Sensira FTXF-F

The Sensira FTXF-F is Daikin's entry-level wall-mounted split and the cheapest way to get Daikin engineering on your wall. It comes in seven sizes from 2.0 to 7.1 kW, runs down to a bedroom-quiet 20 dB(A) on the smaller sizes, heats as well as cools to -15°C outside, and now includes Wi-Fi control through the Onecta app at no extra cost. A typical 2.5 to 3.5 kW room costs roughly £1,300 to £1,800 supplied and fitted, which undercuts the Perfera by £300 to £600 like for like.

The saving comes out of the spec sheet, not the build quality. It is clearly the least efficient Daikin wall split, SEER 6.50 against the Perfera's 8.65, the swing is vertical-only, the filtration is a basic dust filter with no Flash Streamer purification, and the big 7.1 kW size drops to an A/A energy label. For a bedroom, home office or guest room used a few hours a day, none of that matters much and the Sensira is the sensible buy. For a daily-use living space, or if it will carry real heating duty, the Perfera's efficiency pays its premium back and is the better long-term choice.

The Sensira is a wall-mounted R32 split system: an FTXF-F indoor unit paired with an RXF-F outdoor condenser, with a CTXF-F indoor version available for Daikin multi-split systems that serve several rooms from one outdoor unit. R32 is the lower-impact refrigerant now standard on quality splits, and any work on the sealed circuit must be done by an F-Gas certified engineer, so this is a fitted product bought on a quote, not a box you plug in.

It sits at the bottom of Daikin's wall-mounted range, below the mid-range Comfora and the high-efficiency Perfera, and the positioning is honest: you get the same build quality, the same warranty route and the same Onecta app control as the dearer models, with the corners cut in efficiency and refinement rather than reliability. You still get five fan speeds, turbo and econo modes, a 24-hour timer and heating that works down to -15°C outside, so one unit can cool a room in August and warm it in January. One caveat worth stating plainly: genuine owner reviews of fitted splits are scarce, and the Sensira is no exception, so our view leans on installer experience, the spec sheet and Daikin's wider record rather than a body of owner feedback.

Seven cooling sizes run from 2.0 to 7.1 kW, an unusually wide spread for an entry range, and mainstream retailers such as Costco and B&Q sell it as a fixed-price installed package, which tells you how safe a choice it is. Its sweet spot is the occasional-use room: a bedroom, home office or guest room up to roughly 25 m², where the low purchase price matters more than squeezing out the last point of efficiency.

This is the comparison most Sensira buyers are really weighing, so here are the numbers. The Perfera FTXM-A posts SEER 8.65 and SCOP 5.10 with A+++ labels in both cooling and heating on the smaller sizes, against the Sensira's 6.50 and 4.30 with A++/A+. The Perfera runs 1 dB(A) quieter at its floor (19 against 20 dB(A)), adds Flash Streamer air purification, an allergen filter and horizontal as well as vertical swing, and costs roughly £300 to £600 more supplied and fitted like for like: real installer prices start near £2,034 for a 3.5 kW Perfera against about £1,620 for the same size Sensira.

What the two share matters just as much: the same Daikin reliability, the same conditional up-to-7-year warranty route, the same F-Gas installation process and the same Onecta app. So the decision comes down to how hard the unit will work. In an occasional-use room, cooling on hot days and the odd shoulder-season heat, the efficiency gap is worth tens of pounds a year at most and the Sensira is the correct value choice. In a daily-use living space, or anywhere the unit will do regular winter heating, the gap compounds: expect roughly £20 to £60 a year more electricity from the Sensira for the same comfort, more with heavy use, and over a 10-year life that eats most of the price difference while the Perfera also gives you cleaner air and finer airflow control. Occasional room, Sensira; hard-working room, Perfera.

The Sensira is priced supplied and fitted, so there is no single shelf price. As a guide, budget £1,300 to £1,800 for a 2.5 or 3.5 kW room on a standard single-room install, from around £900 on a small size with a promotional London installer rate, rising to £2,300 or more for the 7.1 kW. Real prices at the time of writing: one London installer fits the 2.5 kW from £910 on a standard install, and Costco UK sells the 3.5 kW as a fixed-price installed package at £1,619.99 for members, with all seven sizes available as packages. Longer pipe runs, high-level outdoor units and multi-split setups cost more, and the 7.1 kW needs a 20 A electrical supply rather than a standard circuit, so always work from two or three live quotes rather than a headline figure.

Running costs are modest, if not Perfera-low. At the July 2026 Ofgem price cap unit rate of 26.11p per kWh, a 3.5 kW Sensira cooling flat out draws roughly 1 to 1.1 kW, so about 26p to 29p an hour, dropping to a few pence once the room reaches temperature and the inverter modulates down. In heating, a SCOP above 4 on the popular sizes means over four units of heat for every unit of electricity, far cheaper than a plug-in heater delivering the same warmth. As a reverse-cycle air-to-air heat pump it can qualify for the £2,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant in England and Wales, but only if it heats as well as cools, replaces a fossil-fuel heating system and is fitted by an MCS-certified installer; comfort cooling added alongside a gas boiler does not qualify, and it is separate from the larger £7,500 air-to-water grant. Prices and rates correct as of August 2026; the energy price cap changes quarterly, so check current rates before budgeting.