This review is about the latest Croma AC CRC7200. Though the showroom salesman claims that they sold over 35 units of this model within a week’s time, I don’t know why their website does not feature this model. Setting aside Croma’s sales and after service aside, let me give a review of this AC per se.
Talking about the price of the AC, it is among the cheapest among all split air conditioners with this capacity and with a 5-star energy rating. The only other AC comparable to its price I have seen is of Samsung. However, being Croma’s own brand, they were given free installation, which would have cost me Rs 1700 more. Hence I opted for this one. However, I shelled out around 1400 Rs for setting up the outdoor stand and for the water pipes. Yet I would still say it is the cheapest because Croma gives a two year warranty on the AC which no other big brand gives. I think some of the newly introduced, not-so-trusted brands do claim they give a five-year-warranty.
Performance: I waited till I used the AC for at least a month before I can give a proper review of its energy efficiency. Looking at my electricity bill after using the AC for about 8 hours per night at a moderate temperature of 26 degree Celsius, I would give a thumbs-up to this model. My bill increased by just 750 Rs for the month. I have seen people using window ACs and their next bill shooting up by 2000 Rs. Let me elaborate upon this because the unit charges for electricity varies from state to state. The units consumed have increased by about 200KWH.
Cooling efficiency: My bedroom is about 180 square feet and the room cools down well even if I set the temperature at 26 degrees. The previous model with the same tonnage and rating of Croma had a higher cooling capacity. I don’t know why they reduced the cooling capacity in the new model. This one shows 5150 as the cooling capacity. The EER Rating of the previous model was also superior to this. To add to all, the price was lower by 3-4 thousand rupees.
Sensors and auto-functions: I seem to have a problem with the ACs detection of the room-temperature and auto power-off and power-on of the compressor. When I set it on ‘auto’ mode, at around 27 degrees, the compressor shuts down when the room temperature reduces. But for quite some time the compressor doesn’t auto restart. The room starts to get significantly warmer before the compressor powers on again. As for the fan speed, I don’t know why the fan blows at full speed even when I set the fan speed to null. On ‘cool’ or ‘dry’ modes, the compressor keeps running continuously for a very long time even when the room temperature drops considerably.
Noise: This makes me sulk. At night particularly when there is pin-drop silence, the AC does appear noisy. It doesn’t give you the pleasant feeling of using a split-AC. One of the main reasons people buy split ACs is because of their ‘quietness’. Particularly when the compressor turns on, it makes a significant amount of noise. Air passing through the copper pipes is quite audible.
Smell: When running on fan mode, the AC emits a misty smell. The service person who paid a visit said that it is because of the water condensation and it should go away when I keep the temperature lower. It does go away when the compressor is running but when it shuts down to let it run only the fan, it misty smell comes back.
Direction of air: The feature to adjust the wings up-and-down and left-and-right helps you direct the air flow. So you can save on electricity bills by aiming it at your bed while keeping the temperature a big high (26 or 27 degrees the way I do). You don’t really need to cool down the whole room unless there are too many people spread across.
Vitamin-C filter: Almost all split ACs of Croma say they have a vitamin-C filter installed. Most of the employees there don’t even know what it is and after putting up a fight, they enquired and told me that it is just a piece of sponge that comes in the packing and I need to insert it in the air-filter (I thought that was just a packing cushion but luckily I hadn’t thrown it away). What I researched on the internet says a vit-C filter should be some kind of a sprinkler which has to be refilled every two years. I am sure this filter that they claim would lose all its vitamin-C in a year or so. But no one seems to know what we do after that. But I don’t really care because this is just a marketing technique which doesn’t give any specific health benefit than consuming a vitamin-C tablet once a week.
What I wish the AC had: I wish it had a compressor with variable tonnage. This one is like it blows super cool air at you for some time, then the compressor shuts down for a while before doing it again. Imagine driving a car without an accelerator – the engine bursts at 100 kmph, you zoom a little, then it shuts down till the speed becomes lower and again it zooms. Whereas in case of an AC with variable tonnage, the compressor slows down in accordance to the temperature you desire instead of totally shutting down.
All this said, I would give the AC 3.5 stars. I am pleased with its energy efficiency and cooling capacity.