The scorching summers have come, and if you're trying to purchase a new AC or would like to stay abreast with the most recent development from the AC technology world, you need to definitely read this report.
The air conditioner business has witnessed a substantial change over the past few decades. Indian AC market has seen a healthier double-digit increase in the past few years, and should the analyst think the same expansion rate would last for more years ahead.
Considered a luxury once upon a time, ACs are now perceived as an important appliance in the center and low-income households and given tropical Indian climate with temperatures soaring as large as 50 deg. It's critical to use solid engineering and components that would enable ACs to provide comfortable cooling throughout the peak summers. Also, MarQ AC Review has recommended a fantastic model with such amazing capabilities.
Why just summers contemporary state-of-the-art ACs are effective at providing optimum climate control during bone-chilling winters and heavy downpours. Within this guide, we'll steer through the technology that is making this potential.
Latest AC Technologies
Ubiquitous Sensor Network for Smart Cooling
Developments in the field of electronics have forced the usage of variegated sensors breeze for heavy electric appliances. The majority of the best AC brands use an assorted mix of sensors and sensor technologies to offer smart cooling.
Hitachi utilizes revolutionary iSee technology, which comes from the new Hitachi models (e.g., Kashikoi series). These models come with an intelligent picture sensor technology to ensure that the users inside the space get equal attention for an equal cooling relaxation while reducing the wastage of the cooling system.
The image detector finds a number of people in the room, their location, their action, etc., and cools so as to ensure max cooling comfort. It also recognizes the size & shape of the space and then modulates its swing angle with a specific smart swing feature to optimize cooling.
One other important characteristic is it also recognizes human lack in the space for a specified period and switches the AC off to prevent cooling wastage. Taking cues from brands like Hitachi, even the Daikin ACs now arrive with a clever human detector that detects human existence (and their count) to brilliantly cool the room.
In the same way, modern Carrier ACs include a Follow Me feature wherein there is a sensor positioned within the remote. When this attribute is enabled, the primary room detector within the indoor unit carries the back seat, and also, the specialized sensor inside the distant gets triggered.
Based on the info received from this remote detector, the AC fixes the ambient temperatures. This sensor is capable of collecting temperature info even for the farthest areas of the room and then passing the same to the major unit, thus ensuring the optimal temperature throughout the space.
Following the footsteps of those foreign brands, Blue Star ACs also arrive with 5 distinct sensors to deliver what’s called Precise Cooling Technology or PCT. PCT mandates Blue Star ACs to correct the temperature of the room with the precision level of 0.1oC. That's amazing!
App Control of ACs using the Smartphone
With the increase of smartphones, a flurry of apps, millennials want to have an app for all for controlling their AC. The AC manufacturers have fulfilled this requirement by developing a smart, dedicated app to control the AC. Here also, Hitachi leads the pack with WiFi Connect technology which also comes with WiFi Direct performance.
The user only requires to download the dedicated Hitachi program and set it with a router. Once the connection is created, the user may control and track their AC from any portion of the room. The best part is, even if a router or WiFi network is not present, an individual can still link the smartphone (even the tablet ) with the AC utilizing the WiFi Direct feature.
Whirlpool ACs, too come with app control attributes. The very best part about the Whirlpool program is that it also gives estimated energy consumption depending on the usage. Also, the app provides a graphical representation of their usage, so users have a much better idea of how many units of electricity that their AC is guzzling.
Even if the AC does not include inbuilt app-based control, if a phone has an IR blaster, just about any AC can be controlled with the smartphone without the need to download a manufacturer-specific committed program.
4D Airflow with Larger Fan and Wider Angle
Conventional ACs arrive with a 2-way (down and up ) swing blade to disseminate cool air inside the room. But the majority of the new ACs from manufacturers such as LG, Hitachi, Carrier, BlueStar, etc., come with all the 4D swing purpose (up-down + right-left), which pushes the cool air in numerous directions to ensure complete cooling inside the room.
