Whirlpool is a reputed American brand providing decent series of air conditioners (AC). Whirlpool ACs offers a good versatility and thoughtful innovation. Boasting 100+ years of experience, it is notably one of the few consumer durables companies to survive the adversity of great economic depression of the 1930s. Today it is a largest home appliance maker in the world. Talking about its India’s operations, Whirlpool entered the Indian market in the late 80s partnering the TVS group. Since then it rapidly expanded its operations and set up manufacturing units in Pondicherry, Pune, and Faridabad with headquarters in Gurgaon. Talking about market share it controls roughly 5 % of the AC but with the growth rate in double digits. Whirlpool presently operates only in the residential AC segment providing with two basic types of ACs: window AC and split AC.

Whirlpool is one of the few brands which keeps offering latest advancements in its appliances and ACs are no exception. Variants of its famous 6^th Sense Technology offers smart cooling technology with a focus on optimization to save energy. With the launch of new models in the 3D Cool and Fantasia series, Whirlpool’s ACs are at par with the 2018 Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) norms.

Key Air Conditioner Technology

IntelliComfort technology to Impart Optimized Cooling

Split ACs from Whirlpool comes with 6^th sense IntelliComfort technology that comes with a smart logic chip embedded inside the air conditioner. For faster cooling and energy conservation it makes sure indoor unit correctly gauges ambient humidity and then communicates with the outdoor unit to adapt the AC operations. For example, when the indoor unit senses high humidity, it lowers down the fan speed and expedites the condensation process to ensure faster cooling. On the contrary, when it detects lower levels of moisture, it increases the fan speed while mitigating the condensation process timeline. This ensures optimum cooling with energy saving.

3D Cool Extreme Technology for All-around Cooling

Generally, ordinary ACs have a single vent for sucking out hot air from the room and thus are not very efficient when it comes to cooling. But the premium split ACs from Whirlpool comes with 3D Cool Extreme technology with a 3-dimensional vent system that pulls out hot air and provides temperature pull down much faster. The cooling of room happens due to exchange of heat through the evaporator which comes with wider coils. In 3D Cool Extreme technology large quantity of hot air flows in the evaporator through strategic placement of 3 vents—one at the top while two on the sides. New models of the Fantasia series come with a 39 feet air throw system to deliver uniform cooling even in the larger rooms. All this ensures uniform and faster all-around cooling.

Dual Fan Compressor Technology for Faster Cooling

The compressor is the backbone of ACs, consuming most of the electricity. It compresses the gas causing it to become hot, which is then condensed by the condenser coil. All new models of Whirlpool ACs come with an advanced Japanese rotary compressor. The rotary compressor compresses the air by the centrifugal action of the high-speed impeller in a designated confined space. As compared to the conventional reciprocating compressors, rotary compressors are much more efficient as they are designed in a way to reduce the loss in pressure of refrigerator gas and produce lesser noise. The best part is they come with a dual fan which compliments the efficient rotary compressor used, by boosting its performance even in the intense temperature of 55^oC. Whirlpool believes this combination of dual fan compressor delivers 50% faster cooling than its competitors.

4-in-1 Filtration to Combat PM 2.5 Pollutants

Particulate matter, PM 2.5 consist of very fine particles present in the air which are of the size two and a half microns in width (or even less). Micron is unit of measurement at a microscopic scale with one-inch equating to 25,000 microns.

So, you might wonder what are the sources of PM 2.5?

Ans:

• Fine particles emitted from:
• Car
• Bus
• Truck
• Other off-road vehicles
• Minute material expelled from the exhausts of:
• Construction equipment
• Snowmobile
• Burning of:
• Wood
• Oil
• Grass fire

PM 2.5 can cause major health impairment as they can travel through the respiratory tract reaching the lungs. PM 2.5 can result into the following health impairments:

• Eye and nose irritation
• Throat and lung irritation
• Coughing and sneezing
• Increased rates of chronic bronchitis
• Reduction in smooth lung functioning

Whirlpool ACs comes with a 4 layers filter which exterminates 99% of harmful PM 2.5 pollutants by ensuring removal of allergens and bacteria. Each layer of the filter performs following function:

1. HD high density filter: Basic filtration and removal of dust
2. Anion filter: Removal of PM 2.5
3. Silver filter: Removal of PM 2.5 and bacteria
4. Activated Carbon Odor filter (ACF): Removal of foul odor

Copper Condenser for Low Maintenance Cost

Condenser used in the premium Whirlpool ACs is made 100% of copper. . One of the important advantages of copper condenser over the conventional aluminum one is that heat transfer in copper is better. The copper condenser is more durable and much easier to clean and maintain compared to the aluminum condenser. The only downside of copper is that they are expensive than aluminum.

Advanced MPFI and Turbo Cool Technology

New windows AC from Whirlpool comes with advanced MPFI (Multi Port Fluid Injection) technology using a unique 4×4 evaporator circuit design that facilitates rapid heat exchange, resulting in enhanced cooling output. Additionally, there is a Turbo Cool mode which makes the fan and other component run at peak speed to deliver brisk cooling within 5 minutes.

Intellisense Inverter Compressor with Voltage Compensation Logic

High-end split ACs from Whirlpool comes with Intellisense inverter technology. So, what is inverter technology? Well, to be really simple, inverter technology is analogous to the car accelerator. When compressor needs more power, it gives it more power. When it needs less power, it gives less power. With this technology, the compressor is always on but draws less power or more power depending on the temperature of the incoming air and the level set in the thermostat. The speed and power of the compressor is adjusted appropriately. The Intellisense inverter used in Whirlpool inverter ACs optimizes peak performance to give perfect cooling even at low operating voltage and extreme temperatures of up to 55^oC.

Voltage Compensation Logic and Fireproof Control Box

Power cuts and load shedding is commonplace in India, especially in distant towns and villages. ACs being a big electrical appliance are susceptible to vagaries of the supplied electricity. Power cuts generally poise the problem of a voltage fluctuation which can damage the air conditioner. Premium split ACs from Whirlpool are capable of tackling this problem, thanks to its smart voltage compensation logic and metal enclosed fireproof control box. Smart voltage compensation logic acts like a mini stabilizer, ensuring smooth functioning of the AC even in the range of 155V to 264V. Control box of ACs are susceptible to fire due to excessive flow of electricity or short-circuiting. Thus following the high safety and precautionary standards, modern Whirlpool split ACs come with a metal shell with a fireproof case for the control box to avert any fire mishap.

Conclusion

Whirlpool might not be the best AC brand but does quite a decent job at cooling. Talking about the negative sides,  their energy efficiency numbers are mostly around average or below average in every star rating range, but then their models are also budget friendly.

One of the things we like the most about the new Whirlpool AC is that it comes with app control feature. If you have an IR blaster on your phone, you can simply control your AC with the app. It allows you to not only regulate the temperature but also dabble between the different modes. Another useful feature is that it would apprise you of the estimated energy consumption based on the usage and provide a graphical representation of the usage, so you can have a better idea how many units of energy AC is guzzling. Dual fan rotary compressor with 3 vents ensures that the room is optimally cooled without piling up too much of electricity units. Usage of copper condenser ensures prolonged longevity and minimal maintenance cost. The 4-in-1 filter used ensures the harmful PM 2.5 pollutants are filtered out before they lead to any health ailments. So, go for the Whirlpool AC if you have a limited budget but want an energy efficient machine and want to protect your family from pollutants, allergens, and bacteria.

