Best Window Air Conditioners (ACs) in India
Hitachi 1 ton 5-Star AC (RAW511KUD)
With about 400 service centres spread across India, Hitachi offers superior brand value along with a high-quality product.
This particular window AC from Hitachi, brings a highly energy efficient AC to your home, owing to its 5-Star rating and an ISEER value of 3.4. As explained in my guide, ISEER rating is a better indicator of how energy efficient the AC is. An ISEER value of 3.4 is deserving of the 5-Star tag and indicates significant savings on your electricity bills in the long run.
This AC also comes at a pocket-friendly price so you don’t need to worry about whether your upfront investment will be worth it or not in the long run. Along with savings you get other useful features usually not available in window ACs.
This AC comes with a remote control, making its operation more convenient. It comes with features like on/off timer, auto restart, cooling modes and backlight on/off button.
The AC’s longevity is ensured by its 100% Copper condenser coil, 1-year product warranty, 5 years compressor warranty and 43 stringent quality tests. Overall, if you’re looking for an AC that costs less and offers more, then this one’s a good option.
A subsidiary of one of India’s favourite brand— Tata, Voltas ACs bring an attractive combination of features, technology, price and reliability to Indian homes. This 1 ton 5-Star window AC too, is from its league of energy efficient ACs that offer a sturdy build and a sophisticated design.
The AC comes with 100% copper condenser that ensures maximum heat exchange and can cool the room even when the outside temperature goes as high as 50 degrees.
Its negative ion and anti-dust filter remove the smoke, dust, allergens and fungi from the room air, if any. This filter is especially useful if you live near areas under construction or near traffic-packed highways.
Additionally, if you live in a coastal area where humidity is higher, the AC’s dehumidifier is attuned to sense the indoor humidity and suck out the excess moisture. The AC also comes with a remote-control having features like Turbo mode, timer, E-saver mode, sleep mode and so on.
The Turbo mode is perfect for instant cooling, when you come home tired in summers or in the afternoon. The sleep mode and E-saver reduce the AC’s power consumption contributing to lower electricity costs. Like other window ACs, the warranty covers the product for a year and compressor for 5 years.
If you’re running on a tight budget and the AC’s upfront cost is a make-or-break factor to your decision-making, then you should really consider this window AC from Blue Star. With one of the lowest price tags in the window ACs segment, this 1-ton 3-Star window AC is perfect for small bedrooms and study rooms of about 100 square feet.
The AC’s Copper condenser coil protects it from gas leakage, rust and corrosion, adding to its durability. The evaporator coils (located in the internal unit) too have hydrophilic blue fins coils that protect it from dust, water damage and gas leakage.
The AC’s reliability is further reinforced by a year’s warranty on the product and 5-year warranty on the compressor. Measuring 61.5 x 56 x 37.7 cms, this AC will fit in any medium-sized window with ease.
You even get a remote-control with the AC with a variety of features. These include, different cooling modes, timer on/off, clock, swing, fan speed, sleep mode, energy saving mode, turbo mode and light on/off.
All-in-all, this AC costs less, promises to last longer and also helps save on light bills in the long run.
Does your AC usage run up to 6-8 hours every day? Or in case its your first AC, do you see yourself limiting your usage to half an hour daily or letting it add up to 6-8 hours?
In both cases, you will need an AC that can cool consistently for longer time but by consuming less power. A 5-Star rated AC with an ISEER value of 4.5 is a reliable assurance of the AC’s energy efficiency capability.
Only the best-in-class power saver AC, like this one from Whirlpool, can help you save on the light bills when your usage runs up to double digits on hot days. But when you’re expecting an extensive usage, a 5-Star AC is not enough.
After all, you can only reap the long-term benefits of an all-star AC if lasts 8 to 10 years. This Whirlpool AC does exactly that!
With 100% copper condenser and a Japanese compressor, you get an AC that’s designed for a long shelf-life. In fact, Whirlpool’s 6th Sense technology is curated to sense the room’s temperature and adjust its cooling accordingly for even better power saving results.
This AC is ideal for extensive usage without expensive electricity bills!
Suitable for medium-sized rooms of about 150 square feet, this AC comes from one of the leading manufacturers of air conditioners- Carrier Midea India Private Limited.
The AC has a 3-Star BEE rating which indicates a low power consumption without compromising the cooling capacity. This, in combination with sleep mode, helps lower electricity costs even if you use the AC all night long.
That’s because in sleep mode the temperature rises by a degree every hour (as the outside temperature falls drastically during night-time) ensuring you don’t get too cold and helping you save energy costs.
The AC also boasts of an anti-dust filter that eliminates allergens and dust particles effectively, giving you cleaner and healthier air. You also get a remote control with the AC, adding to the convenience factor.