This 4D swing was created using a motorized horizontal and vertical swing utility which ensures uniform cooling across the room through an omnidirectional airflow mechanism. Oh yes, it's modern!
Even the louvers of Blue Star ACs include a wider angle to ensure the even distribution of cool air inside the space without omitting the far-flung corners of this room. Similarly, the louvers of the FTKP series of Daikin ACs open upwards, known as Coanda airflow.
This usually means the cold air wouldn't directly hit the people, something that users will definitely find useful. The Coanda airflow offers draftless, pleasant air-conditioning in the whole room. To complement the 4D air swing, new split ACs from LG come with a bigger buff and body that increases the airflow and spreads it up to 30 feet. Because of this, each corner of this space is almost as cool as the in front area of the AC blade.
Rapid Cooling Technologies that Cools the Room instantly
There's lot of buzz around fast-charging technology when it comes to smartphones; rapid cooling technology from the AC finds similar reception among the HVAC fans. Manufacturers adopt various techniques and designs to cool the room in a jiffy.
Inspired by the ambiance at the Himalayas, fresh versions from LG come with Himalaya Cool technologies that replicate the hill station feel of the Himalayas in the house itself. There is a special button to enable this particular mode tagged as HCOOL on the distance.
When enabled, AC would push cool air at a superfast rate for about half an hour till the temperature of this space is brought down to a comfortably cool degree. Together with the Himalaya Cool technologies, LG ACs deliver faster cooling without compromising the energy economy aspect. Daikin comes with a Power Chill style with double flap flattening to rapidly cool the space within 20 minutes.
Whirlpool AC employs 3D Cool Extreme and dual fan compressor to deliver what they call Turbo Cool. The 3D Cool Extreme technology utilizes 3 vents system--one at the top and two sideways to pull out the hot air at a quicker speed.
Premium Whirlpool models include a dual-fan compressor which complements 3D Cool Extreme technology and boosts the functioning of the AC so it can rapidly cool the space even in the extreme temperature as warm as 55C.
Humidity Control with the help of Auto Humid Control and Dry Mode
Undoubtedly, summer season makes the AC get overburdened, and with all the monsoon to follow along with ordinary ACs could fail in controlling the humidity or perhaps lead to water leakage.
Throughout the rainy season, traditional air conditioners not only have more energy but also produce the room uncomfortably chilly. This can lead to health ailments like coughing, frequent cold, or headache. Most of the modern AC models from huge brands like Voltas, Bluestar, Carrier, LG, etc., include dehumidification or ironic mode to maintain the humidity under control.
Hitachi is 1 step ahead of its competitor in this department. Aside from the ironic style, high-end versions of Hitachi ACs come with AutoHumid Control tech, whereas the humidity and temperature profile of over 100 cities has been fed within the chip of ACs.
Based on the data, it corrects the air conditioning, and when it finds high humidity, the refrigerant cycle is expedited to extract humidity from the space. So, with the help of dry/dehumidification mode, contemporary ACs deliver clean, fresh, and clean air without any stickiness within the area. In humid regions, particularly across the huge shore of India, this attribute in ACs is crucial.
PM 1, PM 2.5, and Anti-VOC Filters
The filter is among the important battleground for all AC manufacturers to innovate. The reason being the increasing degree of air impurity. According to WHO (World Health Organization), amounts of air pollution have tremendously improved in the growing economies, especially in India.
Lately, air pollution has been associated with a heightened in respiratory diseases like lung cancer. The risk as a result of particulate type contamination is reportedly like what is seen with second-hand smoke exposure. So, air filtration becomes just one of the extremely important aspects of the AC, along with the manufacturers keep coming with invention and methods to restrain the rising levels of air impurity using multi-layer high-efficiency filters.
Particulate matter, PM 2.5, consists of very fine particles present in the air that are of the size of two and a half microns in width (or even less). A micron is a unit of measurement at a microscopic scale with one inch equating to 25,000 microns.
