A Guide to Choosing an Energy-Efficient Air Conditioner for your Home

The air conditioner market is booming in India. Summer temperatures in India soar to nearly 40 degrees and over, and an air conditioner is a necessity in most homes. Although people still hesitate to buy one, apprehensive about the high costs of units themselves as well as the after-effects of owning one, namely, bloated energy bills. Although most people can buy AC units in a hurry, as there are great deals on brands, and EMIs are a way to affordability, they wonder later if they have made the right choice.

With top air conditioner brands and the models they produce, such as the Voltas AC (model SAC185VJZJ), a 5 star rated, energy-efficient model that saves on your power bill by 44%, there’s no dearth of fabulous ACs that will save you money in the long run. These are the latest split ACs that comes with the latest cooling technology and are durable, working well for many summers, and ensure the air around you is pure. Nonetheless, you should know about energy efficiency when it comes to ACs, so that when you buy an air conditioner, the price may determine the value of the model you buy.

Types of ACs and Energy Efficiency

In today’s booming Indian AC market, there are two main types of ACs – split air conditioners and window ACs. Split ACs make up around 70% of the market share, as they come with superb technology, and have the cooling capacity that is superior (in some models) to window ACs. They have wide blowers, resulting in larger volumes of cool air blown into a room. They cool at a quick speed and make less noise as the compressor and condenser are located outdoors.

Ideal for large spaces, a lot more split AC models are available with energy efficiency as their USP, generating value in air conditioner price, compared to window AC. Split ACs come in large capacities, but it makes no sense to buy a very large one for a small room, even though you may be tempted by its quick cooling. Doing this will raise your power bills unnecessarily. The same is true for a window AC. Typically, 1.5-ton models are energy-efficient for room sizes of 150 square feet. 

Ratings of Energy-Efficiency

When you buy any appliance that has to do with power generation, like an AC or a refrigerator, an energy-efficiency rating comes with it. Energy-efficiency ratings are given to every air conditioner by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). BEE introduced a special technique of star rating for Indian air conditioners known as the Indian Seasonal Energy Efficient Ratio or ISEER. On-air conditioners and other appliances, star ratings span from 1 to 5 stars, 1 being the least efficient in saving energy, and 5 being the most efficient.

Air conditioners from flagship brands like Carrier, Daikin, and Voltas AC come with 3 – 5 star ratings, and these can bring down your power bills by almost 20% ~ 45%. Depending on how you use the AC, you can cut AC running costs significantly. If you are using it for just a few hours a day, a 3 star AC is enough to lower power bills. If you are running it for longer, then you’d be wise to choose a 4 or 5 star model like split AC models from LG (LSQ18YNZA) or Daikin (FTKG50TV). They may be more expensive to buy, but operating costs will be low.

Inverter Technology

Air conditioners with inverter technology can lower your electricity consumption as they have compressors that don’t have to continuously go at high speeds to cool a room, as opposed to non-inverter ACs. In inverter ACs, cooling is faster and more consistent, and less stress is put on the motor which runs at varying speeds to cool the room consistently, and therefore, more efficiently. It’s important to choose ACs with copper coils as they help ACs cool faster because their heat transfer rate is high. This helps in lowering your electricity bills, as once optimal cooling is reached, inverter ACs maintain cooling at that temperature.

You can buy the most energy-efficient ACs from top brands like Voltas, Blue Star, LG, or any other at the Bajaj Finserv EMI Store. Paying with your Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Card makes your AC affordable, as you can opt to buy the AC at no-cost EMIs, with flexible tenors ranging from 3 months to 24 months.