Factors to consider while buying an Air Conditioner:
Disclaimer: Note that have only discussed about factors that I have understood or experienced. Please validate them yourself before making your call.
1. Size:
First is to fix the size of the AC that we need, whether it should be 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton?
Any room of size less than or equal to 120 sqft (eg: 10x12 or 10x11), 1 Ton is sufficient. Lesser the size, lesser the electricity cost.
2. Power Consumption:
This is the most critical factor in deciding a model. Lesser the consumption , lesser the electricity charges. This rating is mentioned in watts. And the cooling capacity is also mentioned in watts which is not the same. Ratio between the cooling capacity and power consumption gives the EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio)
For Eg, lets say one specific 1 Ton model consumes 1200 Watts of power for max load, lets call it A and another model B of same 1 Ton size, consumes 1000 watts at max load. The difference is 200 watts. Please note that 1000 watts used for an hour is 1 UNIT. And lets say, the max load usage per day (it sure varies for everyone) is for 5 hrs then it means model A consumes 6 UNITs of electricity per day while B consumes 5 units of electricity per day. That is 30 units of difference per month and 360 units per year. So, please choose B if the purchase cost difference is justified.
Many models these days advertise and try to attract customers based on the number of units consumed/saved per year, which I believe is misleading as every customer's usage is always different and this number is not applicable but only the actual power consumption units in watts matters.
In general, a 1 Ton model with good energy star rating should have power input rating of around 1000 watts or less for max load. And it is 1500 watts or less for 1.5 Ton. Those models which have lesser consumption of power with high cooling capacity (EER > 3.6) will obviously be costlier. Most cheap models will have high electricity consumption. So, please strike a balance of purchase cost vs electricity consumption cost.
3. Inverter / Non-Inverter :
The claim is that the inverter models have around 15% energy savings comparatively. Though i cannot validate this, logically speaking, inverter models do not operate at the peak load all the time the compressor is switched ON, hence it is possible that we do receive some energy savings there.
4. Refrigerant:
If you are environmentally conscious person, please choose the models with latest Refrigerants that have the least impact on the ozone layer or the global warming
check this site for info regarding the same:
https://www.bijlibachao.com/air-conditioners/comparison-of-various-refrigerants-r-410a-r-22-r-290-r-134a-used-for-air-conditioners-and-refrigerators.html
5. Bonus features:
Many models provide anti bacterial, anti dust, Mosquito repellent etc. , features to attract customers. Am personally sure this mosquito repellent doesnt work with the model am using, and am not really sure about the efficiency of the other features.
6. Customer Service:
These days, for home appliances, the customer service is more or less the same with all brands. Unlike Amazon, cant single out a specific brand for great customer service.
7. Don't forget the copper coil.
