Review of Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton Eco-Inverter Air Conditioner [Part-I]
Introduction
Surviving Calcutta's super hot and humid summer last year, I finally made up my mind to go for Air Conditioners which are day by day becoming an essential equipment rather than luxury to middle class family like ours. With an ever increasing demand fueled with widely available EMI schemes, it has mooted variety of brands and products availability in the market. Some of the renowned brands that can be found in the market are Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Daikin, Panasonic, Sharp, LG, Carrier, O-General, Toshiba along with several indigenous brands like Voltas and BlueStar. Each of these brand offers
non-Inverter air conditioners with variety of added features like inclusion of antibacterial air purifiers, anti-odour, etc where as the best of them having proper R&D facilities offers newer and much advanced technology like
Inverter air conditioners.
In India room air conditioners are generally available from 0.8 to 2.5 Ton range denoting their cooling capacity class. Internationally the air conditioners are rated as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3 HP (Horse Power).
Below is a chart of the cooling capacity class:
0.5 HP = 6,000 BTU/Hr = 0.5 Ton
1.0 HP = 9,000 BTU/Hr = 0.8 Ton
1.5 HP = 12,000 BTU/Hr = 1.0 Ton
2.0 HP = 17,100 BTU/Hr = 1.5 Ton
2.5 HP = 24,000 BTU/Hr = 2.0 Ton
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As a consumer it became very difficult for me to determine which type air conditioners to vouch for, I mean Inverters or non-Inverters, the one that provides the best bang for the buck and is also extremely energy efficient to counter the rise of per unit cost of electricity?
One way was to go relatively cheaper non-Inverter route where air conditioners are rated from 1 ~ 5 stars in terms of efficiency by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under the Indian Union Ministry of Power. Affixing BEE star label has been made mandatory by BEE to all the manufactures for the benefit of general public, showing the level of energy consumption by non-Inverter air conditioner both in terms of absolute values as well as equivalent number of stars varying from one to five, in accordance with BEE stipulation. The greater the number of stars on the label, higher the appliance energy efficiency and lower its electricity consumption. While selecting non-Inverter air conditioners refer to the BEE Star Rated Label affixed is must.
Energy Efficiency of Air Conditioner
Efficiency of an air conditioner is normally measured as Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER), which is the ratio of the cooling output, measured in British thermal units (BTU) per hour, to the power input (in Watts, and includes all inputs to compressor, fan motors and controls) to operate AC at standard rating conditions. This means a higher the EER, the more efficient the air conditioner is.
At times, EER is defined a little differently. The cooling capacity instead of being denoted in Btu/Hr is also denoted in Watts (1 BTU/Hr = 0.293 Watts). Thus EER is represented as Watts/ Watts or as a number without any units and will be assumed from now on.
EER Calculation of non-Inverter Air Conditioner
Non-Inverter Model: Hitachi i-Clean (RAU518ITDA)
Tonnage: 1.5 Ton
Star Rating: 5
Rated Cooling Capacity: 5274 watts
Total Power Drawn: 1524 watts
Rated EER: 5274/1524 = 3.46
So, the higher the EER number better is its efficiency and more costly it's going to be, due to the use of more advanced materials and technology.
BEE Chart of star ratings applicable to air conditioners for
2012 ~ 2013
1 Star -> 2.5 to 2.69 EER
2 Star -> 2.7 to 2.89 EER
3 Star -> 2.9 to 3.09 EER
4 Star -> 3.1 to 3.29 EER
5 Star -> 3.3 and upwards EER
And for
2014 ~ 2015
1 Star -> 2.7 to 2.89 EER
2 Star -> 2.9 to 3.09 EER
3 Star -> 3.1 to 3.29 EER
4 Star -> 3.3 to 3.49 EER
5 Star -> 3.5 and upwards EER
Let us assume someone buys a 5-star rated non-Inverter air conditioner in 2011 with EER of 3.1. By 2012 the same AC becomes a 4-star since 5-star requirement is 3.3, by 2014 a 3-star since 5-star now requires 3.5 and by 2016 a 2-star since 5-star now requires 3.7. By 2018 the same AC becomes a pesky 1-star AC since 5-star now requires 3.9. For non-Inverters it generally takes seven years for the epic climb down form 5-star to 1-star.