Some Good Whirlpool Models:

The post Whirlpool AC in India – Review appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

Electricity Charges contribute significantly to the total expenses of the company/shop/organisation etc. Improper voltage, frequent cuts etc. are some other issues one faces in the productivity of his organisation. Understanding all related aspects of the UP Govt. policy regarding energy billing and mechanism to resolve the issues can help one to be wiser and smart to save on energy bill and avoid inconveniences. Here we discuss some of it.

On-Line Platform to get the Industrial and Commercial Connection

Uttar Pradesh has provided a single-window with an online platform to sanction Industrial & commercial connection for easing out the businessman.

Up to 20 KW (Jhatpat Portal)

The application for this can be applied through Jhat pat Portal Link

Above 20 kW (Nivesh Mitra)

The application for this can be applied through Nivesh Mitra Portal Linke

What is Domestic Connection?

Electric connection used for the purpose of household activity such as light, fans, air conditioning, refrigerator, air cooler, domestic pump etc. is called Domestic Tariff.  Besides this, HT power availed for domestic service in the multistoried building is also categorised in the domestic tariff.  The tariff is subsidised and not permitted to be used for commercial activity.

What is Commercial Connection?

Electricity used for the purpose of the shop, hotel, restaurant, private guest house/ hostel, Marriage house, showroom, Trading establishment cinema, bank, telephone booth, automobile service Centre, coaching institute etc. are called Commercial Connection.

Load Less than 75 KW are billed in Supply Type LMV-2 & Load above 75 KW are billed in HV-1 Category.

What is Industrial Connection?

Electricity used for the industrial / Processing or agro-industrial purpose or other power consumers, Floor culture, Mushroom & Farming units etc. are called Industrial Connection

Less than Load 75 KW are billed in Supply Type LMV-6 & Load 75 KW & Above are billed in HV-2 Category.

How to read your Domestic, Industrial & Commercial Bills?

Your Electricity Bills consist of the following :

Fixed Charges:

Fixed Charge is the fixed amount charged for billing period according to the Sanctioned Load as per the Agreement you had with the Power Company. There is another term called Demand and one should be aware of that. The demand for a particular month is a load of all the electrical equipment running simultaneously for a period of 30 minutes continuously in that month. This demand gets recorded in Electronic Meter and is always mentioned on your Electricity Bill. One should be aware of the difference between the sanctioned and demand and its impact on the electricity bill. If the demand in a particular month is less than 75 % of the Sanctioned Load then Fixed chargers for that Month are calculated on 75 % of the Sanctioned Load & if the demand in a particular month is more than Sanctioned load then Fixed charges are calculated on Actual demand & in addition, twice the fixed charges will be taken on excess demand. (What happens if the sanctioned load is not corrected for many months)

Energy Charges:

Energy Charges are charges for the unit consumption (one unit is kVAH) in the billing cycle which generally is one month.

Electricity Duty:

Electricity Duty is the tax amount levied on Fixed Charges & Energy charges combine, which at present @ 7.5 % of Fixed + Energy Charges (i.e. on the total bill). For Domestic and Government connection it is @ 5% of the total bill amount consisting of Fixed and unit charges.

Penalty or Surcharge:

Penalty may be on late payment (1.25% per month up to the First three months of delay & subsequently @ 2 % on the dues per month of delay) & on Excess demand also.

Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Tariff

The Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Tariff is given in the Tariff order of UP summarised as under:

Domestic Tariff

Click the link below for the domestic tariff of Uttar Pradesh and other connected links

Domestic Electricity LT Tariff (Urban and Rural) Fixed and Unit Rates for all states in India

Commercial Tariff

Industrial Tariff

What are the minimum Charges in a commercial connection?

A commercial connection is covered with minimum charges which are Rs 600/kW/ Month (April to September) & Rs 475 /kW /month (October to March) irrespective whether you consume any energy or not.

It may be noted that there are no minimum charges for domestic and industrial connection.

Billing on zero consumption

When the electricity consumption of the consumer is zero due to house lock and all appliances switched off, the billing is done on fixed charges only. In case, the billing is still done on previous months average, you should represent the department with a proof of your house lock. It may happen due to the report of the meter reader that the meter is defective, then only the billing is done on average basis.

What is the difference between kVA & kW?

KW is the amount of ‘actual power’ an electrical system consumes. This shows you how much power is being converted into useful work. KVA, on the other hand, is the measure of total ‘apparent’ power’ for which you are billed. If kW is how much power you can work with, kVA tells you how much is being used by the overall system. Click the link for more on this.

Does industrial & commercial connections bill on kVAh Units?

Industrial & commercial connections up to 9 kW sanctioned load is billed on kWh called as ‘Unit” & 10 kW & above connections are billed on kVAh Unit.

What is the impact of poor power factor (more kVAh in comparison to kWh) in the case of Large Industrial & Commercial Connections?

If the power factor which is the ratio of kWh/kVAh is less than 0.9 than on the same amount of actual energy used in KWh actual billing on kVAh will be 10% more. Therefore, it is advisable to go for installation of Capacitor Bank to maintain the power factor to unity.

What is T.O.D (Time of DAY) Billing?

25 kW & above Industrial connections are billed in T.O.D which means consumption of 24 Hours of a day is divided into four-time slots & energy charges into all four-time slots are different. At Present four time slots are as follows:
For summer: (April to September)
(1) 05 :00 Hrs -11 :00 Hrs -Energy’s charges are extra (-)15 % on base rate.
(2) 11:00 Hrs-17:00 Hrs – Energy’s charges are extra 0 % on base rate
(3) 17:00 Hrs-23:00 Hrs- Energy’s charges are extra (+) 15 % on base rate
(4) 23:00 Hrs -05:00 Hrs – Energy’s charges are extra 0 % on base rate

For winter: (October to March)
(1) 05 :00 Hrs -11 :00 Hrs – Energy’s charges are extra 0 % on base rate
(2) 11:00 Hrs-17:00 Hrs – Energy’s charges are extra 0 % on base rate
(3) 17:00 Hrs-23:00 Hrs- Energy’s charges are extra (+) 15 % on base rate
(4) 23:00 Hrs -05:00 Hrs – Energy’s charges are extra (-)15 % on base rate.

There is an excellent opportunity to save on energy bill if the high energy consumer machines working is shifted to morning slot.

When and how can you change the name of your electric connection in Uttar Pradesh?

Electric connection is given in the name of the person owning the property or possess a legal rental agreement.
Name of an electric connection from one person to another person can be changed either upon the death of existing consumer or transfer of ownership.
Application for which can be submitted in the local office of the department with following documents ~

1.Documentary evidence of transfer of property(registered deed) or change of legal heirship (succession certificate).
2. Copy of latest paid electricity bill as proof that no electricity Bill is pending.
3. No objection from the existing consumer if available/possible.
4. Fresh application form duly filled.

After approval for change of name from the department, the transferee is required to be submitted fresh connection agreement with the DISCOM.

How to lodge an electricity complaint in Uttar Pradesh?

