One month after upgrading from a conventional Air Conditioner to Inverter Air Conditioner.Was it worth the extra money?
I wrote a blog about the problem I had with my new Air conditioner, I finally had to return that model and opt-in for a conventional AC (for my other bed room).Meanwhile, my mother bought me a brand new LG Inverter AC a few days later. That one is currently installed in my bed room. Since then It's been a month. The good thing that came out from my struggle is the knowledge I gathered from experience and online forums. And now after using the Inverter AC for a month, I felt like writing about my experiences with it.
If you know me, or read my previous blog post, you already know that I used a conventional AC for almost four years before buying a inverter AC, So the differences are very clear for me. I have both pros and cons to share in this post.
The good things:
There are a lot of good things to say about the new Inverter AC, I've highlighted some of the important points below:
Low Noise:
I have serious issues with noise. It's hard to concentrate or sleep for me even with very little noise. My old conventional AC was not that loud though, but when the compressor turned on, the difference was notable. Specially at night. but it wasn't terrible in any way.And after using it for years, I got used to the buzzing sound of the compressor.
My new Inverter AC is too silent. Not just the outdoor unit, even the indoor unit air circulation fan produces very low noise. LG included this technology called dual inverter compressor.Usually, there's an imbalanced rotor inside every Rotary compressors, that contributes most to the noise. LG Dual inverter has two of those rotors, they counter balances one another and produces less noise, The outdoor unit shakes less too. Another reason is the variable speed. Instead of the machine buzzing sound, The compressor sounds like a jet engine (with very less noise).
Having low noise has it's fair share of problems though. I started hearing outside noises that were suppressed by the conventional AC before. Like the fact that I know there are three dogs in my neighbouring street 🐶
Energy Saving:
According to LG, the new AC should save around 70% of the energy cost. I have my fair share of doubts. Luckily, the AC is Wi-fi enabled, and keeps track of the electricity consumption. Here's a screenshot from the LG Smart ThinQ APP:
From 15th of last month to 15th of this month, the AC ran for 255 hours and 35 minute and consumed 172.4 KWH of electricity. that's roughly 35% less than what I would expect from my conventional AC. The days were hotter than usual though. In best case scenario, I believe the AC could save around 50% of the cost.
Consistent Cooling and humidity control:
I was not sure whether to put this point in the cons section or here, finally decided that its actually a good thing. Imagine you set the temperature at 22 Degrees Celsius (My favourite 😇), conventional AC compressor will start and remain at full speed, monitor the room temperature, once it reaches the desired temperature around the AC temperature sensor, it will turn off. For that reason: parts of the room will be colder than other parts. Those parts usually end up colder than the set temperature.
For inverter compressors, it starts at full speed, monitors the temperature, once the temperature reaches the desired temperature, it slows down and runs at lower speed. Almost the whole room temperature remains the same.
Someone like me who used a conventional AC for a long time, would think inverter AC doesn't cool well. but once my body started adapting to the way it cools the room, I found it more comforting than conventional AC.
Humidity plays a very important role too. If the air is too humid, the temperature would feel higher. If the humidity is too low, the room would feel colder but low humidity will cause problems like cold seasons. Cracking of lips and skin, irritation and dryness are a few. Inverter AC keeps humidity around 50% the whole night. Conventional one takes it down to 30% sometimes.
One thing I noticed with this type of cooling is, Whenever there's a power cut (Yeah it's a very common thing in our country), The room gets hot very fast. But with my older conventional AC, the room remained cool for a longer time.
Extended Warranty:
Most of the Inverter AC comes with an extended warranty. Inverter compressors usually consists of something called Brushless DC (BLDC) motors. BLDC motors are very reliable and almost maintenance free. So the manufacturers put a longer warranty on inverter devices. Most of the inverter devices in my house like the AC, came with a 10 years warranty.
The particular model of AC that I use came with some additional features like IOT and a built in mosquito repellent, but those features aren't today's topic 🧐
The inconveniences to consider:
There are a lot of reasons to go for inverter AC. However there are some things to consider before buying one. Some of them might be a deal breaker for you.
Much higher price:
Inverter Air conditioners are very expensive. my inverter AC cost me twice the cost of my conventional one although they both have the same cooling capacity (1.5 Ton AKA 18000 BTU). When I planned to buy inverter AC, I considered the fact that I can make up for the extra money in energy bills roughly by three years. As my usage rate is high. If you belong to the group of people who use air conditioners for a few weeks in the whole year, the price might not be worth for you.
Relatively newer technology:
Inverter Air conditioner technology is relatively new compared to the simpler conventional Air conditioners. The technology is still improving every year and AC's are getting better. But for home appliances, newer technology also means lack of available repair places and also expensive repairs. For example, if you warranty runs out and your compressor needs to be changed, you need to find the exact model of compressor or change the whole driver circuit with it. Spare parts might not be available or might be super expensive too.
Conventional AC's are very simple heat engines. If your compressor is dead, just install a third party compressor with the same coolant displacement capacity and it will work fine.
One more thing to add here: the first inverter AC that I bought from a different brand (The one I wrote a post about), that didn't run in my bedroom for unknown reason. The same AC works fine in other places. Even one is installed in my in-law's house. So people's understanding about the complex circuits and sensors of Inverter AC is also currently very limited.
Expensive Coolant:
AC might loose coolant because of a leak or moving from one place to another. Gas related problem is a very common problem for air conditioners. Most of the inverter AC's use the new R410A variant of coolant. This coolant is more eco-friendly than the older R22 type of coolant. But R410A is more expensive and not yet available everywhere. A coolant change for inverter AC usually costs almost double from conventional ones.
Summary:
To sum up, if you are a heavy AC user (in my language: বাংলার শেষ নবাব), or if you are buying AC for your bedroom or office: Inverter AC is worth every penny. It's silent, healthy and comfortable. It will also save a lot of money. Otherwise, you can just buy a conventional AC and be happy with it.