at 514 316-2973 and let us know the daycare's opening hours.