You can lodge your complaint about the energy bill, transformer, new connections, theft, supply failure and quality issue and meter defective complaints by Selecting Register complaints of consumer corner on www.uppcl.org or you can also lodge your complaints on calling toll free number 1912. Sometimes there are cases in which the administration unable to resolve your grievance and for this, you can file your grievance with CGRF.

Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF)

This is the forum where an electricity consumer can file his complaints/representation when his dispute with DISCOM in Uttar Pradesh remains unresolved.

The issues for which you can address your grievance to CGRF are mainly-(a) problem regarding excess/wrong electricity bill (b) interruption of supply/voltage related problem (c) meter related problem (d) delay in new connections (e) wrong use of tariff (f) interest on the security etc., for which one can file his complaints with this forum “ Consumer Grievances Redressal Forum” of your zone. The address & mobile numbers are given in the table below. The consumer can register his complaints personally or through sending letter mentioning his name, address, connection ID, Mobile number, Discom name, Division name and details of the complaint along with proof in support of the complaint, postal order or demand draft of Rs. 50.

MVVNL, Lucknow Discom

PuVVNL, Varanasi Discom

DVVNL, Agra Discom

PVVNL, Meerut Discom

KESCO, Discom

NPCL

How can you know the amount of your current electricity bill in Uttar Pradesh?

You can know the amount of your current electricity bill through SMS on 5616195 by writing bill (space) Account ID. But best is to register yourself on the website of UPPCL for online payment where you can monitor and keep a record of the past bills, the understanding the trend of consumption etc.

Click for further reading

1. Electricity Bills and the tariff change confusion
2. Domestic Electricity LT tariff slabs and rates of all states in India
3. Electricity Duty and tax on Electricity bills in India
4. Online Electricity bill calculator for all states in India

Contact

For free advise, post your query in the discussion forum below. However, in case you need discussion/consultation one to one with the power consultant, then post your query on this e-mail address info@powerconsultant.in for services on payment.

The post Decoding Domestic, Commercial & Industrial Electricity Connection in Uttar Pradesh appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

Expressing shock over high electricity bills is not uncommon. However, that is mostly the first reaction. The next thing that most people do is doubt the electricity distribution company. Making mistakes in electricity bill calculation is not uncommon, but rarely does it happen on a large scale. And unprecedented times are giving us unprecedented experiences. Post lockdown, we are receiving several complaints from people saying that their electricity bills are exorbitant. Even celebrities are complaining about the same on Twitter. Yes, indeed they are high, but let’s examine why we are in the current situation and what all you can analyze before putting a complaint with your electricity distribution company.

Why are we in this situation?

We have two components on our electricity bills: fixed charges and energy charges. Fixed charges do not vary month-to-month, but energy charges do vary based on our monthly consumption. We all have an energy meter in our house installed by our electricity distribution company. This energy meter records our electricity consumption every moment. Our electricity bills are generated when a person from our electricity distribution company comes and records the reading on this energy meter every month. Although there are SMART meters that can digitally transfer your readings to the energy distribution company, they are still rare in our country.

Now the Lockdown brought this process of meter reading to a grinding halt. And everything was thrown in disarray. Meter readings were not taken for months (March till Lockdown), and the bills were generated on average reading.

What is Average Reading?

The definition of average reading may vary from place to place. It can be average monthly consumption throughout the year (in the previous year), or it can be average of past few months, or it can be average of a specific month in the past few years. It is essential to ask your electricity distribution company on how they came up with the average. In Maharashtra (or specifically Mumbai where I live), the average used was average of the past 3 months. So, for the month of March, April and May, I was billed on average of December, January and February. It can be different if you are not in Maharashtra and before you start analyzing, please confirm with your distribution company on which months were used for calculation of average.

How does a month make a difference?

Your consumption of electricity varies throughout the year. Two of the most significant electricity consuming appliances in residence: Air Conditioners and Ceiling Fans are used a lot in summers and much less in winters. This results in higher electricity consumption in summers and lower in winters. Now in my case, the average was based on December, January and February, which are the lowest in terms of consumption. And my highest consumption is in April, May and June (months when I use ACs and Fan). What this resulted in was that I paid bills equivalent to December, January and February for March, April and May. This resulted in a big gap. All of which got added in June for which I got the bill (after the actual meter reading).

Did Lockdown have an impact?

It certainly did. In my house of 3 adults and 2 kids, 4 people usually used to be out of the house in a typical month of April and May. My wife and I would go to work, and my kids would go to school. All of this resulted in less electricity consumption at home for the 8-10 hours when we were out. But Lockdown got us all locked in the home with increasing consumption of ACs and Fans (which contribute a lot to electricity bills). What this resulted in increased units consumed for March, April, May and June in comparison to last year. For extra 8-10 hours, our electricity consumption increased by roughly 30% (however, it can vary depending on how much AC you use).

Shouldn’t we get relief because of COVID?

Yes, we should, and many governments are trying to give people relief because of COVID. In fact, in Maharashtra, the government did announce 8% cuts on electricity bills for the next five years. But increased electricity consumption negated it all. In my case, my consumption increased by 30%, so the 8% discount did not help me bring down my electricity bills. Instead, they increased. So even though I should have got relief, but because I increased my electricity consumption, my bills increased.

But I am not complaining, because due to Lockdown, I rarely travel to the office and my consumption of petrol/fuel has come down significantly. So, if I spend somewhere, I save somewhere.

Is there anything else that can impact my bills?

Usually, the electricity tariffs are slabbed, i.e., you pay less for lower consumption and high for higher consumption. So, for, e.g. in Maharashtra the cost of electricity is lowest for the first 100 units. It then increases if your consumption is between 101 and 300 units and highest if your electricity consumption increased beyond 500 units. So, with increased consumption, it is quite likely that your consumption may have gone beyond a limit and into a higher slab. Keep an eye on the slab that you lie in.

What can you do to analyze?

Here are a few steps that you can take to analyze your electricity bills and understand why they are high post lockdown:

• Find out from your electricity distribution company as to what months did they take for calculating the average billing. If you are in Maharashtra, please note that the bills were generated based on consumption in December, January and February. Do look at this video shared by Adani Power (my distribution company): https://youtu.be/N6B-DglJtIE
• Compare your total electricity bills of last year from the electricity bills for this year in the same period.
• Analyze the amount of change in consumption that may have happened. If you are spending 8 hours more at home in a day, then you may be consuming about 30% (8 out of 24) more electricity than usual. It can be more than that as well. So, your bills should be about 30% higher for these months.
• Ask for the calculation from your electricity distribution company. Make sure that all of your units consumed are distributed uniformly across months and is not exorbitantly high in a single month. Dumping all the units in a single month can push you into a higher slab.

What can you do if you have doubts on your electricity bills?

You have done the analysis as mentioned above, and you are still not okay with the calculation and want to complain? Well, the best way to do it is to first reach out to CGRF (or Custom Grievance Redressal Forum) at your electricity distribution company. By law, all electricity distribution companies have to have a CGRF, and they have to listen to your complaints. If they are not able to solve your problem, then you can reach out to the Ombudsman at your electricity regulatory commission. The state electricity regulatory commission is an independent (government) body. It does not have any financial interests with your distribution company. They should surely be able to give a fair judgement.

