Should I go for highest ISEER AC for my home?

by Amili R. SEO

If you’re looking to buy an air conditioner, it is necessary for you to understand the latest and trending technologies. This would help you make the right product choice that tends to give more value against your investment. In the AC market, inverter technology is the latest one and claims to bring down your energy bills significantly.

Generally people look for BEE Star Labelling to decide the operational efficiency of the electrical products. Since 2010, BEE has assigned air conditioners as a compulsory-labelled appliance under Energy Conservation Act and since then air conditioners are sold with star label. BEE unceasingly stiffens the standards such that, the Star-5 in 2010 became Star-3 in 2015 and will become Star-1 in 2018 as per new ISEER methodology. The weighted average Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of AC has improved from 2.6 in 2006 to 3.26 in 2015, which is the growth of 25% in efficiency due to constriction of standards. As per the latest notification, from January 2016, Star-2 is the least efficiency level to be accepted in the market. Therefore variation in power consumption can be compared between Star-5 (most efficient) and Star-2 (least efficient) air conditioners.

In inverter AC category, ISEER is the adopted rating system. If you’re looking to buy highest ISEER AC, it is necessary for you to understand this rating system. Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) is the newest rating approach for air conditioners that is based on the change in higher temperature in India and rates air conditioners in view of that. ISEER processes energy efficiency of air conditioners based on a weighted average of the performance at external temperatures between 24 and 43 degree C based on Indian weather data.

According to Indian Weather Data Handbook, 2014, weather profile of 54 major cities reveals that 65% of the total number of hours in a year has a temperature above 24 degree Celsius). Air conditioners in India have hitherto been tested under the IS 1391 at general operating conditions of outside temperature of 35 degree C. Star rating is provided to manufacturers based on the test results given by them as tested on the above standard.

The time of ducted air conditioners has gone today and the inverter technology is all set to revolutionize the air conditioning industry. In simple words, ISEER refers to the ratio of the total annual amount of heat that the equipment can eliminate from the indoor air when run for cooling in active mode to the total annual amount of energy consumed by the equipment at the same time.

For consumers looking to buy an inverter AC, it is necessary to pay close attention to its ISEER rating.