Air Conditioner Buying Guide

Indian ac market is experiencing growth year on year with most of the middle class families too are buying the air conditioners. Gone are those days where air conditioners are considered a luxury item where a section people can afford to buy.
With increasing purchase power of the middle class due to the the growth of economy and growing temperatures due to global warming, air conditioners are an essential appliance in the homes now.
The prospects of indian ac market is high as people from smaller towns are also buying air conditioners due to decreased power cuts and flexible buying schemes from banks and financial institutions.
Keeping in view of this growing demand, many new companies are entering into this market to check their fortune in the indian ac market.
Due to many companies establishing their market in india are obviously have to face stiff competition among themselves with respect to pricing, quality and affordability.
To stay out of the competition and prove their uniqueness, companies are focussed in bringing new technologies, new features within the affordable range.
With as many companies launching wide variety of Air conditioners with different features, it has become a tough task for a normal consumer to findout the air conditioner to buy as per the requirement. We have done a thorough research and provide you information which is beneficial for you while you buy ac.

Types of Air Conditioners

There are three major types ACs in Indian Market.
1.Split AC

As the name suggest split AC is divided into two components indoor unit and outdoor unit. Indoor unit is a cooling unit which has blower to circulate the cool air across the room. Outdoor unit consists of compressor and condenser which takes the hot air and cools the air by using the refrigerant gas and passes the cold air through the pipe connected between outdoor unit and indoor unit. Indoor unit can be mounted anywhere on the wall of the room whereas Outdoor unit should be installed outside the wall. A hole is drilled to the wall to pass the pipe from outdoor unit to the indoor unit.

Pros	Cons
Can be installed anywhere in the house	Relocation is difficult as it needs a technician to uninstall
Uniform circulation of cool air	Expensive
Less Noise levels	Need to refill the gas frequently

2.Window AC

• 

Window AC is a single unit unlike the split AC. The compressor and blower are present in one single unit. An opening should be left to the window of the room and installed in that opening in such a way that the blower should be facing inside of the room and blower should be facing outside to open air. Since the blower and compressor are in a single unit, noise level will be high. Unlike split ACs there is not much technological advancement in the recent years.

Pros	Cons
Installation and relocation is easy and affordable	Noise levels are high
Less expensive	Not Energy efficient
No need to change the gas after relocation unlike split AC

3.Portable AC

Portable ACs are relatively new to the market. They resemble as air coolers and portable to move from one place to another place very easily. They can be moved to any room like an air cooler. The downside of Portable AC is somewhat expensive and cooling is not that much effective as split ac. When you purchase you will get a plastic hose along with AC, you need to assemble the hose and you need to attach one end of hose to AC and the other end to the the window using a window kit provided with AC.There are only a few companies involved in manufacturing the portable acs. ie Blue Star and Llyod

Pros	Cons
Portable and can be installed in any room instantly	Costly
Can easily relocate by packing in a cardboard box	Less cooling comparatively
Suitable for families living in rented houses	More Power consuming
	Noisy

Split AC vs Window AC

Split AC	Window AC	Portable AC
Installed on Wall	Installed in a Window Frame	Movable like Air Cooler
Expensive	Less Expensive	Expensive
Installing and Uninstalling is quite difficult	Installing and Uninstalling is Easy	Easy Installation
Less Noise Level	More Noise Level	More noise level

Cooling Capacity

Selecting an AC based on capacity can be tricky. If you select an AC with more capacity for a small room, there will be more cooling than required and Hence more power required. If you choose less capacity AC for a room, it takes longer time to cool the room, which burns more power.
You might be getting a question on how much capacity of AC to be used. The capacity of an air conditioner is measured in tons of refrigeration(Tr) or Tons. A one ton air conditioner is reated as 12000 BTU/hr, Where BTU means British Thermal Unit. The capacity of the AC to choose depends on the size of the room, height of the living floor, Regions in India, number of windows in room etc. Air Conditioners available in the market are of capacities of 1 ton, 1.2 ton, 1.5 ton, 2 ton, 2.5 ton etc.