Conclusion

Lockdown has undoubtedly brought great pain to all of us. And electricity bills are adding on to that. But it is always good to do an analysis on our own before taking in all the extra negativity with others. We hope this post helps you do the same.

The post Why are we experiencing high electricity bills post Lockdown? appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

The post is getting evolved based on the latest development and the likely revision in Amendment No.13 after the outcome of UPREC review meeting with DISCOM  …..latest meeting held on 22nd July 2020 and orders issued on 5th Aug 2020. 

Under clause no. 4.9 of the Supply code 2005, the Electric connection in the multi-story buildings/multiplex/Marriage Halls/colonies to be developed by the Development Authorities and/or Private Developers/promotes/colonizers/institutions/individual applicants. (Approved by Licenses Electrical Inspector) shall be provided at a single point but it shall not restrict the individual owner from applying for individual connection, and the licensee shall sanction the connection to such applicant.

With this being the provision in the clause, all connections by the private Developers availed at a single point only. The welfare society of Govt./PSU and small societies, in the beginning, availed multipoint connection. But later on, with the concept of township/city type housing society with 1000 and above apartments, the trend shifted to single-point connection to cater for high load for the common area and commercial units. Also, the language that ‘it shall not restrict the individual owner …’ does not define who is ‘individual owner’. Even if an owner applies for a separate connection, the same was not technically feasible since the infrastructure for single and multipoint cannot co-exist. Given this, it is but natural that trend shifted towards single-point connection and when it suited DISCOM also.

Amendment No. 13

Link

Considering the flaw in clause no 4.9, wherein it was not possible for an ‘individual owner’ to apply for individual connection, the UPERC, modified this clause under Amendment no. 13 and issued on 10.08.2018 with salient points as under:

1. the all-new connection shall be multipoint;
2. all single-point connection shall be converted to multipoint connection by 31.3.2019 at the cost of Builder/RWA, and the Commission may extend the date in exceptional circumstances upon request;
3. despite multipoint connection, the maintenance of infrastructure from the HT line to the metering shall be done by the builder/RWA; and
4. the Licensee shall take necessary steps to inspect the existing distribution for the feasibility study.

Implementation Progress of Amendment No. 13

Link

UPERC on 17.05.2019 reviewed the issues for not implementation of the Amendment No. 13 and issued its Order accordingly. Following is the timeline of the progress made in this regard:

1. On 14th Jan 2019, a meeting held between Chairman RERA and UPERC and decided to constitute a committee headed by MD/PVNNL to study and provide a technological solution with minimal changes in the existing infrastructure.
2. On 2nd Feb 2019, the committee submitted its recommendations based on on-site visits, survey and discussion with various RWAs. The committee lists out 37 findings related to energy metering (dual register or smart), the calculation for common area energy consumption, separate pre-paid charge coupon (one for GRID and another for DG), a method for detecting the pilferage of electricity, a pre-defined exception detection like higher energy loss than defined and meter registering DG energy when GRID supply is available, Common Area Power with a recommendation for a method of calculation to be part of the Supply Code, regarding energy meter, type, maintenance and operation contract etc. Based on this study, the committee recommended 5 items for existing single point society and one for new societies as under.
   • By developing a mechanism to make the billing transparent for every resident, the problem will be settled. It will be the lest troublesome solution without any extra expenditure of money and time. And if this recommendation is not acceptable then additional recommendations are given.
   • To take up one or two buildings at Noida/Greater Noida as a pilot project to study all probable issues and after a successful pilot, gradual implementation in the rest of the societies.
   • A separate tariff structure for multi-story to incorporate additional features related to common area grid consumption and its recovery from the apartment owner.
   • A separate tariff category to make the society responsible for upkeep and maintenance of electrical infrastructure as well as duel metering since the consumer will get huge benefit towards the slab tariff as compared to a fixed tariff.

   The committee apart from outlining the technical and infrastructural recommendations in its finding but also sought certain changes in the 13th Amendment

3. On 21^st Feb 2019, the report of the committee sent to DISCOM to submit the status report, time-bound action plan and work to be completed by 31^st March 2020.
4. The Commission observed lacklustre response of the DISCOM and stressed that the Amendment-13 was aimed to create a win-win situation for both the DISCOMs as well as consumer and given deadline and next date of hearing on 7^th May 2019.
5. On 7^th May 2019, the DISCOM submitted to the Commission to permit the use of smart meter instead of dual register prepaid meters since not available and permission for trial in one society as a pilot project.
   The Chairman again emphasizes that the Amendment no. 13 is going to create a win-win situation for both the DISCOMs as well as the consumer because builders/intermediaries are:
   • eating out of the fixed charge basket of the DISCOMs and consumer overcharge for enhancing capacity; and
   • the consumer is being harassed to pay on diesel prices while getting supply through the grid.

