What is the difference between inverter technology ac and normal ac? Inverter AC vs normal 5 star AC

Inverter AC how it works

Traditional non-inverter air conditioner compressor motor sometime go “on” and “of”. Whereas, inverter AC compressor is always in “On”state. Although, inverter AC compressor is always on, it saves electricity a lot. When we switch to non-inverter AC, its compressor motor starts running at high speed to cool the room at the desired temperature. After reaching the desired temperature, it stops the compressor motor. When room temperature increases, it starts the compressor again. The compressor is gone “On” and “Off” again and again.

Whereas. The inverter AC compressor motor is always “On”. When the switch on the inverter AC, its compressor motor starts running at high speed to cool the room at the desired temperature. After reaching the desired temperature, it not stops the motor, instead it runs motor with minimal speed so that room temperature constantly maintained at the desired temperature.

When the air conditioner compressor motor goes 'On', it consumes peak level electricity. So traditional non-inverter AC whose mother goes 'On' and 'Off', obviously consumes more electricity. The inverter AC motor is always on so there is no electricity peaks and save electricity a lot. Inverter technology is just like a car accelerator. When compressor needs more power, it gives more power and when compressor needs less power, it gives less power. As inverter AC compressor motor is always on, it controllers the compressor motor speed, electricity consumption based on the room temperature.

BEE star rated Air Conditioners

BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) is an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002.

• BEE issues energy ratings represented as stars ranging from one star to five stars to home appliances.


• BEE rating is depends on efficiency of AC. It is calculated on the basis of how much annual energy is consumed by the AC per unit volume it cools. Speculated formula on energy efficiency will be like (k*annual-energy-consumption + c) / AC-capacity Where k and c are adjustment constants.


• BEE 5 star rated AC are better than BEE 4 star rated AC. Similarly BEE 4 star rated AC are better than BEE 3 star rated AC regarding power consumption.


• BEE updates these ratings very frequently, once in a year or two years. So 5 star rated AC of 2011 in fact 3 star rated in 2016. This update is to ensure high standards of energy efficiency as technology is also getting updated every year. You can check the recently updated BEE ratings news report on this.

Inverter AC vs normal 5 star AC

Say you want to buy a car. There are two types of cars, Car-A and Car-B. Car-A has normal engine technology, but car engine and every aspect of car is optimized so well that it has very good mileage. In fact the mileage is tested in lab, reported in newspaper and verified by other trusted third parties.

The Car-B has superior engine technology, which by definition can give better mileage. But the problem is the mileage is not tested any where. No reports on mileage. No one know what can be the mileage. Even if the engine has superior mileage technology, if the wind aerodynamics is not designed in a good way, proper tyres are not used, overall car body weight Increases, then it leads to lower mileage. Car-B price is 20% more expensive than Car-A too.

So, which car will you take? Car-A, normal engine with tested mileage Or Car-B with superior engine with unknown mileage? We suggest you to take Car-A.

• This is the same story of Inverter AC. Due to this very nature of variable speed compressor, inverter AC are not given the BEE star ratings. This is the major con of inverter ACs.
• The power consumption depends on compressor, cooling liquid HFC (Hydro Fluoro Carbon) efficiency, energy loss in the transmission of cooling liquid, materials used for making.
• On the basis of compressor efficiency inverter AC triumph over five star rated AC. But it does not mean inverter ACs consume less power compared to five star rated ACs. What If the inverter ACs have used non-efficient cooling liquids? It will be never captured as there are no BEE star ratings.
• By seeing this new trends of inverter technology BEE is bringing new methods of ratings on which even inverter AC can also be rated. Read more at Hindu news paper. The BEE ratings will be called as Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER). Manufacturers can voluntarily adopt to this model but these ratings are strictly enforced from January 2018.

Disadvantages of inverter air conditioner

As we have mentioned earlier, BEE five star ratings are not given to inverter ACs. So even you pay very high price for the inverter ACs, you really do not know how much energy it consumes. From 2018, January new ISEER ratings are given for inverter ACs too. Till that it is better to wait and go for 5 star rated ACs. Apart from that inverter AC price is 20% more than normal AC price too.

Inverter air conditioner price vs 5 star rated air conditioner price

We have takens 1.5 Ton ACs of various brands and compared the prices side by side for your reference.

---

Shop Smarter, Not Harder!

Our smart selection tool guides you to the perfect and effortless purchase every time.

Try now

Try now

Your Pocket Guide to Smarter Shopping

Download zelect.in's Android app for effortless shopping!