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India's need for power is growing at an extraordinary rate; annual electricity generation and consumption in India have increased by about 64% in the past decade, and its projected rate of increase (estimated at as much as 8-10% annually, through the year 2020) for electricity consumption is one of the highest in the world.
Power
Shortage across the World and India
Worldwide, some 2 billion people are currently without electricity.
- Developing countries use 30% of global energy. Rapid population growth, combined with economic growth, will rapidly increase that percentage in the next 10 years.
- The World Bank estimates that investments of $1 trillion will be needed in this decade and upwards of $4 trillion during the next 30 years to meet developing countries' electricity needs alone.
India is facing a power shortage of 70,000 MW which is due to increased demand in power. Maharashtra faced a 25.2 per cent deficit while Uttar Pradesh has 15.9 per cent shortfall. Gujarat had 30.6 per cent shortfall and Bihar 24.9 per cent. Delhi had a peak demand deficit of 2.5 per cent.
Hence energy conservation is a dire necessity for our country. With this aim in mind the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) introduced energy labeling for various electrical applications. The objective of this program is the efficient use of energy and its conservation. With increasing gap between energy demand and supply situation in India, the labeling program is the ‘least-cost' option to the government.
From the consumers' point of view, the energy labeling program offers significant benefits to the consumers. It enables consumers to reduce their monthly energy bills while using Air conditioners and provides information on energy use.
In general Air conditioners consume more Energy amongst the power consuming appliances used in residence. Hence Energy labeling has been implemented for Air conditioners on priority basis.
India Room Air conditioner Industry has approximately 38 brands of Air conditioners as of March 2010. Before the labeling program was introduced, the consumers could not easily get information on and understand the energy consumption details from the name plate information of Air conditioners.
There is a wide variation in energy consumption of different makes of Air conditioners. This led to the continuous availability of inefficient Air conditioners in the market and purchase by consumers, leading to waste of precious and costly energy.
The energy labeling program sets out to correct this situation in the India Air conditioner market. Minimum efficiency performance standards have been prescribed by BEE and the appliances are rated on the basis of energy efficiency indicated by suitable number of stars on the name plate label.
The no. of stars can
vary from 1 to 5. Higher stars indicate
higher energy efficiency and more energy bill savings for the customers.Manufacturers who
produce or market appliances for the
Indian market are required to submit their product samples to BEE or its
designated testing agency.
Testing is undertaken as per the testing standard for Air conditioners IS1391 and the appliance's performance is determined. This testing information like cooling capacity and power consumption is used to calculate the appliance's Energy efficiency ratio. Based on the EER value of the Air conditioners corresponding star rating can be declared.
It is applicable for the Room Air conditioners having single phase electrical power supply (both window and wall mounted split AC) up to a rated cooling capacity of 3TR (10.5 KW). BEE star labeling for room AC is mandatory from January 2010. Energy label is the provision of information in a form that is easy to understand for customers. Energy label is affixed to a product which describes the product's Energy efficiency, Cooling capacity and Electricity Power consumption at the standard rating condition.
"What capacity AC shall I use for my room?" is a common question from the interested buyers. The required capacity of AC will depend on the amount of heat to be removed from the room. More the heat coming into the room, higher is the capacity of AC required to cool the room. The heat load varies depending on
- Location (city): A 150 sq.ft room in coastal cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkota will need lesser cooling capacity AC than at cities like Hyderabad, Nagpur, New Delhi etc.
- Solar radiation heat through exposed roof, glass windows etc.
- The temperature we want to maintain in the room, during peak summer (24°C + 1°C is recommended)
- The no. of people, no. of lightings, electrical gadgets (computers etc.) in the room
- Orientation of building (one generally may not have much of a choice here, unless he/she is building their house)
The salesmen at the showrooms have been equipped with a ‘Heat Load Calculation template' by the AC manufacturers to suitably guide the customers. Over a period of time, from the experience of repeatedly doing these calculations, some thumb-rules also have emerged like 1TR (3.5KW) capacity AC can handle approximately 100 - 150 sq.ft room etc.
If the AC is optimally chosen, without over-sizing, it will help consumers in spending less on the initial purchase price and also the running cost and maintenance charges for the 8 - 10 years of the life of AC.
You can check the optimal Air-conditioner in your house through our energy calculator. This simple and user friendly Energy Calculator, allows you to choose different capacity of AC, quantity, efficiency level and operating time. Follow the steps shown below and click at appropriate places of your choice. You can estimate savings in Electricity charges by use of Star-5 AC over Star-0 AC. Click on the image to calculate your Air-conditioner requirement.
Text and Image Courtsey: www.saveenergy.co.in
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