Guide to Choosing an Energy-Efficient Air Conditioner for Your Home
Beat the heat this summer with a powerful yet cost-effective AC. Energy-efficient ACs can reduce your electricity bill by 30% in some cases. Here’s ac buying guide for an energy-efficient AC in 2020.
Energy Star Rating
You will notice a 1 to 5-star grade as a sticker on your AC. These are ‘BEE’, EER, or SEER stars - all of which are a five-point scale for assessing how energy efficient, and hence, cost-effective, your air-con is. 5-star ACs consume the least amount of electricity for the best cooling capacity. They are rare in most appliances and expensive to install. If energy efficiency in the long term is your goal, investing in a 5-star AC is worth it. If you want to save on future electricity costs at a relatively affordable investment, look for 3 BEE stars, which are more readily available.
Inverter AC
AC’s come in two varieties: inverter and non-inverter types. Invest in an inverter AC for more energy-efficient output. It adjusts the speed of its internal compressor to control the rate of flow of the cool air. Many inverter ACs on the market can sense the heat outside and accordingly ramp up or cool down their compressor in response. Due to this ability to alter its own speed, it automatically consumes less electrical power than non-inverter ACs which have a fixed output no matter the external conditions.
Split AC
Another aspect of ACs that falls into the energy-friendly category is their shape. Split ACs are typically more energy-efficient than window ACs. This is, in part, due to the fact that Split ACs have a better capacity to cool over Window ACs. They cool a room more evenly with filters that move left-right and up-down. A Window AC mostly cools the area around it the strongest. Hence, for the same cooling capacity Split ACs tend to use less power than Window ACs.