Carrier midea has your product covered under 1-year product warranty and 5-year compressor warranty.
Is after-sales service one of your main concerns while buying an AC?
Well, it should be! After all, whether it’s for periodic maintenance work or in case of breakdown, you need to be sure that the AC technicians will fix it quickly and effectively. Many consumers feel disappointed and irritated with no-response or delayed after-sales service from most brands.
Although there’s no way to guarantee top-quality after-sales service (as you don’t know how good a technician will visit); how fast and how responsive the service is, depends on the service centre’s proximity to your home. For this, the AC brand’s service centre network is important.
LG has a wide network of service centres across India (>1000) making it one of the most reliable and responsive after-sales brands in the country. This number is one of the largest in the industry as LG doesn’t just offer ACs but a range of consumer products.
This number is even reassuring in a way that there will be at least 1 service centre in your area or city. Hence the chances of timely and quality after-sales service from LG service centres are higher.
From its multiple options in the window AC segment, this AC from LG has the most preferred combination of an energy efficient AC in a large 1.5-ton size and costing below 30000 Rs.
The AC comes with Gold fin Copper condenser— the best quality condenser out there, and is coated with Ocean Black Protection. This safeguards the AC’s core parts from smoke, pollutants, sand, dust and corrosion.
Along with the above unique features the AC comes with a variety of modes on its remote-control. Its filter is a specialized fine mesh that removes allergens and other pathogens.
All these points make this AC from LG an attractive buy!
This window AC from Mitashi comes with 100% Copper condenser, numerous features, and all of these at a pocket-friendly price!
The filter offers protection against bacteria, virus and allergens, giving you clean air to breathe in. The AC’s 1.5-ton size combined with a hydrophilic evaporator coil ensures better cooling, higher durability and protection from gas leak.
Along with a digital display, you get different mode like sleep mode, turbo mode (for instant cooling), eco mode, timer, display on/off, swing, fan speed and so on.
With a 1-year product warranty and 5 years warranty on condenser, the AC makes sure you’re not left high and dry in case of any unexpected issues. Out of all other ACs in this category, this AC from Mitashi is very budget-friendly and is suitable for mid-sized rooms of about 150-180 square feet.
Window Air Conditioner (AC) Buying Guide
How does the Air conditioner (AC) work?
Air Conditioner takes a small batch of hot air from the room, transfers the heat outside (it transfers only the heat not the air itself) thereby reducing the temperature of that batch of air and making it cooler. It then releases the cool air back inside the room.
This cycle is repeated by taking in another batch of hot air from the room.
How the AC works, in detail:
Understanding the behind-the-scenes aspect of the AC you need to know 2 concepts:
- Concept of Heat Transfer
- Evaporation and condensation
- Concept of heat transfer.
Let’s say you boil a cup of water and leave it on the table. When you come back after an hour, you find its already become cold (or room temperature warm). Why is that?
Its because the heat from the boiled water has escaped to its surroundings i.e. the surrounding air, the surface of the table etc.
However, it’s only the heat that has escaped the cup of water and not the water itself. This is the concept of heat transfer.
When heat is transferred from one object to another, the object which loses heat (cup of water) becomes cooler and the object which gains heat (table surface, surrounding air etc.) becomes hotter.
Air Conditioner does the same; it takes in a small batch of hot air, transfers its heat to another object (called a coolant or a refrigerant) thereby making that batch of air cooler. It then releases the cool air inside the room.
Again, notice here that neither does the AC generate any cold air of its own nor does it take in any outside air. It just transfers heat of air from inside to outside.
2. Evaporation and Condensation
We all know water is in liquid form. If we heat it, it converts into steam (or gaseous state). We call this evaporation. Thus, evaporation is the process of converting liquid into gas by applying heat to the liquid.
Condensation is the reverse of evaporation.
Take out the heat from steam (gaseous state) and it’ll turn to water (liquid state). Hence, in other words, condensation is the process of converting gas into liquid by removing heat from the gas.
Now that the basics are brushed up, lets understand how it applies to the AC.
In window AC the inner part of the unit (right behind the AC filter) has a component called as Evaporator. The evaporator does what its name suggests, it evaporates.
But what does it evaporate?
The evaporator evaporates something called as refrigerant or coolant— the object which takes the heat out of the batch of hot air I was referring to, in the points above.
The evaporator contains this Refrigerant in a liquid state. Now as per its job, it wants to evaporate the coolant into gaseous state. Where will it get the heat to evaporate the coolant?
Yes, you guessed it right, within the room itself! So, a batch of hot air from the room is taken in by a blower fan and passed over the evaporator coil.
The refrigerant takes this heat in, thereby cooling the room air which is released back inside the room.
Now, it’s the refrigerant that has become hot and evaporated to gaseous state. The evaporator’s job is then complete.
