Air conditioners play a substantial role in the summer season which will always keep you cool. AC’s are affordable and is indeed a good fit. Most people buy ACs that are super-efficient that have energy savings with 5-stars. More stars mean more energy savings.
However, the next AC you afford might come with its default temperature set at 24 degree Celsius. According to Power Minister R.K. Singh, the government will switch to making 24°C as the default setting for ACs. By doing this, it will have savings of 20 billion units of electricity in one year alone.
This will happen at the request of Ministry of Power who has asked AC manufacturers to fine-tune default settings of the units they make in a bid to increase power efficiency in the area of air conditioning.
The move is targetted at reducing greenhouse gases emitted by ACs. The 24-degree Celsius level has been put forward by the Ministry based on a study carried out by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), an official statement said.
“Every one-degree increase in the air-conditioner temperature setting results in saving of 6 per cent of electricity consumed,” Minister of State for Power RK Singh said in a statement by the ministry. He mentioned that the commercial establishments, hotels and offices are wasting energy by keeping temperatures in the range of 18-21 degree Celsius when the normal temperature human body is around 36-37 degree Celsius.
“This is not only uncomfortable but is actually unhealthy. Setting the temperature in the range of 18-21 degree Celsius compels people to wear warm clothing or use blankets; therefore, this is actually wastage of energy. Some countries like Japan have put in place regulation to keep the temperature at 28 degree Celsius,” the Minister said.
For now, counselling has been issued to all establishments and AC manufacturers to maintain the default temperature setting between 24 and 26 degree Celsius. The commercial buildings will include airports, shopping malls, offices, hotels, and government buildings like ministries and attached offices, state government offices and public sector undertakings. The manufacturers have also been advised to keep the optimum temperature levels considering the financial and physical well-being of people.
After running an awareness programme for a period of 4-6 months, and conducting a survey to garner public feedback afterwards, the ministry will consider making this mandatory. If all the consumers adopt, this will result in savings of 20 billion units of electricity in one year alone, the Ministry has claimed in its statement.
According to a report, the load in India will be high because of ACs that is certain to consume 200GW by 2030 and this may further multiply as today only about 6% of households are using ACs, informed the BEE.
The total installed AC capacity in India is calculated to be 80 million TR (ton of refrigerator), which is set to increase to 250 million TR by 2030. Taking this huge demand into consideration, estimated 40 million units of electricity can be saved every day by adjusting the AC temperatures.