   Given this, there is no going back

6. In para 9 of the proceedings, the Commission listed the recommendations of the Committee for changes proposed in Amendment No. 13.
7. In para 11, the Commission accords its approval for changes  in 13^th Amendment, with following points relevant to the topic as under:
   • The willingness of 51% or more residents/occupiers/owners/allottees;
   • Affidavit developer/RWA that the terms and conditions of supply rate of electricity for each consumer will be the same as per the Tariff order and electricity charges shall not be clubbed with common area facility;
   • All DISCOMs to choose one or more society as a pilot project within the next 10 days and to be completed within the next 3 months and to give a time frame of conversion of rest;
   • The responsibility of maintenance lies with the Developer or handover to Licensee on the option of Licensee;
   • DISCOMs had the option to use dual register pre-paid meter or smart meter for individual connection; and
   • The societies which do not opt for conversion will continue to be governed as per clause 4.9 of the Supply Code, and Section 1.4 of UP Electricity Supply Code 2005 will apply to ratify it.
8. On 22^nd Jan and 02^nd March 2020, the progress meeting held with the DISCOMs
9. On 2nd March 2020, the Commission in its Order directed the DISCOMs to submit on Affidavit regarding approaching the multistoried complex who have not yet given any option, resolution of issues, hurdles or impediments being faced and approach Commission which requires any approval to overcome the hurdles.
10. On 15th July 2020, the Commission initiated Suo-Moto proceedings on non-compliance of Commission’s Order dated 17.05.2019 in the matter of implementation of 13th Amendment of Electric Supply Code, 2005. The UPERC meeting held on 15.07.20120 and orders passed on 17.07.2020 and available on the UPERC website.
11. Before the hearing, the DISCOMs submitted the status report on 14th July 2020. The position in a table below is compiled from each of the Order passed by UPERC as under:
    Following is visible from the above Table:
    • Total 252 societies converted to a multipoint connection of which the share of KESCO is 149, and that of PuVVNL is 85, meaning thereby that the progress is confined mainly to these DISCOMs. While explaining reasons,  the DISCOMs (except KESCO and PuVVNL) expressed issues of common cable for DG and grid supply, meter specification, billing of common area supply, development of infrastructure etc. Covid-19  expressed by all DISCOM for the delay in progress.
    • There are three DISCOMs namely PVVNL, MVVNL and DVVNL where the % of RWA opting for retaining single point connection is very high, i.e. 76%, 56% and 46% as compared to PuVVNL – 26%, NPCL-9% and KESCO-5.8%.
    • A large number of societies, 559 in numbers and 35% of those having single-point connection have opted for conversion.
12. The Commission was not satisfied with the response, and directed the DISCOMs for the following:
    1. 1. To assess the Amendment from the consumer standpoint and not from the point of the builder.
       2. The MD/DISCOMs to submit the following on Affidavit:
          • Licensee to submit within seven days, the road map providing details on the timeline and initiatives that will be followed for the compliance of the Commission’s order dated 17.05.2019;
          • Licensee to make a submission within three days, on the hurdles and impediments being experienced in bringing out the conversion from a single point to multipoint including technical issues and other issues such as related to billing for common facilities, infrastructure requirement and cost implications; and
          • Licensee to make a submission within three days, the approval that is required from the Commission.
13. If the news reporting of Dainik Jagran to be believed, the procedure for calling option from 51% or more willing for change from single to multipoint connection is now revised to 51% or more unwilling for change from a single point to multipoint connection shall apply so as to continue on a single-point connection.
14. With the Commission clear direction of ‘no going back’, the DISCOMs are working hard to find out the solution with minimum disturbance. If the news reporting of to be believed, the infrastructure modification may not be required except the replacement of existing energy meters with dual register meters with software/DCU to communicate with the DISCOM and Society server about the charging, balance and disconnection. The required changes in Amendment No. 13 will then be approved by the Commission after hearing the DISCOM in 28th July 2020 meeting and final position emerges whether it will be optional or compulsory. If compulsory, then the provision of Single-point tariff in the Tariff order will discontinue and only the target date in Amendment No. 13 will undergo a change.
15. On 22nd July 2020, the Commission further had a review meeting and orders issued on 5th Aug 2020. Highlights of the orders passed as under:
    • 7(a&b) Only prepaid meters shall be installed during conversion and if RWA wishes to have postpaid meters, majority resolution of RWA should be passed.
    • 7(c) No new fresh assessment of load and the load as sanctioned earlier shall continue as it is. The consumer may enhance their contacted load as per the procedure prescribed in the Supply Code 2005 after paying the difference of charges.
    • 7(e) The process of installation and proposed architecture of dual register meter as proposed in the submission of a few DISCOM is approved subject to the framework specified in this order.
    • 7(g) In case no consent is received from RWA/Builder for conversion from a single point to multipoint, it will be deemed that the conversion has to be implemented. In case the individual consumer does not pay or purchase prepaid/postpaid meters, the disconnection shall be done by the licensee as per the Electricity Supply Code. 
    • 7(i) It is reiterated that in case of opting/deemed conversion from a single point to multipoint connection, the consumers will have to pay only applicable meter charges (pre-paid/smart/dual source-dual register etc.) and connection charges as per cost data book.
16. A ready reckoner of the items discussed in the meeting is given at the end of the order passed by the Commission.

From all this it is evident that the DISCOMs will proceed for the conversion from single to multipoint connection unless there is a resolution passed by the RWA that don’t want a change.

Commission observation on manipulation by RWA/Builder

This is one area where the UPREC Commission had very critical noting in the Order passed on 17.05.2019, and every consumer shall take note and be alert of any manipulation by the society if his society chooses to remain on single-point connection as under:

• Overcharging by the Builder/RWA when anyone goes for enhancement of load. This is better explained by an example:

Example: 1

Your society is having a sanctioned load of 6000 kVA and that the total of the sanctioned load of resident and common area say is 4000 kVA. In this situation, the fixed charges paid by the society is paid for (75%x6000kVA=) 4500 kVA (since the actual load is less than 75% of the sanctioned load) but the benefit is not passed to the individual consumer. RWA/builder is having a margin of sanctioning additional load of 500 kVA without any increase on fixed charges.

Example: 2

Considering a diversity factor of 70%, the maximum demand recorded may only be 3200 kVA

Both the above examples provide a margin to RWA/Builder/intermediary to release extra load without any extra cost but RWA/Builder takes this opportunity to fleece the apartment owner by narrating the story of additional expenditure involved instead providing transparency in the margin already available for sanctioned the additional load to the apartment owner.

With multi-point metering, the margin which was available with the Society will get shifted to DISCOM whereas the fixed charges will be billed based on the sanctioned load.

• It may be an apprehension or based on the complaint, that there is a tendency of the builder/intermediary to take society load on DG when the Grid power is available, thus increasing your energy bill since the DG billing is at a very high unit rate as compared to Grid Supply.  One can refer to the Committee recommendation wherein the safeguard for such an eventuality is suggested.

What is a single-point connection?

The power supply contract agreement is between the builder or RWA at HT, and the power is distributed to the apartment owner through the distribution network of the society and meter is provided by the builder. The builder also provides DG power back up with separate metering for the DG and DISCOM supply. Such meters are pre-paid meters, and when the consumption exceeds the balance, the energy meter trips the supply to the house automatically.

Tariff management by the RWA

Each apartment is provided with a pre-paid meter and if there is no balance, the power supply to the apartment trips.

Each apartment has a sanctioned load. If the demand exceeds the sanctioned demand of the apartment, it trips the power supply to that apartment (and there are societies in which the system is different). With this, the RWA/builder ensures the maximum demand from the DISCOM remains within the sanctioned load of the society and avoid payment of penalty but makes the consumer think for enhancing the load. As stated earlier, the use of inverter AC is the best option.

In case the demand recorded in a month is less than 75% of the sanctioned load, then the fixed charges are calculated on 75% of the sanctioned load. The system of transferring the benefit to the consumer is passed to the apartment owner varies from society to society as the same is not mentioned as mandatory in the Tariff Order.

30% of the sanctioned load can be utilized for commercial activity in the society for shops/restaurants/office etc. There is no mention of the benefit if to be passed to the apartment owners.

The distribution losses are included in the commons area electric consumption and charged to the consumer in common area maintenance billing.

Electricity Duty is applicable @ 5%.

There is no standard format followed under which the electricity bill is prepared with the transparency of charges as per the tariff order and segregating with other maintenance charges. It is also observed at Sl. No. 1 of the Committee recommendation. All apartment owners are provided with a prepaid smart meter where he knows about the trend of consumption and charges the meter seeing the balance. This arrangement is very convenient to the apartment owner and in fact, never examines and even ask for the detailed bill. In case, your society chooses to remain on single-point connection, in your own interest, make it a point to check the energy bill. We always recommend checking the DISCOM bill also, as the possibility of an error cannot be ruled out.

What is a multi-point connection?

In multipoint connection, the meter is provided by the DISCOM near your house. The bill is generated every month based on the unit consumed, and the bill paid directly to the DISCOM. The power agreement is between the owner of the apartment and the DISCOM. The housing society is supplied power at HT, and the housing society provides the distribution network.

The DISCOM bears the energy consumed towards the distribution losses, and common area metering is done separately an arrangement different to single point connection where the distribution losses are included in the common area energy consumption. The responsibility of the maintenance of the distribution network from HT to the consumer is the responsibility of DISCOM, but lately, the trend is shifted and the maintenance by the RWA only.

