I am back with another HOW TO GUIDE but this time for air conditioners.
After reading many reviews and seen people facing lots of issues with ACs they have bought, I realized most of them chose a wrong product or they calculated wrongly or they were misguided buy seller or they went only with one time lesser price savings.
Before I start writing, I would like to put some light on AC’s power consumption.
1.0 ton - Approx. 1000 watt - means 1.0 unit/hour
1.5 ton - Approx. 1500 watt - means 1.5 unit/hour
2.0 ton - Approx. 2000 watt - means 2.0 unit/hour and so on.
So if chosen with right capacity for your room size AC will trip frequently and that will cut down this consumption. A right capacity unit normally runs for 60% time and compressor remains tripped / off for 40% time in an hour.
And wrongly chosen lesser capacity AC will spend more at least Rs.2 per hour than rightly chosen AC. HOW? The wrong / lesser capacity AC’s compressor will probably run for 100% or 90% time in an hour and will may remain off just for 10% duration in an hour.
HERE I WOULD HIGHLIGHT FEW DONT’S.
1.Do not buy lesser tonnage AC just because they are cheap. Later they are going to drill a big hole in your pocket throughout the life. How? if room need 1.5 ton AC and you buy 1 ton then that AC is going to struggle a lot to cool down larger mass of air than its capacity. It will reach to desired temperature much later than 1.5 ton AC. This is what going to impact your electricity bill. As this 1 ton AC will not trip at all or trip very less. It will add power consumption, will increase load on compressor, wear and tare will increase and so the service issues.
2.Never buy AC just looking and how much stars it has?
No matter how much energy stars the AC has. My observation is, more stars invite lesser cooling, I might be wrong, I am not a tech guy but for me it is more of a marketing gimmick to earn more per star than actual results. If you use AC 24 X 7 then you may need to think of STAR and saving on power but if you are going to use it less, just during summers and that to during nights then I guess 2 star or 3 star AC will work well for you. It will cool the room fast and will save moderately.
Also consider my 1st point, if you install 5 Star AC for bigger room size, no power consumption is saved. So Room size and AC capacity has to be closer to each other.
3.Same capacity AC works well in my friends room which is same like mine. So I will buy same.
HeHeHe, smart you are.but not so smart. Don’t go with only shear dimensions of rooms. Both rooms may share same dimensions but may not share same heat load. You may have more window area, you may have lesser roof height, you may stay on top floor, you may have more windows towards west side which draws more sunlight in room till evening. And many such conditions and he may have more area covered in furniture than your room.many many many such aspects affect on AC’s performance.
So dont copy, even if he is your best friend.
NOW LETS HAVE A LOOK AT DO’S
1.Typically 1000 cubic feet would require 1 ton AC. This means 10W X 10H X 10D is the room size. Same calculation changes if you have 10 X 10 X 15 room. That would bring in the need of 1.5 ton AC. So dont cheat yourself when calculating this. This is about room dimensions. But thats not enough.
2.Check how much area is covered in furniture and minus that area from rooms cubic capacity. For example if your room is 10ft X 15ft X 10ft, cubic capacity is 1500 cubic feet. If you have following things.
box bed of 6X6X2= 72 cubic feet
wardrobe of 7X2X7= 98 cubic feet
sofa of 6X2.5X2= 30 cubic feet
Total Cubic feet= 200 cubic feet
This can be removed from 1500 cubic feet, which brings down to 1300 cubic feet room capacity. So safe to go for 1.25 ton or 1.5 ton AC for better performance and economy.
But make sure you are not removing cubic feet of dining tables and chairs as they really don’t consume cubic feet. And be realistic while doing this calculation, dont just calculate to reach to lesser capacity AC.
3.Check how many windows the room has. More windows means more light and warmth is invited even if windows are closed.
4.Check how many doors are there in the room and how frequently those are operated. Also check for gaps between doors and door frames, if it has gaps more than 3 mm, then there are chances of cool / warm air exchange even if door is closed.
5.How much direct sunlight enters in the room. if you have terraces attached to the room, or window facing direct sun then thats going to heat up your room and will put more load on AC’s cooling efficiency. Adding thick curtains and sun films may add little help here.
But all above points are going to add AC tonnage. So if your room cubic capacity is .1500 after reducing furniture.1300 and has 2 windows, one facing sun and it has 2 doors, it will still need 1.5 ton, as you lost some area of furniture but added heat generating windows to it.
Enough of calculations.
NOW LETS LOOK AT SOME BASICS OF USAGE
1.Don’t expect your AC to do a magic of cooling your room in a minute or two. that totally depends on when, where you turn this on. In summer, if temperatures are 42, and if you set 23 on AC, its going to take at least first 45 minutes to bring it to 25. If you know, your room to be pleasant at 1 pm, its always better to run AC at 12.30. So as you enter, room will be pleasant.
This also means, don’t turn the AC on when you need cooling. If in your area in afternoons temperature is 42, then its better to start AC much earlier. Don’t laugh.Reasons.once room’s walls, ceiling, floor and even furniture is heated up by 42 degrees, it is going to resist cooling. But if you start AC when outside is 36, then AC will have lesser resistance from these aspects as well as it will be lesser load on AC to absorb slowly increasing temperature of walls and ceiling.
2.SERVICE
Don’t forget to service your AC once in a six months if you use it throughout the year. If you use it only in summer, then service it before summer. Dont ignore and pull on issue because that may drill hole in pocket.
Learn to clean filters of indoor units at your own, Thats very easy and simple instructions are provided in manuals. If AC smells stale, its time to clean. Never touch brass nut bolts attached to outdoor unit. That may cause gas leakage.
Install outdoor unit under shade and leave at least 1 foot gap to its sides and back, front needs to be more open. Clean out door units from dust by using simple light broom. But be gentle on grills.
Adding a voltage stabilizer is also a good idea to protect AC’s electrical and electronics.
Install Indoor unit facing the seating or bed area. Do not install it at too much of height like 9 feet or more. Leave at least 6 inches from ceiling till indoor unit.
Using ceiling fan at lower speed along with AC always helps for faster cooling and across the room.
Installing darker sun films to glass doors and windows is very helpful in reducing inside temperature.
Thats it from my side.
*HOPE THIS INFORMATION HELPS YOU TO CHOOSE RIGHT AC OR TO EXTRACT GOOD PERFORMANCE FROM EXISTING AC.
HAPPY SUMMER, HAPPIER COOLING AND FORGET SWEATY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS!*