Emission from vehicles along with the burning of wood and oil are the principal sources of PM 2.5 particulates. Modern ACs from reputed manufacturers such as Whirlpool and Carrier comes with a PM 2.5 filter to filter PM 2.5 impurities from your room.
But LG measures ahead of Whirlpool and Carrier since they also offer PM 1 blockers --purification of a particle of size 10,000 microns or less. Furthermore, from 2018 onwards, ACs from LG will come with a unique Ocean Black Protection, tactfully employed to both indoor & outdoor units. This would enable ACs to provide optimum cooling in the tropical Indian climate heavily affected by salt, sand, industrial smoke & pollutants.
Volatile Organic chemicals are organic compounds that easily become vapors or gases owing to their high vapor pressure at room temperature. Typical sources of VOCs are the burning of fuel like gasoline, coal, natural gas, wood, etc.
The residues from glues, paints, and solvents also increase the concentration of VOC in the air. Many VOCs are poisonous because when combined with nitrogen oxides, they respond with them, forming smog, or ground-level ozone, that contributes to climate change.
Certain VOCs are infamous for impacting the liver, kidney, and nervous system. Midea ACs include an anti-VOC filter for the removal of volatile organic compounds . Anti-VOC filter used in split ACs from Midea eliminates toxic VOCs like formaldehyde to guarantee air is debarred of these impurities.
Blue Star requires a slightly eccentric route when it comes to filtration. Premium Blue Star models include a cold plasma technology that generates a natural bioclimate in air conditioner.
Being rich in active negative and positive ions of hydrogen and oxygen that they form ionic bonds with terrible bacteria and various airborne agents like spores from the mold to nullify them. Such bonded particles slowly increase in size that makes it simpler to be immobilized by the arrangement of 7 formidable filters working in synchronization.
Auto Clean with Blow Clean, iClean, and iCleanser
Undoubtedly, filters are an important element of both ACs, and when discounted, they could drastically lower the cooling capacity. According to the studies, an air conditioner that runs daily for 6 months without maintenance and cleaning its cooling capacity can decrease by up to 50%.
In the fast-paced universe, we often neglect to wash and keep our AC in fixed intervals. However, off late AC manufacturers have made a solution for this pestering issue. Apart from the usual strong air filtration and purification, premium ACs from top-rated brands such as Hitachi, BlueStar, LG, and Carrier include an auto-clean functionality wherein AC cleans its own filter utilizing various methods and techniques.
Hitachi ACs containing iClean work comes with an innovative brush which moves on the steel plated filter from a side to the other by sweeping all dust along the wing. One dedicated dust box is offered that collects the dust particles trapped from the brush.
This auto cleaning hardly takes 5-7 minutes to finish. Once the cleanup is done, the brush goes back to its first position. In the same way, Blue Star ACs come with Blow Clean mode, whereas the indoor blower operates for a few minutes after switching off the air conditioner. This aids in auto cleaning and helps keep the indoor coil dry, preventing the accumulation of dust or mold.
Besides the impeccable air filtration technologies, premium Carrier models come with iCleanser technology that cleanses itself. During this automobile cleaning, first, the indoor unit works in a cooling mode at a reduced fan speed to ease removal of dust from evaporator fins.
Further, it switches to only-fan mode to blow away the wet air, and that disinfects the unit. The main USP of a superior Carrier air conditioner is that there is an additional replacement and cleaning notifier that alerts the user when there's a demand for manual cleaning of the filter when the dust accumulated surpasses the ambit of iCleanser cleaning.
Copper Condenser and Anti-Corrosive Hydrophilic Blue Fin
To save costs and bring down the cost of AC, many AC manufacturers favored using aluminum condensers in the majority of their models in the past. The aluminum condenser is cheaper than the aluminum condenser but has a tendency to get corroded quicker.
Additionally, it's very tough to mend an aluminum condenser, plus it largely wants a complete replacement, so the repair charges would be quite large. The majority of AC brands, especially the Indian ones like Voltas, Godrej, BlueStar, have received a lot of flakes for bringing majority of their units with aluminum condensers.
