- Advertisement -

This is further affected by the proximity of the intended room to the cooking area or other items that emit heat, as well as the number of people in the room. On knowledge of these parameters, your AC requirements can be calculated.

According to Sirohia, “When it comes to ordering your air conditioner, you’ll want to buy equipment that is readily available for delivery and meets the engineer’s exact requirements to ensure the quickest and easiest installation”.

The Features You Need To Look For Are: 1. High star rating (3 minimum) - Advertisement - 2. Blue fin heat exchanger/at least copper with anti-rust coating 3. Increased heat exchanger surface area of both indoor and outdoor units 4. High efficiency fan motor and compressor 5. Tonnage based on your requirements 6. Appropriate features based on requirement 7. Servicing and equipment warranty

After you are done with your purchase and enjoy the cool air, the filters continue to gather dust and other harmful microorganisms (bacteria filter). Regular servicing takes care of this. “The importance of after sales service is also significant to customer satisfaction, particularly if the customer’s capital expenditure on the equipment is significant,” adds Sirohia.

EER & The Star Rating System

Energy Efficient Ratio (EER) is a significant parameter when considering the usage of an AC. It is the ratio of cooling capacity (in watts) to power consumption (in watts). The higher the star rating, better is the efficiency of the system. The effectiveness of an air conditioning system can be appropriately judged by the amount of cooling per unit of power consumed. “Higher the amount of heat removed per hour per unit of power consumed, higher is the efficiency of air conditioner. Also, higher the EER, better is the air conditioner,” adds Sirohia.

If the sales guy quotes some very high number for cooling capacity, it won’t be effective unless the power consumption is similarly reduced. On the other hand, a cooler with less cooling capacity can be effective if it consumes even lesser power which, is generally not the case, since these devices consume heavy power. Star rating is directly proportional to the effectiveness of the AC and hence becomes an important parameter when considering an AC.

              As a general rule of thumb, the above mentioned table is considered for star rating systems in India.

For example an AC with cooling of 4000 W and a power consumption of 1500 W, would work out an EER of 2.67. This would be termed as a three star AC. These are mathematical terms, which are meaningful for analysis, but not so much when standing at a shop and bargaining on the features. Let’s take a look at some of the other parameters, while considering one in a shop.

Additional Features

A good air conditioning unit employs filters effectively, which need to be regularly cleaned and maintained. The wireless operations allow ease of use, whereas the temperature regulation technologies maintain your room to the best of your needs. With timer function, these can automatically modulate the room before your arrival.

The commonly available features are:

1.     Wireless Remote Control: To switch on and off the AC without having to climb some furniture every time.
2.     On/ Off timer: Automatically switch the AC off at night, or when you leave the house.
3.     Sleep timer: Once you go to sleep, it maintains optimum temperature
4.     Dehumidifier: Keeps the humidity in check
5.     Slide-out chassis for easier installation: For ease of installation and removal during servicing

“Air conditioners with more features tend to be more expensive,” adds Sirohia.

We also have advanced features like:

1.     Air filter to remove odours, smoke and germs: Keeps the air inside the room germ free
2.     Reverse cycle for heating: For when the temperature gets too cold, you could heat it up.
3.     Mosquito traps: Now no pesky insects during the summer.
4.     Wi-fi enabled operations: Controlling the AC operations via Wi-Fi.
5.     Auto Clean Function: Cleans out the filters regularly.

With such advanced features to filter out germs, and then cleaning out those filters, these certainly are an added advantage in houses with small children. Remote-controlling these is the norm today. Some of the older window ACs required manual input with no remote facility.

With the involvement of government entities, like the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), there is a strict adherence to certain safety measures and efficiency issues, and this calls for rigorous safety and performance testing done on the system before launching into the market. Additionally, dedicated government websites maintain records of all the patented and star rated products to prevent fraudulent entities from printing higher star rating on their system.