There are other factors to check while choosing the capacity of the Air Conditioners
1.Floor height:
If the floor that you live is on the higher side, then consider higher capacity air conditioners.
2.Regions:
Living in the regions nearer to equator or cities whose temperature is more than 40 degrees
3.Multiple windows Room:
If the the room has multiple windows or if windows are wide.
4.Room facing east/west:
If the room is either in the east or west facing

Energy Efficiency

Usage of Air Conditioners daily for long hours results in getting high electricity bills. Air Conditioners, nowadays, come with star ratings to rate the energy efficiency called as EER. This rating has been standardized by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). As per this rating an AC with more star rating is more energy efficient than the ones with low star ratings. There is new technology which is gaining prominance called as Inverter technology, which aims at making the appliance more energy effecient. BEE has given a separate rating to inverter ACs. Below is an example for a 1.5 ton AC how energy is saved based on the rating

There is a new technology for maintaining energy efficiency in ACs is gaining prominence these days,which is called as Inverter Technology. There are single inverter ACs, Dual inverter ACs and Thriple inverter ACs available in the market right now.

Inverter AC vs Non inverter AC

As you may think inverter ac is not that it runs on inverter but an inverter is a device used for converting frequency of motion in air conditioners. Apart from Air Conditioners, this technology is being used in many other home appliances to control electric voltage, current and frequency. Inverter air-conditioners vary their cooling/heating capacity by adjusting the power supply frequency of their compressors.
An inverter type air-conditioner adjusts the speed of the compressor on itself to control the refrigerant (gas) flow rate, thereby consuming less current and power. An inverter has precise temperature control and as the set temperature is attained, the unit adjusts its capacity to eliminate any temperature fluctuations.

In contrast, non-inverter airconditioners have a fixed cooling/ heating capacity and can only control the indoor temperature by starting or stopping their compressors.
Non-inverter air-conditioners stops and starts repeatedly. The power consumption and current goes down when the operation stops, but it goes up sharply at the time of restart and thus it has high average power consumption and temperature variations. As a result, inverter airconditioners are more energy-saving and comfortable than non-inverter air-conditioners.
How an inverter AC capacity function?

How a non-inverter AC capacity function?

Inverter vs Non Inverter

Inverter AC	Non Inverter AC
Energy Efficient	Utilizes more Energy
Consistent Cooling	inconsistent cooling
Durable	Not Durable

Copper Vs Aluminium Coils

In air conditioners coils play a vital role in the background to deliver cool air. Coils are used to convert gas refrigerant into liquid state and vice versa. There are two coils ie. condenser coil and evaporator coil.
The condenser coil is a series of piping with a fan which draws outside air and flows through the coil. As the refrigerant passes through the condenser coil and the cooler, outside air passes across the coil, the air absorbs heat from the refrigerant which intern converts the refrigerant to condense from a gaseous state to a liquid state. The high-pressure, high-temperature liquid then reaches the expansion valve.
The evaporator coil is a series of piping,which is connected to a furnace or air handler that blows indoor air across it, where the coil absorbs heat from the air. The hot air absorbed from the room is then cooled and is then delivered to the house through ducting. Then the refrigerant flows back to the compressor. This complete process starts over again and again to make the hot air cool.
Coils are usually made with either copper or aluminium material based on the manufacturer. Copper Coils are most preferred these days as they have high heat transfer, less corrosive,high coil strength and can be easily managable when corrode. Whereas aluminium coils are very difficult to manage when corroded and have only one benefit ie. they are less expensive than copper coils.

• 

Advanced Features

Due to the increased competition in the market ac companies are brining in new and innovative features to standout of the competition. Some of the advanced features in recent releases are
Wifi Connectivity:
You can ON and OFF the AC from outside the room using the internet wifi connection.
Anti-Bacterial Filter:
This feature is used to remove the micro bacteria like dust mites, bacteria, pollen and other allergens and gives a fresh and healthy cool air.
Dehumidifier: This is an ideal for those who are living in coastal areas and high humid conditions.
Auto Clean function: This prevents the growth of harmful micro organisms by keeping the moisture away. This enables to maintain cleaner ac and last longer.
Sleep Mode: This feature is useful when temperature drops during the middle of the night while sleeping. This decreases the temperature based on outside temperature and conserve electriciy usage.
Sensor Technology: One of the latest advanced feature. This enables to adjust the temperature by detecting the number of people in the room and switches off the ac automatically when nobody is there in the room.
Artificial Intelligence: AC companies are leveraging the power of AI in air conditioner by introducing the features similar to Alexa. With the advancement of this this technology will enable more smart features in the years to come.
Service and Support

Buying an air conditioner is one step and maintaining the air conditioner every year is an another important thing. It is very important to service your air conditioner at regular intervals for long life of air conditioner and for efficient cooling. It is important to choose a brand which provides service and support. It is better to consider the company service and support as nobody knows better than the vendor.