Best Air Conditioner | Buying Guide : Things to consider while buying a AC

When the weather heats up, thoughts turn to chilling out. If central air conditioning isn’t an option, room air conditioners can be an inexpensive and energy-efficient alternative for cooling one or two rooms.

Choosing the right AC for your home and office is a difficult task. Therefore, we came up with this blog covering the detailed AC buying guide, so you always go for the best one.

Some air conditioners are energy efficient, some are highly performing, some offer better cooling over others, and even some come with all the features. So, which one to choose is quite difficult. It needs lots of consideration to buy the most ideal one. But you often get confused as there are a lot of brands and models with variable features and functionalities.

To choose the right one for your home or office, it is very much essential to know about every single detail on air conditioners. Below is the complete AC Buying Guide which will give you in-depth information on the Air Conditioner.

Type of AC

Window AC

They are pretty large because they have to incorporate every component inside a single chassis. This also means that there are fewer things that a consumer has to worry about, and thus, the entire unit ends up being cheaper than the rest.

Such ACs are also termed monoblocks for this very reason. To mount a Window AC onto a wall, you ideally require about 9-12 inch thick walls. If your walls are thinner than that, an additional support structure will be necessary, or you’re better off looking for a thicker wall.

Split AC

Seen as an improvement over Window ACs, split ACs are made by separating the compressor and heat dispensing coils into an external unit which sits outside your home. Maintenance for split ACs is more difficult since the maintenance personnel have to access the external unit.

There are also certain limitations regarding how far apart the internal and external unit can be installed. The farther you place the two, the less efficient the combination becomes so you should ideally keep it low. That being said, these ACs can be installed up to 40 meters away from each other provided the interconnecting tubing is well-covered. Cassette ACs are a variant of split ACs in which the internal unit is mounted on the ceiling of the room.

Central AC

These are one of the luxurious air conditioning systems that are capable of cooling each room of your home very efficiently. It comes with two separate units. The outdoor unit combines condenser coil, compressor, and a fan. The indoor unit comes with the evaporator coil that needs to get installed on top of the gas furnace inside the home.

Both the indoor and outdoor units are connected with each other via the refrigerant tubing. The Central air conditioners circulate the cool air through supply and return ducts. For this, the condensing unit generates the cool air that is pushed into the evaporative unit. The evaporative unit then pushes out the cool air throughout your home using the furnace duct system. It also includes a thermostatic control that lets you set your desired temperature.

Portable Air Conditioner

Like the name, these are portable units that you can easily move from one room to another. You can place it on the floor near the window like air coolers. The unit comes with a plastic hose that you need to attach its one end to the AC and the other end outside the window. Thus proving to be a great cooling solution anywhere in your home.

Inverter or non-inverter AC

However, getting to the right temperature takes a little extra time in inverter air conditioners as compared to traditional air conditioners. Because there is complicated circuitry involved, these inverter air conditioners are also more expensive to repair, especially when the main circuit board, i.e. the PCB goes wonky, you have to replace the board entirely. With traditional air conditioners, you could simply replace the individual components on the circuit board as they weren’t complex. Of course, if you were to get the parts list, you can always replace the components on an inverter air conditioner as well, but you’ll be stuck if the main microcontroller is messed up. You need to programme those before replacing them.

Since the capacity of inverter air conditioners is variable and more precise, you end up using just the right amount of power needed. This makes inverter air conditioners more efficient than traditional ACs. Certain manufacturers also use twin cylinder compressors which allow for greater control over the compressors. That, coupled with inverter technology, helps save power even more. However, complicated machinery tends to break down more often than simpler machinery. Here are the pros and cons summarised.

Inverters are what convert DC (Direct Current) power to AC (Alternating Current) power. Within air conditioners, you first take the AC power from the wall socket and convert it to DC and then turn it back into AC for the compressor motor. Traditional air conditioners used to do this in a fixed manner so compressors would either be in an ON state or an OFF state. Inverter air conditioners are more dynamic with the switching frequency. This allows the compressor to work in a variable manner so effectively; you are varying the tonnage/capacity of the air conditioner as per your needs. This precise control helps you manage temperature better than traditional air conditioners.

Efficiency and rating

With heavy appliances, you’ll always see an energy efficiency rating applied. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency requires that every AC have a label indicating its efficiency on a 5-star scale. The more stars you have on this scale, the more efficient the AC will be.

The Energy Efficiency Ratio is simply calculated by taking the cooling capacity of the AC and dividing it by the power consumed by that AC. The chart below gives the Star rating applicable for the EER range.

These ratings go a long way in saving power consumption. A 5-Star AC can be up to 35% more efficient than a 1 Star AC. However, 5-Star ACs are also way more expensive, and it will take a couple of years before the higher cost evens out based on money saved for utility expenses.

Air Conditioner Refrigerants

The refrigerant is a very important component of an air conditioner that is responsible for providing cooling to your room. It is a compound that is found either in a liquid or gas state and is present in the condenser coils of the air conditioner.

It works by absorbing the heat of the indoor air and then ejects it out to the outside environment. Thus, the refrigerant present in the air conditioner ejects out the heat quickly and makes the room cool very fastly.

Some of the most common types of refrigerants used in air conditioners include:

HCFCs (Hydrochlorofluorocarbon), also known as R-22 that is a replacement for Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), also known as R12 refrigerant. The R12 reduces the ozone content in the atmosphere that was the main reason for the replacement. The HCFCs are just better than CFC but not fully as it comes with chlorine that is again harmful to the environment.