In case of non-payment of electric charges, the DISCOM has the authority to disconnect the supply. In case, the housing society wants to provide DG supply, a separate arrangement either on fixed charges or unit charges consumed on DG is made by society.

Tariff Order(2019-20) and saving to the consumer with a change from single to multi-point connection

Tariff (2019-20)

Single Point: Fixed charges @ Rs. 110/kW/month and unit charges @ Rs. 7/unit

Multi-point: Fixed charges @ Rs. 110/kW/month are telescopic in nature with slabs as under:

(a) 0-150                Rs. 5.50/unit

(b) 151-300            Rs.6/unit

(c) 301 to 500       Rs. 6.50/unit

(d) above 501        Rs. 7/unit

Bill Assessment of single and Multi-point connection and savings

Bill is assessed based on the various slabs and load assesses based on the general trend of sanction load and the consumption of units.

1. One of the DISCOM circulated the saving for varying unit consumption and also for consumption of 600 units and  5 kW load and other benefits that accrue to the consumer if he shifts from single to multi-point connection.  In the saving calculation addition of 5% is mentioned in the single point connection and 2% rebate in multipoint connection due to the prepaid meter. The 5% rebate will accrue to the consumer through reduce energy charges in the common area billing. Considering this, the expected savings on 600 units consumption and 5kW load works out to be about Rs. 821/-.
2. There is no doubt this saving to the Apartment owner is meaningful if he opts for shifting from single point to multipoint connection. What is the investment involved is not yet known and therefore the Return on Investment?
3. Now the most important question that arises in one’s mind is whether these savings are perpetual and will accrue every year. The tariff may change from year to year, and who knows if the same is not changed to reduce the disparity between the two tariffs. If it so happens, then all justification on the basis of saving may not hold good. However, it is also possible that DISCOM finding a reasonable cost solution, the UPERC may direct for 100% implementation compulsorily with deletion of this category from the Tariff order.
4. The Power ministry has drafted a new draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill.2020, having a provision (refer news for details) with clause (c) of the Functional Amendment as under

(c) Grant of Subsidy mandated: The benefit of subsidy to be granted directly to the consumer and the licensee shall charge the consumers as per the tariff determined by the Appropriate Commission. The determination of tariffs shall be fixed by the commission without accounting for subsidies. Further, basis the tariff policies, surcharges and cross-subsidies shall be progressively reduced.

The financial benefit for conversion from a single point to multipoint is significant if it is a rural connection since the difference is quite significant.

Technical issues involved in the change over from single point to multi-point connection

The technical issues involved are very well documented in the Fact-Finding report of the committee. With frequent meeting and status updating from DISCOM by UPERC, it is very likely that the DISCOMs will be able to find out the most suitable solution very soon and mainly about the issues of energy meter, metering arrangement and the service provider. The issues which are being worked out and presently concerning the apartment owners are as under:

1. DISCOM has a very clear objective to undertake the work with minimum changes and disturbance.
2. There is every possibility of DISCOM finding a technical solution without much technical or financial cost after completion of the pilot project and the experience gained on technical and cost issue.
3. The energy meter provided will continue to have single wire power supply feeding from the power panel to the energy meter to sense the DISCOM or DG supply. A Data Concentrator Unit (DCU) may be provided to control a bunch of energy meter to communicate with the server of DISCOM and Society. The arrangement will be provided that if there are outstanding society charges, the power supply of DG will trip and not the DISCOM and if there are DISCOM outstanding than DISCOM supply will trip and maintaining the DG supply and will feed the apartment when DG runs.
4. This capital cost may undoubtedly be an issue with all the apartment owner. With the technical issues so resolved, the capital cost for conversion may not be very high. The arrangement as stated in para 3 above, the cost is estimated to be 15000/apartment. The responsibility for billing may shift to DISCOM and the existing contract of Society with the service provider will have to be discontinued. Now there are two options for the apartment owner i.e.
   • RWA shall give the option to continue on a single point connection with the consent of the majority than the status quo will continue;
   • If no consent received, DISCOM will automatically decide for its conversion to multipoint connection and if any of the apartment owners do not pay the desired charges, the power supply will be disconnected.
5. In fact, due to technical issues, disturbances and uncertainty of cost only, 76% of the societies under the jurisdiction of PVNNL backed out and decided to remain on a single point as per the position submitted by MD/PVVNL. The options taken already is not in accordance with any order issued by UPREC but maybe for assessment of the willingness. This option may not be valid now and now the action to be initiated as per the latest UPREC order.
6. Does the directive contained in the order will have to take the shape of an amendment or the order so passed is valid? Can the power supply be disconnected without an issue of revised amendment no. 13? These questions may crop up in the mind of apartment owners.

Conclusion

The Commission is sincerely persuing the DISCOM to take Amendment No. 13 to a logical conclusion and agrees to approve some of the recommendations of the Committee to set the ball rolling and DISCOMs also making efforts to find a most suitable technical solution with minimum changes and reasonable cost.

1. In metropolitan located housing societies such as in Noida/Lucknow, financial saving is not a matter of concern to the apartment owners as compared to the benefit of quick service and faster redressal of grievances particularly in RWA managed societies. But they will also not mind paying for the cost of a new energy meter and thus it is going to benefit in the long run.
2. In large societies built like township/city etc. with the number of apartment ranging from 1500-200o in numbers, the occupancy by the apartment owners is very less and mostly on rent. If that may be the case and the electricity bill is paid by the occupant on rent, then why the apartment owner agrees to shell out additional money with no benefit in foresight. With the fear of disconnection, the apartment owner will certainly be willing to shell out the cost of energy meter.

In view of this, there are not many ifs and buts about the success of the implementation of the approved changes in Amendment No. 13 for the societies. We at Bijlibachao recommends you not to opt for continuation for single-point connection.  However, whether you opt of change or not, following is suggested to the apartment owners to be alert and informed to avoid any type of manipulation by the RWA/Builder or its intermediary:

1. The format for Electricity billing for an individual consumer in single-point connection shall be standardised so that all heads are transparent. It is observed on examination of the energy bills generated in few of the society that there is no standard format. This can be standardised on the direction of UPERC or it can be done by the RWA/Builder themselves preferably prefilling the fixed and unit rate as per UPERC Tariff rates. Not only this, but there should also be transparency in the calculation of the unit rate of DG supply;
2. System of energy bill checks either on a sample or on a complaint can be introduced by the DISCOM;
3. The cost of undertaking work related to the enhancement of load may be standardised either based or in line with the Cost Data Book of the DISCOM. This information shall be available transparently on the website of the Society and if not, the apartment owner shall make a representation to UPERC;
4. It is given to understand that load enhancing is an issue in all the society manged by RWA or Builder and it is advised that such requirement basically arises due to the addition of AC. It is advisable if the requirement is marginal than go for inverter base AC and the investment for enhancing the load can better be spent towards inverter AC. You read more on the subject of how it reduces your peak load. Besides this, inverter AC will come to the user rescue when it has to run on DG supply;
5. Look for other options to save on energy bill and reduce demand by opting for energy-saving options like LED lamp, BLDC fan, Inverter base AC and refrigerator, switching off setup box, charging plug & AC from the mains instead from remote, etc.;
6. Look for an arrangement in the panel wherein an alarm sounds if there is an instance of DG energy charges when Grid supply is available and also stated in the recommendations of the Committee; and
7. The system of installation of the solar plant is applicable to both single or multi-point connection and the latest Solar Policy of UP shall be made good use to reduce the electricity bill of common area.

