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Air conditioning has become the norm in hot and humid
climates. Almost all offices and many
middle class homes have starting installing air conditioning in their homes. Air conditioners are essential to improve
working conditions. This in turns helps
to improve productivity of office workers.
Many industries, factories, laboratories etc. too need air conditioning for comfort or because the process
needs it.
Depending on the size of the room and total area needing air conditioning, some
decisions have to be made for the air conditioner to be installed. The usual choice for a home may be window or
split air conditioning. Central air conditioning
may be choice for very large homes, offices and factories.
Cost can be one big factor we need to consider when making a choice. But it would also be handy to know some
technical information like tonnage of the air conditioning, power consumption
and other mechanical features as well.
Let's examine some of the technical data we ought to acquire to get your money's
worth, when buying an air conditioner.
First and foremost you need to your budget.
Secondly you should know the size of the room or area of the house or
office if you wish to cool part or whole area.
This helps to ascertain the tonnage of the air conditioner you require. The price of the air conditioner increases
with the increase in tonnage. Normally
for window or split tonnage of air conditioners available are from 0.60, 0.75,
1, 1.5 and 2 tons. One question the
store will ask you which brand or manufacturer you prefer. Depending on the brand, your price will vary. Sometimes there are even assembled air
conditioners available from the local maintenance workshop, which may turn out
to be cheaper though not entirely reliable.
It is no secret that the cooling capacity varies in direct proportion to the
air conditioner tonnage. So how do you
measure cooling capacity? Cooling
capacity is measured in KCal/hour or BTU/hour and the greater the number, the
more powerful is the unit. Cooling
capacity of an air conditioner of one ton is 3000 KCal/hour or 12000 BTU/hour. Guidelines given by manufacturers indicate
that area and tonnage of machine. A
0.75-ton machine is suitable for 35 sq.
ft. area, one-ton machine for 90
to 110 sq. ft. area, 1.25-ton machine for 115 to 140 sq. ft. area,
1.50-ton machine for 150 to 170 sq. ft. area, 1.75-ton machine for 180 to 220 sq. ft. and
so on. A better way is to divide the
square feet of your room by 600 to get the correct tonnage.
It would be helpful to your dealer if you give some details. Other than room size, you could tell him the
number and size of windows, the direction the room faces, how much shade your
room gets, the thickness of walls and type of roof, type of insulation the room
has and the number of appliances in the room like computers. Such details will enable your dealer to
advise about the best type, tonnage and number of air conditioners to be
installed.
You need to be guard that you do not select a lower tonnage simply to save on
cost. Lower tonnage can reflect in
higher bills, which will eventually hurt your pocket in the long term.
It is important to ensure that the power supply in your home is sufficient to
run the machine. Your authorised
electrician can advise you on the power supply angle. You should also get him to check the wiring. If required, separate wiring and heavy-duty
electric plug connection should be provided to install the air conditioner.
The efficiency of your machine can be measured with the help of Energy
Efficiency Ratio (EER). EER helps you
to determine how much it costs of run each unit. Units with higher EER are more expensive, but consume less power
and turn out cheaper in the long run.
Michael Russell
Your
Independent guide to Air
Conditioning
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