With the higher level of consumer awareness, several users just prefer to purchase AC with the aluminum condenser. So now brands are bringing an increasing number of models with copper condensers seeing the gain in the predilection for the copper condenser. Chinese and Japanese manufacturers like Daikin, Haie, and Hitachi, offer just copper condensers in their most recent models.
Here too, Hitachi offers everything: aluminum tube condenser, evaporator & interconnecting pipes in the newer versions are made 100 percent of aluminum. Additionally, high-end models like Toushi come with inner grooved copper, which assists in quick and optimum refrigeration flow.
If it comes to LG, they've reworked its aluminum condenser besides bringing a multitude of models with the aluminum condenser. An improved version of this aluminum condenser as a specialized aluminum alloy with a lesser propensity for corrosion is used in new models from LG.
If it comes to the heat exchanger, contemporary AC versions from reputed manufacturers like Voltas, Hitachi, BlueStar, Carrier, Daikin, come with an anti-corrosive hydrophilic bluefin on the outside of the heat exchanger. Use of anti-corrosive hydrophilic blue fin highly increases the wettability of AC’s heat exchanger and offer better protection against corrosion.
This particular arrangement ensures the fast removal of condensate from AC’s indoor unit. This deters the formation/breeding of bacteria and mold, which can affect the performance of the AC and transuded air’s purity. Individuals living in the area with high humidity will find this addition quite beneficial to protect their AC from recycled components and also to prolong the AC's life in general.
Dual Inverter Technology with Acoustic Jacket
Digital Inverter technology is potentially the most important invention, pushing the bounds of air conditioner technology. For years, ACs had single-speed compressors, which were always either off or on.
A compressor is a motor that powers the air-conditioning cycle, moving refrigerant throughout the structure of the condenser, compressor, and evaporator. Having a single-speed compressor, even when the temperature within the room reaches over a certain temperature, the compressor suddenly switches on -- a familiar sound for people who have an AC in the 20th century. But the concept of the inverter has entirely changed the dynamics of the AC (and pipes ) industry.
So, what is inverter technologies? Well, to be very straightforward, inverter technology is analogous to the auto accelerator. When the compressor requires more power, it offers it more energy.
When it needs lesser power, it offers less electricity. With such technology, the compressor is on but draws less power or more electricity depending on the incoming air’s temperature and the amount set from the thermostat. The power and speed of this compressor are adjusted appropriately.
LG, Hitachi, and BlueStar fare the best when it has to do with inverter technology. That's because they've adopted dual inverter technology when compared with the normal single inverter technology.
2018 string of LG ACs is powered by revolutionary DualCool technology. With an elevated operating frequency range, this dual inverter compressor technology gives LG an upper hand over its competitors concerning cooling efficiency.
When compared with the traditional inverter, dual inverter-based AC is accompanied by an innovative BLDC motor using a wider range of frequency, helping it to keep the desired temperature with minimal alterations.
Double Suspension ACs use variable tonnage technology. So ACs with DualCool technology arriving with 1.5-ton capacity may vary the tonnage from as low as 0.26 ton to as high as 1.71 ton according to the ambient conditions along with the user requirement.
To compete DualCool Technologies from LG, Hitachi's ACs come with an Amazing Tropical tropical inverter ACs use Seamless Cascade Vector DC Inverter System. To boost the coefficient of performance in full load as well as part load conditions, Hitachi has also introduced a new theory known as Dual Flow Expansion Tech (DFET).
These additions from Hitachi's tropical inverter compressor optimizes peak performance to give flawless cooling even in the extreme temperatures of 52oC. Thanks to DFET technologies, ACs makes more than half of the AC earnings for Hitachi--a share that's pretty high when contrasted with the normal 20-25%.
On a similar line, Blue Star AC includes a double rotor inverter compressor powered by a BLDC motor. An innovative BLDC motor is used to offer a high rotational rate with minimal vibrations.
Furthermore, an acoustic coat is given with the compressor to enhance the sound levels. Thus, this technology contributes to quicker cooling, low noise, reduced vibration, a longer durability of the compressor, etc.