Bijlibachao recommends for you to opt for conversion from single to multipoint connection

Contact

For free advise, post your query in the discussion forum below. However, in case you need discussion/consultation one to one with the power consultant, then post your query on this e-mail address info@powerconsultant.in for services on payment.

The post Opt for a change of your electric connection from single to multi point in your multi-story society in UP appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

You had either observed or heard from others about the high or low voltage supply problem at one’s house. The doubt, most of the time, goes to the poor quality of supply voltage or voltage surge. But there is another reason also and, i.e. ‘Neutral Disconnect’. In this post, we will examine how neutral disconnect and its location affects your power supply performance.

The power supply to your house is either single-phase, i.e. 2-wire with phase and neutral or 4-wire with 3 phase and neutral. Read more on single and three-phase supply. A power supply is distributed in parallel to the various house either single-phase or three-phase supply system depending on the sanctioned load. The transformer at the substation is delta-star connected wherein the input is 3-wire 3 phase, and the output of the transformer is 4-wire 3 phase.  Depending on the load, the power company sanctions either single or three-phase supply to your house. When it is a single-phase, alternately the power is distributed from the R, Y and B phase so that the load on the system is balanced.

What is a neutral Terminal?

The neutral connection is taken out from the transformer by which one gets the supply between phase and neutral as 240V. This neutral wire is earthed at the transformer itself and run as insulated wire to the house. The earthing of the neutral terminal keeps the neutral tied at earth potential. It helps in maintaining the phase potential at 240 V minus a few volts towards voltage drop. Due to unbalance of load, some current always flows through the neutral wire back to the system. Remember that the neutral is only earthed at the transformer and not at the load, i.e. house. One should not earth the neutral at his house. In that case, part of the current may flow to the source though earth with some power loss. 

What is Neutral Disconnection?

Neutral disconnection is similar to phase disconnection. If the phase supply is disconnected, you don’t get power in your house in that phase and no damage done. Now imagine neutral disconnects at the scenario given below and how the voltage behaves at the terminal of various phases.

At the transformer

The transformer is feeding load in all the three-phase, and distribution is such that load is balanced within plus/minus 5-15%. Due to the disconnection of neutral at the transformer, its potential will be floating depending on the load unbalance. Now if the load unbalance is significant say plus-minus 15%, the phase having a low load, the voltage will go high and the electronic equipment provided in that phase may burn and reduce the load further any may start a domino effect. In the meantime, phase having high load will experience low voltage but will not cause any damage to electronics/light/fan. But it may damage the motor-operated equipment, and it catches smoke or flames, will reduce the load in that phase or isolated due to protection of stabiliser action. In any case, the load is reduced, and voltage going high. The neutral may now shift to stability, and the sequence of damages to the equipment may stop.

It is how it explains the complaints about damaging of equipment in the society and every apartment/house experience this problem.

At your house

The load unbalance will be significant, and the voltage unbalance will also be high. There is a likelihood of substantial damage to the electronic equipment in lines with the phenomenon explained above.

At the house with single-phase connection

Since the neutral is disconnected, there will not be any power supply in the house. You will search for the MCB or RCCB, but no tripping and then what? The natural disconnect will result in phase voltage appearing at the neutral terminal. It can be detected by checking with the tester only. Make sure this testing is done with the help of an electrician.

Neutral disconnect but touches the ground

Ah! It is the safest mode of disconnect when neutral disconnect and touched the ground. Now the return current flows back to source through the earth. The potential of neutral does not shift much and no damage to any equipment.

How often it happens?

With overhead LT distribution network, this can be a common phenomenon during storms and particularly in villages with improper maintenance of neutral conductor. This is one of the reasons that the villagers will use earth as the return conductor instead neutral because there is no reliability of the overhead wires. In early days, overhead LT distribution was widespread in cities, but at that time electronic or motor-driven appliances were also not very common in the houses and not much of a complaint. With LT distribution by a cable network, there is very unlikelihood of such incidences except when there is maintenance lapse. 

What is the solution?

As of now, there is no standard product marketed by any of the switchgear company. MCB will not work since the current will not go very high and RCCB will also not function since there is no leakage of current. One can think of homemade arrangement providing a three-pole 63A power contactor after incoming MCBs with the coil connected to phase and another to the neutral busbar at the distribution box. When neutral is disconnected, the coil will not get the supply and trip the contactor. A hand-drawn circuit is given below. A 63A TPN incoming is shown but one shall have a solid neutral connection. 

The post What is single and three phase supply and what happens when neutral of your supply disconnects? appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

You have purchased a new air conditioner for your room. It is installed, and you want to test if it is working fine. Like most people, you accept the AC as working fine as long as it gives proper cooling. Well, after all, you have purchased a 5-star rated AC from a reputed company, and you expect that it will work well, save electricity and will have a maintenance-free life. But the enthusiasm is short-lived. Some of the issues that arise post installation can be as a result of poor installation practices or bad post sales service or maintenance. With this post, we will try to provide you some key things that you should take care of while installation and service of your Air Conditioners.

The right selection of installation location and quality of installation work

Usually, consumers do not have any idea about the right location for installing an AC and the consumer goes with the suggestion of the installation technician. One should be aware of the installation need and should be able to discuss/question the installation technician.

The important things to keep in mind are:

Window AC

1. Window AC shall be installed on the top of the window so that cool air, being heavy, settles downward and thus creating its own cool airflow cycle. In case, an opening is already provided in the wall for its installation, then better to prefer the same location.
2. The window dimensions of 1.5 T AC is 660×430 mm and depth may vary from 700 to 780 depending on the star rating i.e. in 5 stars the additional volume required for the condenser is achieved by increasing the depth.
3. For below 1.5T, some brands have maintained the window dimensions whereas others have reduced size. In such a case, before buying or delivery one should modify the window by inserting aluminum/wooden panel so that mounting is secured on all three sides. Otherwise, the installation technician will mount it on two sides and fill up the gap on the third side with some cardboard for insulation. This may become a source of vibration in future.
4. For condenser cooling, the air is sucked from three sides and if the gap is not adequate as recommended by the manufacturer, then the efficiency of the condenser will be affected. Hitachi recommends 200 mm on right and left and 100 mm on the top. If you look around the installation of AC, you will find this requirement is not observed in many of the installations.
5. For smooth flow of the condensate to the drainpipe, the AC installation is with an inclination to have a gap of 10mm up at the front-bottom. Be careful to ensure smooth flow of condensate to the drainpipe otherwise you will experience rusting issues after 3-5 years.
6. Avoid fall of direct sunlight over the condenser as it is likely to affect the condenser efficiency during peak summer and you will experience poor cooling. For this, better to have a sunshade on top of the window AC. For this, mounting on the top of the window is preferred so that sunshade can be installed. Be careful that sometimes the gap is used by pigeons to make a nest.

