Inverter Air conditioner Working principle; Saving with Inverter AC

We have seen and used Air conditioners which directly run on electricity and consume power according to capacity of air conditioner irrespective of temperature settings of Air conditioners. Inverter technology in air conditioners has changed whole scenario in world of air conditioners. 

There are following advantages of inverter air conditioners:-

(i)                  Quieter operation

(ii)                More economical operation and lower down electricity bill

In Inverter technology , inverter equipped in air conditioners has the ability to control the compressor’s speed and so as the temperature which leads to draw lower current when temperature is set higher and near auto stop, which ultimately leads to lower power consumption.

Inverter used in this technology is like inverter used in houses for emergency power supply but added to this is microcontroller which used to automatically adjust the temperature and current of compressor.

Since it provides smooth operation as compressor start and stop are smooth as current is controlled to compressor through Voltage/ Frequency control method so jerk operations of compressors are avoided. Since there are no jerk operations so operation of these air conditioners is smooth and quieter. Smooth operation will leads to sharp fluctuations in load which extends life of both equipment and power source supply. This will leads to lower breakdowns.

Difference between Fixed Speed Compressors and Variable Speed Compressors:-

Fixed Speed compressors start and stop automatically at a particular set temperature but in Variable speed compressors inverter regulates the desired temperature by regulating the capacity of compressor.  

Fixed Speed compressors always runs at 100% capacity but in Variable speed compressors compressor runs at partial loads as per requirements.

Also in our houses we can’t ascertain the exact size required for a room which leads to oversized/ undersized air conditioners. So by using inverter AC’s oversize factor can be reduced. If we install higher capacity AC in our room then there will be higher power consumption  irrespective of working hours of air conditioner. But in inverter AC’s Power consumption will get controlled.

There are following advantages and disadvantages of using inverter Air conditioners:-

Advantages of Inverter Air conditioners:-

(i)                 Higher efficiency of air conditioners as no. of start and Stop cycles get eliminated

(ii)               Effective temperature control can be achieved

(iii)                Higher equipment life as these have smoother operation

(iv)                Lower breakdowns

(v)                 Quieter operation

Disadvantages of Inverter Air conditioners:-

There are following disadvantages of Inverter Air conditioners:-

(i)                   Energy loss during power conversion to DC and AC again leads to losses of 4-6 %

(ii)                 Higher initial cost as inverter leads to added cost

(iii)                Complexity of circuit made difficult to repair

Price and Payback period:-

A 1.5 Ton Air conditioner consumes 1.5 KWH as it is assumed that 1TR consumes 1KW etc
Calculation for 8hrs/ day

Operation of Fixed speed Air conditioners
For 8 hrs of operation power consumption will be = 1.5 X 8 = 12 units

For a Inverter AC
An Inverter AC will operate for 30 minutes and for rest 30 minutes it will maintain the temperature.  During maintaining the temperature for rest 30 minutes power consumption will be 300 W/Hr.

So power consumption /Hr= 0.750+0.300= 1.05 KWH

For 8 Hrs operation power consumption  will be= 1.05 X 8= 8.4 Units

So Power saving will be = 12- 8.4 = 3.6 KW/ 8 Hrs

So do your calculations before buying any Air conditioner.

There will be price difference of 10,000-15,000 between inverter Air conditioner and split Air conditioners.

So if we consider 12 Hrs operation for 180 days power saving with Inverter AC will be= 12.6 X 180 = 2268 Units/annually

Rate per unit = 8 Rs

So Annual Savings will be= 18144/-

So payback for inverter AC’s is 3 months so do consider these before buying the Air conditioners. 

To know about new technology in Air conditioners visit:-
http://electrialstandards.blogspot.in/2017/04/hybrid-conditioners-unknown-facts.html