27/06/2016

AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity:BijliBachao

AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity
BijliBachaoTeam

April22,2016

202

401

HindiTranslation:

Air Conditioners are a pain point for most people

in our country who are concerned about their
electricity bills. The moment anair conditioner is
added to the list of appliances used in a
household, the electricity bills increase
significantly. Although it is difficult to significantly
reduce the big impact of an air conditioner on
your electricity bills, but still some of it can be
managed by choosing the right technology, doing
therightinstallation/maintenance/operationandby
doingtherightinsulationoftheroomwheretheair
conditioner is used (more details in our articles
listedattheendofthisarticle).
When it comes to technology, there were not many available till sometime back. When BEE
activelystartedanalyzingandlabelingtheairconditioners,wegotsomegoodoneinformof5star
airconditioners.Thelatestandthemostefficienttechnologythatisavailableinmarkettodayisthe
InverterTechnologyforairconditioners.Invertertechnologyisdesignedinsuchawaythatitcan
save3050%ofelectricity(unitsconsumed)overaregularairconditioner.

Howdoesanairconditionerwork?
Formostpeople,airconditionerjustthrowscoolairatthetemperatureonesetsitat.Butdoesit
reallyworkthatway?Infactairconditionerduringcoolingprocess,takestheindoorair,coolsitby
passingitthroughevaporatorandthrowsitbackintheroom.Itisquiteoppositetohowourgood
oldaircoolersusedtowork.Aircoolersusedtotakeoutsideair,coolitwithwaterandthrowitin.
But air conditioners just work on internal air. Along with evaporator air conditioner also has a
compressorthatcompressesthegas(refrigerant)intheACtocoolitthatinturncoolstheincoming
internalairfromtheroom.

Inaregularairconditioner:
Thecompressoriseitherofforon.Whenitison,itworksatfullcapacityandconsumesfull
electricityitisdesignedtoconsume.Whenthethermostatreachesthetemperaturelevelsetinthe
AC,thecompressorstopsandthefan(inAC)continuestooperate.Whenthethermostatsenses
thatthetemperaturehasincreased,thecompressorstartsagain.
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AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity:BijliBachao

In an Air Conditioner with

InverterTechnology:
The inverter technology works like an accelerator
in a car. When compressor needs more power, it
givesitmorepower.Whenitneedslesspower,it
gives less power. With this technology, the
compressorisalwayson,butdrawslesspoweror
morepowerdependingonthetemperatureofthe
incoming air and the level set in the thermostat.
The speed and power of the compressor is
adjusted appropriately. This technology was
developedinJapanandisbeingusedtheresuccessfullyforairconditionersandrefrigerators.This
technologyiscurrentlyavailableonlyinsplitairconditioners.

WhatisbenefitofInverterTechnology?
Every air conditioner is designed for a maximum peak load. So a 1.5ton AC is designed for a
certainsizeofroomand1tonforadifferentsize.Butnotallroomsareofsamesize.Aregularair
conditionerof1.5toncapacitywillalwaysrunatpeakpowerrequirementwhenthecompressoris
running. An air conditioner with inverter technology will run continuously but will draw only that
much power that is required to keep the temperature stable at the level desired. So it kind of
automaticallyadjustsitscapacitybasedontherequirementoftheroomitiscooling.Thusdrawing
muchlesspowerandconsuminglesserunitsofelectricity.

Although air conditioner with Inverter Technology adjusts its capacity based on the room
requirement,itisveryimportanttoinstallarightsizedairconditionerinaroom.Pleasemakesure
that you evaluate the room and air conditioner capacity before you make a purchase. Keep
watching for this space as we are in process of creating a comparator for electricity savings in
variousairconditioners.

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AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity:BijliBachao

Infographic18

AreInvertertechnologyairconditionersslowincooling?
Several people have concerns that Inverter Technology air conditioners do not cool well or cool
slowly.HoweverletustakethisimageasreferencetounderstandhowinverterACworks:

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AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity:BijliBachao

Non inverter ACs are fixed speed ACs, where as inverter ACs are variable speed ACs. Non
inverter ACs have compressors that go On and Off. Whereas inverter ACs have compressors
thatareOnallthetime.AsnoninverterACsaresizedforpeaksummerheatload,theyareover
sizedalltheothertimes(infactmostofthetimepeopleoversizeevenforpeaksummerseason).
The drawback of the same is that the AC Over cools most of the time. So if you set AC at
temperatureof25,itwillcoolitdownto23or22.Nowonewouldquestion:thenwhatistheuseof
thermostat? Well the thermostat (in a non inverter AC) switches off the compressor when the
outside temperature has reached 25. But a lot has happened before that. In an AC, refrigerant
movesfromliquidtogas(bytakingheatfromtheroom)andthenbackfromgastoliquidasthe
compressor compresses it. But if the refrigerant is more and heat in the room is less (which
happensinoversizedAC),itdoesnotgetenoughheatfromtheroomtoconvertfromliquidtogas
anditkeepsmovingasliquid.Nowwhenthethermostatdetectstemperatureandswitchesoffthe
compressor, the refrigerant still remains in liquid state and thus has capacity to take heat from
roomtoconverttogas.Andsoittakesmoreheatfromtheroomandcoolstheroombelowtheset
temperature.
Incomparison,theinvertertechACchangestheflowrateofrefrigerantbasedontheheatofthe
room.Whenheatisless,theflowrateisless,whenheatismore,theflowrateismore.Anditdoes
not switch off the compressor ever. It just makes sure that if temperature setting is 25, it is
maintainedatthatlevel.
Sothedifferenceis:noninverterACwouldovercoolasshowninthepicture.WhereasinverterAC
willcooloptimum.AndthusonemayfeelthatinverterACdoesnotcoolorisslow.

LesserknownbenefitsofInverterTechnology
Regularmotorsneed34timesmorecurrent(morethanrunningcurrent)atstartup.Sothe
inverter/generatorsizeneededtorunanyACorRefrigeratorincreasessignificantly.But
InverterTechnologyairconditionersandrefrigeratorshavevariablespeedmotorsthat
startupgraduallyneedingmuchlessercurrentatstartup.Thusthesizeof
inverter/generatorrequiredtostartupisless.Fore.g.A1.5tonfixedspeedACthatrunsat
about10Ampcurrentmayneedupto30Ampcurrentatstartupandthusa5kVA
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AirConditionerswithInvertertechnologycanhelpsaveelectricity:BijliBachao

inverter/generator.ButaninvertertechnologyAirConditionerneedsabout67Amp
currentandnotmuchmoreatstartupandthusa1.5kVAor2kVAinverter/generatoris
goodenoughtosupportit.
Regularmotorshavemuchlowerpowerfactor.Incommercialandindustrialconnections
thereispenaltyforlowpowerfactorandrebatesforhigherpowerfactor.Aninverter
technologymotorwillhavepowerfactorclosetounity(or1)whichnotonlyresultsin
lesserelectricityconsumptionbutalsohelpgetrebatesonbetterpowerfactor.
IfyouareplanningtouseSolarPVforairconditioner,thenitisthebesttouseinverter
technologyairconditionerorrefrigeratorasitnotonlyreducesthesizeofPVpanels
becauseitconsumeslesserelectricity,italsoreducesthesizeofinvertertobeputalong
withthePVpanel.

Hereisashortvideofortipstobuythebestairconditionerin
India

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