An inverter AC is very often marketed as a magical product. The propaganda is very obvious that it uses less power, is more economical, quiet in operation, environment-friendly and so on. However, there are a few factors which a consumer should consider before jumping to the conclusion of buying an inverter AC.
High Upfront Cost:
An inverter AC often costs nearly 20-25 % higher than normal AC of same rating. So unless the usage is not very heavy or the electricity cost is not that high, it may take up to 5-7 years just to recover high upfront cost of an inverter AC.
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High Maintenance cost.
An inverter AC consist of very sophisticated circuitry and relatively higher number of moving parts, so the maintenance cost of inverter AC shall turn out to be higher.
High operation cost in case of frequent opening and closing of room.
In an inverter AC, the compressor adjusts its speed according to the heat load in room. If there is intermittent leakage of cooling from the room, the compressor shall run at higher speed thereby increasing power consumption.
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Inadequate dehumidification.
Dehumidification is one more advantage of air conditioning. It is achieved when the air comes in contact with very chilled air heat exchanger (indoor unit). However, in inverter AC, the degree of chilling achieved is varied according to heat load rendering it inadequate for dehumidification in case the set temperature is not very low.
Initial cooling delay.
The compressor paces up to desired speed with some programmed lag.
There is some requisite amount time for an inverter AC to achieve a desired degree of cooling in initial stage.
The over and under-capacity effectiveness.
If an inverter AC has lower capacity than requirement, the compressor runs at higher speeds for longer duration of time thereby increasing power consumption. On the other hand, if an inverter AC has higher capacity than heat load, it will run for short cycles and render the room over cooled and uncomfortable. However, these issues shall also persist with a normal AC as well.
Specialized technician required.
An inverter AC consist of very sophisticated mechanisms. Often local, less qualified technicians are unable to comprehend the issue and end up escalating the problems rather than resolving them. Therefore, it is advised that one should only get it serviced/repaired from original equipment manufacturer’s technician which often is costly if the unit is not under warranty. Moreover, the availability of technician is also something important to be considered.
Inadequate cooling in case the outside weather is very hot.
It has been particularly reported in the areas where temperature reaches above 45oC that the cooling achieved by an inverter AC is inadequate due to insufficient heat removal from outdoor unit pertaining to high ambient temperature and low compressor speed.
Uncommon refrigerant.
Often inverter ACs use R410A as a refrigerant instead of very common and popular R134A. This makes service and repair of an inverter AC very difficult in tier 2/3 cities where this refrigerant is not easily available. That said, however, R410A is environmentally good refrigerant and is free from CFC.
If you’re looking to learn more about how does an inverter AC and a normal AC stack up against each other, you can read our detailed comparison here. www.invert.i.ng
Inverter AC Vs Normal AC – A Comparison
It’s important to get an idea of how both the inverter AC and a normal AC works, and differ in operation, to be able to choose the better one of the two for your needs. So without further ado, let’s begin.
Inverter AC Vs Normal AC
In the new generation of ACs, the word “Inverter AC” has now picked up some momentum in a last decade. To make an informed decision about whether to buy an inverter AC or not, we first have to understand how exactly the normal AC works and how inverter AC differs in operation.
A normal AC consists of a compressor which is a heart of operation and essentially responsible for major chunk of power consumed by an AC. When the room temperature is higher than the set point, the compressor starts and as soon as it falls below set point, the compressor stops (i.e. it works in on/off mode). The compressor of an inverter AC however does not stop; it just slows down to the speed such that, the room temperature remains constant. The speed of compressor keeps on varying to maintain desired room temperature.
Since a normal AC works on on/off mechanism, there is an associated noise on every compressor start. As the compressor of inverter AC keeps on running continuously, the operation of inverter AC is very quiet compared to that of normal AC. The room temperature keeps on fluctuating due to intermittent operation of compressor in normal AC. While the continuous operation of inverter AC compressor maintains room temperature fairly constant.
Another use of an AC is dehumidification. better dehumidification is achieved by intermittent but full blast operation of normal AC compared to that of inverter AC.
Talking about power consumption, an inverter AC consumes about 20-40% less power. An AC with 1.5 Ton capacity is most commonly used in India. A normal 1.5 ton 5 star BEE rated AC shall consume anywhere between 1100 to 1170 watts of power depending how low the room temperature set point has been given. A 1.5-ton inverter AC on the other hand shall consume around 800 to 830 watts for the same temperature set point.
A normal AC consumes around 275 electrical units a month for 8 hours of operation while inverter AC consumes around 195 electrical units. if the electricity tariff is 5 Rs/unit, this will lead to difference of around 400 Rs/month. Again, this math will change with hours of operation and power cost in a particular are.
A Final Word
To summarise, compressor of inverter AC runs with variable speed while in normal AC, it works in on/off state. The room Temperature of remains fairly uniform in case of inverter AC while in case of normal AC it keeps on fluctuating. Inverter AC is quieter than normal AC. Last but not least, the power consumption of inverter is about 20-40% less as compared to normal AC depending on room temperature set point.
However, comfort and luxury comes at a cost. The cost of inverter ACs is often around 20% higher than the normal AC. So it is up to user’s discretion, which one to opt for. For instance, in a domestic use, a normal AC will be used seasonally for 8-10 hours a day at max leading to saving of nearly 400-600 Rs a month that will recover the additional cost of inverter AC in 5-7 years. While if it is used in any commercial place like a shop or showroom, it will be used for nearly 12-15 hours a day and almost year along at higher commercial electricity rates which reduces breakeven time to 12-15 months.