HydroFluorocarbons (HFC) are also known as R- 410A, R-32, R134A. These are better than HCFCs or R-22 in many ways. It is environment-friendly and ensures no depletion of the ozone layer. The best part of this refrigerant is that it delivers maximum efficiency without any harmful effect on the environment.

Hydrocarbons (HC) are also known as R-290 or R-600A. These are the latest refrigerants that are most environment-friendly over the former ones. Also, these are entirely halogen-free and ensures no ozone depletion. And so, these refrigerants are very low in terms of global warming potential.

Aluminium coil Vs Copper coil

In air conditioner coils are used to convert gas refrigerant to liquid refrigerant, vice versa, which further helps to cool the room. Coils can made up of copper or aluminium depending on the manufacturer. Regards aluminium coil vs copper coil, the copper coil has high heat transfer rate, less corrosive, high coil strength. Whereas, only the best thing about the aluminium coil is cheaper, economical than copper coil.

Air Conditioner Compressor

The compressor compresses the refrigerant gas to the high pressure when it enters the machine in order to increase its temperature. Thus, it converts the refrigerant into a high-pressure liquid at high temperature. This liquid then leaves the compressor and goes through the condenser coils so that the cooling process can begin.

Types of Air Conditioner Compressor

Now, when it comes to the type of air conditioner compressor, there are two major types:

Reciprocating Compressor

The reciprocating compressor is one of the most commonly used types of air conditioner compressors and is very versatile. It uses the piston and cylinder arrangements to compress the refrigerant that is more similar to the design of an engine automobile. The piston uses the back and forth motion with the power of motor and crankshaft that compresses the gas and then pushes it out to the condenser.

Rotary compressor

A rotary compressor is the second most common type of air conditioner compressor that is quite small and reliable. It consists of a pair of rotors with a little space between each other and is attached to the cylindrical shaft. These rotors rotate in opposite directions in the cylinder and thus pushing the refrigerant through the cylinder. And this way, it gets compressed.

Size of the Room and AC Capacity

With different cooling capacity and tonnage, the AC works differently for different sizes of the room. So, to decide upon buying the correct tonnage of AC, you must first calculate the size of the room where you want to install it.

On the other hand, the size or capacity of an AC is also an important aspect to consider before buying an AC. Oversized AC can increase electricity consumption while undersized AC affects the cooling capacity. .Here is the table to decide upon the right AC capacity as per the room size.

Other Factors to Consider

Note the Noise

Models that scored Excellent or Very Good in our noise tests are so quiet that the only sound you might hear is the fan running. Air conditioners that scored Fair for noise could disturb light sleepers when set on low and are distracting to all when set on high.

De-humidification

Almost all the air conditioners control the humidity while cooling. But there are some models too that come with separate de-humidification settings. These types of air conditioners are ideal for those places having high levels of humidity. Thus, the de-humidification setting in an AC reduces the humidity in the air and increases the level of cooling and comfort.

Factor In the Window Location

Window air conditioners generally do a better job blowing air in one direction. That can be a problem if your window isn’t centered on the wall. To uniformly cool a room, you’ll need to direct air to its center, so check to see whether your AC needs to blow air to the right or to the left. Some have fan arms that swivel.

Install It Correctly

To get the most from your window air conditioner it must be properly installed. Most units are intended for double-hung windows. If you have casement windows, you may want to consider buying a through-the-wall air conditioner. Make sure your window unit is level so that it drains correctly. And move any heat-generating devices such as a TV or lamp away from the unit.

Timers

Timers allow you to program the AC to operate for a certain period before shutting down automatically. This is great if you want the room to be cooler when going to sleep and then want the AC to shut off automatically after a couple of hours.

Filters

Filters are capable of trapping particles and performing the function of an air purifier as well. These ACs come with a separate replaceable filter module, and the practice is more common in industrial HVAC systems that are meant to be installed for hospitals and clean rooms. Most home ACs don’t have such advanced filters. The ACs that mention PPM statistics for known pollutants rather than generic terms like “bacteria filters” are what you should focus on.

Heating

Certain ACs can heat the room during chilly winters. This is helpful since you can reduce the number of appliances require.

Consider Intelligent Cooling

Some air conditioners have gotten smarter, allowing you to control and adjust them from your smartphone. You may even be able to interconnect them to other cooling units in your home.

Watch the Warranty

Some air conditioners have longer warranties than others. When you’re buying a new unit, check the manufacturer’s website for information, and ask the retailer about the warranty for the brand and model you’re considering buying.

More Smart Features to Consider

Sleep Mode: This feature offers you a comfortable sleep by setting the ideal temperature without waking up in the middle of the night.

Turbo Mode: This mode in AC offers faster cooling with energy-saving at the same time

Auto Start: This feature will automatically restart the AC by resuming the original temperature settings when the power is back. So, you don’t need to set it every time after the power cut.

Self-Cleaning Feature- This feature prevents the growth of bacteria and other harmful micro-organisms by keeping the moisture away. Thus, it offers a cleaner and better cooling.

Self-Diagnosis: This feature lets you troubleshoot the problem or error in the AC very easily.

Timer Function: Setting the timer function will automatically turn on/off the AC at the desired time setting.