Protection from Voltage Fluctuations, Corrosion, Fire, and Refrigerant Leakages
There are various variables and phenomena that might hamper the functioning of AC. For example, electricity cuts, refrigerant flows, corrosive environment, short circuit. Protecting AC from the scourges of these factors is critical. Consequently, AC businesses have worked in the region of safety and security to protect your ACs from any untoward accidents or accidents.
Power cuts and load shedding are so common in India, especially in remote cities and towns. ACs being a big electrical appliance, are vulnerable to the vagaries of the supplied electricity. Power cuts generally poise the issue of a voltage alteration which could damage the air conditioner.
ACs from premium brands such as Daikin, LG, and Whirlpool are capable of handling this problem as a result of their stabilizer-free performance functionality.
Premium Whirlpool ACs include a smart voltage compensation logic which works as a miniature stabilizer to ensure smooth performance of the AC from the assortment of 155V to 264V, while the Daikin split ACs can function in the range of 160V into 264V minus the stabilizer. LG leads the pack here since it protects the AC on a much wider range--145V to 290V.
Improper installation, external harm, or factory defect can lead to the refrigerant inside the AC leaking out. Refrigerants such as Freon are toxic in case deeply inhaled. It can kill the supply of oxygen to the lungs and cells.
Newer Carrier versions come with a cautious early warning system that detects such leakage immediately and turns off the AC. Simultaneously, in addition, it exhibits the relevant error code on the screen to appraise the consumers about the leakage. LG, on the other hand, has created technologies that would detect refrigerant levels and would notify the consumer if there any requirement to refill the refrigerant.
Blue Star split ACs’ Outdoor units have been built keeping in mind the rough and warm tropical Indian climate. Galvanized steel is used by them in the construction of the metallic bodies and are then coated with polyester powder paint. You know what, this protects them against corrosion and further increases their life.
Control boxes of air conditioners are susceptible to fire because of excessive flow of power or short-circuiting. Thus following the high safety and precautionary criteria, modern Whirlpool split air conditioners come with a metal casing with a fireproof case for the control box to avert any fire mishap. On similar lines, Blue Star ACs include a metal enclosure that covers the most important board--the PCB to prevent overheating of electrical/electronic components.
Conclusion
Taking advantage of the most recent discoveries and research, modern ACs come with state-of-art technologies and components to deliver comfortable cooling.
Korean and Japanese manufacturers such as Hitachi, LG, and Daikin will be the vanguard of technologies of AC and have done away with environmentally unfriendly technologies. Much like LG has stopped producing non-inverter ACs, Daikin has ceased using R22 refrigerant, and Hitachi does not utilize aluminum condensers.
Modern ACs offer "air conditioning" in a legitimate sense all year round. No matter it’s cooling during scorching summers, heat throughout bone-chilling winters, or dehumidifying during heavy downpours, fresh 2-in-1 (Hot & Cold) ACs functions as a reliable companion around weathers.
High-end ACs come with intelligent sensors which detect when someone is really in the room and further adjusts automatically for energy saving. 4D airflow in the air conditioners imparts uniform cooling without being strenuous just in the line of the air swing.
Stabilizer-free functionality and auto-restart shields the AC out of vagaries of electricity cut and makes sure AC resumes with its operation smoothly following the electricity cut without hampering the settings that are preset.
Inverter technology ensures that the ACs deliver the optimum cooling. Together with the dual rotary inverters, a precision level of 0.1oC is reached from the premium Blue Star ACs.
With the increasing urbanization and technological invention, air quality is now becoming one of the significant concerns, particularly in the big cities.
Bearing this in mind based AC manufacturers arm their ACs with advanced filters to clean the air from all kinds of pollutants, bacteria, viruses, dust particles, and foul odors using an eclectic arrangement of multi-layer filters operating in tandem.
Finally, for the tech-savvy users, superior models boast of program control quality that provides them the freedom to handle AC by simply swiping the telephone.