So, we find EER star rating of non-Inverter air conditioners as an ever moving target and its star rating is respective to the year a particular model was released. This is very important to keep in mind while going for non-Inverter air conditioners.
The other and more expensive way was to go for Inverter Air Conditioners which are sophisticated piece of equipment. At the very start of an air conditioners operation, powerful cooling is required to reach the set temperature. After the set temperature is reached, less cooling is required to maintain it. A conventional non-Inverter air conditioner can only operate at a
rated capacity which is below the maximum capacity but still too powerful to maintain the set temperature. Thus, in attempting to maintain set temperature non-Inverter air conditioners switches the compressor ON and OFF repeatedly. This results in wider temperature fluctuations leading to wasteful consumption of electrical energy.
The Inverter air conditioners on the other hand have a full-output operation mode to operate at
maximum capacity as soon as they start thus reaching the targeted temperature faster than non-Inverter and when the set temperature is achieved drastically reduce energy consumption by going into energy-saving operation mode by varying the rotational speed of the compressor along with the indoor and outdoor fan motors for optimum performance at all times. This provides a highly precise method of maintaining the set temperature and drastically reduces wasteful cooling operation and energy consumption.
Advantages of Inverter Air Conditioners
To achieve this technical feat, in-built sensors from both indoor and outdoor units measuring temperature and humidity are processed at over 4000 times per second by Inverter air conditioners brain i.e.
Digital Micro-computer Module which then maintains targeted room temperature and humidity by constantly controlling the voltage, current and frequency send to its highly energy efficient DC motor compressor and also sending commands to its highly sophisticated electronic pulse linear expansion valve to precisely control coolant pressure for more efficient heat exchange. In conjunction to the above activities the electronic module also controls speed of the indoor and outdoor fan units which contain high quality DC motors. DC motors are more efficient and save energy over conventional AC motors used in non-Inverters since they use magnetic force to operate.
'The Brain' of an Inverter Air Conditioner (Digital Micro-computer Module)
One has to understand that technology comes at a price. The hard earned money one pays for Inverter air conditioners are put in using much better components which never came with non-Inverters, reaping their benefits in terms performance and efficiency with significant reduction in power consumption, not the mentioned the prolonged life-span with use of high quality materials.
Also Inverter air conditioners produce no humidity when adjusting room temperature. This is very important since it is the moisture removed from the room which actually produces the feeling of cooling. If the air conditioners can effectively remove enough moisture from the room it will produce a feeling of comfort.
'The Brain' of Inverter Air Conditioners are generally located on the Outdoor Units and their heatsinks are cooled by the ODU fan
Since I plan for extended use on a daily basis, I decided for Inverter ones over cheaper non-Inverters. I was astounded to learn in Japan almost all air conditioners are Inverter's where as in India the same Japanese air conditioner companies sell low cost non-Inverter, 5 star rated air conditioners at same price of Inverter air conditioners. The reason I believe is people awareness, very few people know about the real benefits Inverter's offer in terms of cooling performance, efficiency and low power consumption under part load conditions. This companies takes advantage of the situation and garner fat profit margins by selling 2~5 star rated age old technology.
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It have been over four months since I installed two 1.5 Ton Sharp Eco-Inverter (Model no: AH-XP18MV) air conditioners. These includes in-built Plusmacluster air purifier technology.
Sharp AH-XP18MV
Personally, I am not the kind of person who buys a consumer product because Mr. 'X' had recommended buying product 'Y' from manufacturer 'Z'. After haplessly wandering in the forums for a month or so I understood people in India being unaware are still happily using stone age star rated non-Inverter technology filled with R22 refrigerant gas where as the rest of the developed countries have moved on to a whole new level with Inverters, filled with energy efficient and environmentally friendly R410A refrigerant gas.
In my vision, Inverters are the way to go, no matter if they cost more or less. In Japan, people do not think about how many hours they are going to use them, they just buy Inverter air conditioners. Thus all room air conditioners in Japan are Inverters. They not only look at the money aspect, they also save precious energy and environment.
Contd ...
Link: Review of Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton Eco-Inverter Air Conditioner [Part-II]