Govt bans inefficient one star ACs
In a bid to improve energy efficiency, the Indian government has banned further entry of high energy consuming one-star rated air conditioners. The government has also introduced improved energy efficiency guidelines for frost free refrigerators and made efficiency rating mandatory for high-end inverter ACs from 2018. The rules notified by the BEE will make existing one-star ACs costlier under the new energy efficiency guidelines.
Star rating is an energy efficiency system of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the nodal body for energy efficiency in India. Started in 2006, it became mandatory from 2010. The rating varies from one-star to five-star with five-star being the most energy efficient. It helps in providing energy usage information to consumers, allowing consumers to cut electricity bills, reduce their carbon footprint and pollution.
According to experts, India's energy efficiency system is not as rigorous as the West or even China. India's five-star rated ACs are equivalent to just 2.5-star rated ACs in Australia and other western countries.
Industry experts believe that banning of one-star ACs will increase the cost of entry level ACs by around Rs.3000 as two-star rated ACs are more expensive than the one-star rated ACs and cost more than Rs.20,000. They added that the cost of four and five-star ACs will also increase significantly. The cost of five-star inverter ACs will increase by Rs.5,000.
Referring to the government's initiative of banning one star rated ACs, Daikin India's Managing Director Kanwal Jeet Jawa said, "The initiative will ultimately reduce the price difference between inverter and non-inverter models." Further, it will reduce energy consumption and improve cooling efficiency. This will be an environmentally friendly initiative which would lower emission of greenhouse gases due to reduced power consumption
Unlike regular ACs which run at fixed compressor speed, inverter ACs vary the speed of the compressor motor according to the ambient temperature, thus eliminating the stop-start cycle of compressor which saves energy.