But there is still more air to be cooled within the room. But there’s no refrigerant as all of it has evaporated into gas.
Hence in the next step, this very hot gaseous refrigerant passes through a compressor. Here, its pressure is increased by compression. The high-pressure hot refrigerant is then sent to the condenser.
The condenser coil is made of heat-loving metals like Copper or Aluminium. This Copper or Aluminium condenser coil absorbs the heat out of the highly pressurized hot refrigerant, turning it less hot and liquid, then passes it on to the expansion valve.
The expansion valve receives the highly-pressurized liquid refrigerant. It reduces the pressure of this refrigerant and sends a cool liquid refrigerant back to its starting point— the evaporator coil.
The refrigerant is now prepared to absorb heat from another batch of hot air thus repeating the cycle again.
Things to consider while buying Window Air conditioner (AC)
Tonnage/ Size/ Capacity
The very first thing you should decide before buying an AC is its capacity or tonnage (1-ton, 1.5 ton, etc.). This is because irrespective of the type of AC you choose (split or window, inverter or non-inverter) the tonnage will remain fixed.
Tonnage is basically the cooling capacity of your AC. More the tonnage faster will be the AC’s cooling.
There are two reasons why the tonnage required for your room is fixed.
- Buying an undersized AC increases the load on it, leading to early breakdown and improper cooling. Your electricity costs will soar up too.
- Buying an oversized AC messes with the normal mechanism of the AC making it unable to suck out the humidity and also causes early breakdown of core components like compressor.
Why? Well, let’s see each point one at a time.
The problem with buying undersized ACs:
If your room is too big and your AC too small, you’ll never get the desired level of cooling even after running the AC at full blast. This increases electricity costs and also stresses out the AC leading to early breakdown.
In fact, the installation technician may even refuse to install the AC if it’s of inadequate capacity.
The problem with buying oversized ACs:
If you buy an AC of higher tonnage for a small room it may cause improper cooling and mess with the AC’s mechanism.
Especially in coastal cities where moisture is high buying an oversized AC will prevent it from removing the humidity in the room effectively. This will cause issues with the AC’s cooling performance.
Another problem of getting an oversized AC is related to its mechanism. An oversized AC cools an undersized room quickly and shuts down. A few minutes later it starts and shuts down again as it quickly reaches the set temperature.
Thus, the oversized AC starts up and shuts down a greater number of times, than an AC of appropriate size. This messes with all the components of AC (particularly the compressor) and you will have to spend more money later in repairing or replacing parts of the AC.
The third reason is obvious, ACs with higher tonnage are more expensive than ACs with lower tonnage. So, you’ll be saving money upfront by not buying an oversized AC.
As ACs with higher capacity are more expensive than ACs with lower capacity your local electronic dealers will always try to sell you AC of higher capacity. DON’T FALL FOR IT.
Calculating Tonnage
Use this formula to calculate the tonnage required for your room.
Do note:
- If your room is situated on the top floor and gets direct sunlight throughout the day, increase your calculated tonnage by 10% to get your final tonnage. For example, if your calculated tonnage is 1 ton and your room is on top floor your final tonnage requirement will be 1.1 ton.
This brings us to an important point; ACs are available in limited number of tonnage options so, whenever you calculate the final tonnage, choose the AC with tonnage which is closest to your required calculated tonnage.
For example, if your final calculated tonnage comes to 1.1 ton then buy a 1-ton AC as 1.1-ton ACs are not available in the market and so on.
If you don’t want to get in the hassle of calculating volume of your room then use this image to see what is the required tonnage for your room based on its area.
Energy efficiency
All home appliances these days are in a race to be the most energy efficient. But what does it really mean?
‘Energy’ is the electricity an AC consumes to remove a fixed amount of heat. If an AC consumes LESS energy to remove MORE heat, then it is considered as highly energy efficient.
And higher the energy efficiency of an AC, lower will be your electricity bill. But, how do you know which AC is more energy efficient and which one is less efficient?
Well, by star rating of course.
In general, higher the star rating, lower is the energy consumed by the AC to remove a fixed amount of heat. So, higher the star rating, lower will be your electricity bills and higher will be your savings in the long run.
However, star ratings can be really confusing while making a buying decision and can even be misleading. Why you ask?
Well for that you need to know the source of star ratings— ISEER value.
Star ratings are given by BUREAU OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY (BEE) in order to force manufacturers to produce more energy efficient ACs and help consumers make informed buying decisions. However, these star ratings are based on a range of ISEER values which are prescribed by the BEE.
According to BEE, ISEER or “Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio” means the ratio of the total annual amount of heat that the equipment may remove from the indoor air when operated for cooling in active mode to the total annual amount of energy consumed by the equipment during the same period.
Simply put it is ratio of heat removed to energy consumed over a fixed time period. Higher the value of ISEER ratio higher will be the energy efficiency of your AC.
As of 2019, star ratings for split ACs and window ACs are as follows:
Checking the ISEER value gives a better idea of how energy efficient the AC is, instead of blindly believing the star ratings (ISEER value is displayed immediately below the star rating in big bold characters on the label).
A single star rating comprises of a range of ISEER values. Manufacturers and dealers use this knowledge to increase price of their products.
For example, a window AC with 3.09 ISEER value, gets a 3-star rating but at 3.10 ISEER value, it gets a 4-star rating. So, the AC with 3.10 ISEER value is priced significantly higher than one with 3.09 ISEER value. This is because buyers generally look only at star rating and pay more for extra stars.
This explains my point above, about why star-ratings can be misleading and how ISEER is a better indicator of energy efficiency.
Since, you’re now clear about ISEER and its relation to star ratings, you can compare ACs of different brands and types and then take your decision. Also, no AC dealer can scam you by trying to confuse you with star levels of window and split ACs.
Ultimately, to grab an energy efficient AC for a good deal, look at the ISEER value. If there’s a large difference between prices of two ACs but not a lot of difference between their ISEER value go for the AC that is less costly irrespective of the star rating.
Budget
Both split and window ACs start from a range of about 20000 and go up to 70000 Rs. Window ACs are however, more economical than split ACs and cost in the range of 18000-40000 Rs.
Within this range, you can find a wide variety of ACs that offer good combination of price, features, technology and energy efficiency.
However, the only factor that must stay constant in your budget considerations, is capacity or tonnage of the AC. This is because, buying an undersized or oversized AC will lead to higher bills, improper cooling and frequent breakdown of parts.
So how do you fix a budget that’s just right for your pocket and tonnage? Well, here are a few pointers:
- You can choose between a combination of factors, to fit the right AC in your budget. These are energy efficiency ratings and brand.
- Star ratings are most popularly referred for making buying decisions. After all a 1- or 2-star AC may be cheap but will prove costly in the long run in terms of electricity bills and cooling capacity.
- But this doesn’t necessarily mean, you should run off to buy a 5-star rated AC and pay whatever the cost.
- Instead, 3- or 4-star ACs do a good job of power saving and don’t even cost a lot!
- Only go for a 5-star AC if you’re willing to pay for a premium brand (for a quality after sales service) and to reap its cost-saving benefits over a period of time.
- Brand value is another factor that can make or break your budget plans.
- According to Motilal Oswal’s market analysis on Air conditioner industry(2018), Voltas, Mitashi, Onida, BlueStar, LG, Daikin, Whirlpool etc. are a favourite among consumers. While brands like O General, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi are considered premium.
- According to the same report, most buyers prefer popular brands over premium ones and a star rating of 3 or 5.
- Things to consider before buying an AC (Air conditioner)
- Room and the spot
The Room
If it’s your first AC then selecting the right room to install the AC becomes important for maximum utility and minimum regret.
For most, bedroom is the room of choice. For others looking for a second AC for their home, it’s usually the living room.
The most important factor in selecting the room to put your AC in is ‘usage’. The use of AC is synonymous with comfort and relaxation hence the AC should be put in a room you’re most comfortable in and the room you spend most of your time in.
Window ACs, in particular are suitable for bedrooms or study-rooms, but it’s better to get a split AC in case of the living room.
The Spot
If you’re going for a window AC, look for a spot in a centrally located window in the room. This will ensure good circulation of the cool air and not create any ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ zones in the room.
However, if you don’t have the liberty to choose the perfect position because of a corner window, fret not. You can make use of the ‘swing’ feature and adjust the AC blades such that they direct the air to where you need it the most.
- Connections (Installation related considerations)
Window ACs are not very complex to install. They just need two things— a window and an electric point.
There is, however, one point that may demand your attention, i.e. the framework around the window AC. Gaps between the AC unit and the window frame could lead to improper cooling and a higher load on your AC.
SO, once you get the AC installed identify the gaps, if any and have a carpenter fix it.
FAQs about Window Air conditioners (ACs)
Q.1 Which AC to buy on a tight budget?
Window ACs are significantly cheaper than Split ACs and range between 20000 to 35000 Rupees. So, if you’re on a tight budget, Window ACs offer an upfront advantage of low cost.
Q.2 Which AC is better Window or Split?
Window ACs are better if you’re on a tight budget and have a space constraint, especially the space outside window. However, in terms of features, energy efficiency and aesthetics Split ACs are superior to window ACs.
Q.3 What is the difference between Split AC and Window AC?
Both Split and Window ACs have same working and similar parts. The only difference is, Split AC is split into two separate units while window AC has only one box unit.
However, Window ACs are more economical than Split ACs.