Buy at Amazon: Window AC Cover, Sun Protector Shield for Window AC and Outdoor Unit

Split AC

One should identify the location for the installation of the outdoor and indoor unit. The location preferred is

1. It should be easily approachable from the balcony, window or surface platform for cleaning and servicing when required. Ensure that there is no direct sunlight falling on the outdoor unit as it will impact the performance of the condenser. If unavoidable, better have a sunshade on top of it.
2. Ensure that the installation technician maintains the recommended gap between the wall and the outdoor unit for the condenser fan motor to create adequate airflow over the condenser;
3. There are two pipes of refrigerant connected to the outdoor unit, one bringing the air to be cooled and another taking away the cool air to the indoor unit. You must have noticed black foam type insulation called Rubatex and generally, the installation technician does not ensure the insulation right from the pipe and always leave some portion open as shown in the picture below.  One should watch and ensure proper insulation otherwise it will affect condensation and water-dropping during service and loss of efficiency.
4. The condensate from the indoor unit shall be collected in the drain pad and moves without obstruction otherwise it will result in water leakage and the damage to the wall requiring extensive repairs.
5. The mounting of the indoor unit shall be on the wall so that the airflow is not directed towards the main door of the room but away or sideways otherwise the leakage of cold air from the room will increase. The installation shall be preferred as shown in the figure below.

Final Checking and measurements

Check the following after the installation is completed –

1. Input voltage
2. The Current taken by the machine when the compressor is running and when the compressor is not running. The current taken when the compressor is running is mentioned on the nameplate of the unit and shall not be more or less and be within plus/minus 5%;
3. The temperature at the suction side and the temperature on the outflow side.

Keeping record of these measurements help in evaluating after the next service. In fact, whenever you observe the power consumption in a month is more than the corresponding month of last year, there is every possibility the AC needs servicing and record of these parameters will help.

AC Maintenance

AC requires schedule maintenance mainly for cleaning, checking for current it draws to indicate whether the gas pressure as per the originally filled. Poor maintenance can lead to less cooling and more electricity consumption.

Why you should be vigilant during AC servicing:

While booking for the maintenance, observe the cleaning work to ensure the cleaning of the coils is done to the best possible standard. There is a prescribed proforma to be filled by the technician about the job done and its observation on the various measurements done particularly the current drawn by the unit when the compressor is working and when not. Make sure that form is filled up so that the same can be compared before and after the next service.

Except cleaning there is no other preventive maintenance schedule for AC.

Gas leakage:

After 5-6 years of service, the rubber mounting, rubber parts used for any securing purpose may get deteriorated and a check may be done when the service is done. If there is deterioration it may result in vibrations, and here is a possibility of brazed joint giving way for leakage.

There are also issues raised by our reader that due to passing of drain nearby, the pollutant environment resulting in the corrosion of the pipelines and thus leakage. At the time of purchase, one should be careful to go for Cu pipe and to understand the features one should read our post “Air Conditioners: Copper Coil vs Aluminium Coil”.

Dring repair of gas leakage by brazing, if proper care is not taken, then the heat may result in other joints getting loosened. It happens many a time that once there is a report of gas leakage, it repeats very frequently.

Insulation:

Make sure that the insulation of connecting pipes is well maintained as loss of insulation can lead to reduced cooling, high electricity consumption and water drops from the AC. Every time servicing is done, ask the technician to make sure that insulation is proper.

Conclusion

It is not just important to buy the right product, but it is also important to make sure that the installation happens properly and the product is maintained well. A well installed and healthy AC can give good cooling with less electricity consumption, but if it is not installed properly or taken care of, it can result in dissatisfaction from a good purchase.

The post What All Precaution Should You Take for Installation and Maintenance of Air Conditioner? appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

I get this question pretty regularly. Not just from commoners (laypeople), but many seasoned engineers and technocrats. A common statement is: “Just by eliminating on/off cycle, you cannot save more than 7-10%. These claims of 40% savings are just marketing hype.”. I got into a serious discussion with someone on this topic recently, which prompted me to write this article. I hope it helps give people a better idea of how inverter technology helps save electricity. I could not find any other research paper/website, etc. giving me this information. So you will not find any references section in this post. But this is prepared just based on my experience and observation of data for past 8-9 years of doing Bijli Bachao and observing the market.

Now, in this post, we will mostly use Air Conditioners as a reference appliance. However, the same thing is valid for refrigerators as well. However, I cannot say the same about washing machines, because of the lack of market data for the same (and some common sense). These are the only three appliances where I have seen inverter technology being used in India.

In case you are wondering what is inverter technology, you can check it over here: What is Inverter AC and How it is Different from Non-Inverter AC?

Let’s look at Air Conditioners.

Many people come and ask me: “What is better in a 5 Star AC that it saves more electricity as compared to 3 Star? Or is 5 Star just marketing hype?”. 5 Star ACs are just more energy-efficient, and there are several ways manufacturers improve the efficiency of Air Conditioners. Some of them are (this list is not limiting):

• It is using a better refrigerant that offers better thermodynamic efficiencies.
• They are increasing/enhancing heat exchanger surface (mostly condenser) areas for better heat dissipation.
• Use better compressors (inverter technology, etc.).

Now the comment that I got from one gentleman was that manufacturers are making 5-star inverter ACs with larger condensers, that is why they save more as compared to 3-star non-inverter ACs. If manufacturers make non-inverter ACs with larger condensers, then they will also save as much. And to a great extent, I do not disagree that non-inverter ACs cannot be improved. But this discussion is all about making a case for inverter technology, and why it makes sense to invest in inverter technology and not so much on non-inverter. So, let’s jump into some data and compare some numbers.

Comparing the numbers

To compare the numbers, I have taken data from a couple of models of Daikin that are kind of similar. Both are BEE 3 star with almost similar ISEER numbers and technology. One is a non-inverter model, and the other is an inverter. The reason I have chosen Daikin is because I think they are pretty good in terms of transparency about numbers. Most Japanese brands provide a good amount of data, but Daikin is the best in terms of information that you can use to make a decision.

So, let’s jump into some calculation:

Our Scenario – Room 1

Current heat in the room – 16000 BTUs (at 40 degrees)

Heat in the room at desired temperature – 8000 BTUs (say roughly at 20-21 degrees)

Heat inflow in the room (through walls/human, etc.) – 4000 BTUs/hr

So, once the 8000 BTUs extra is removed, in the steady-state the AC has to remove 4000 BTUs/hr to keep the temperature constant (or to maintain heat at 8000 BTUs).

A Non-Inverter AC – Daikin FTL35 (BEE 3 star)

Cooling Capacity of the AC – 3350 Watts (or 11782 BTU/hr)

Power Consumption of the AC – 918 Watts

EER or ISEER = 3350/918 = 3.65

In roughly 1st one hour it has to remove 8000 BTUs + roughly 2000 BTUs that come in due to temperature gradient created. So roughly 10000 BTUs to be removed in 1st hour.

Running time for the same = 10000/11782 = 0.848 hrs or 51 mins.

So, Power Consumption is = 918 x 0.848 = 779 Wh or 0.779 units

Thereafter it has to remove 4000 BTUs/hr. So every hour it will run for – 4000/11782 = 0.3395 hrs or 20 mins

Power Consumption every hour = 918 x 0.3395 = 311 Wh or 0.311 units.

Assuming the AC runs for 8 hours, the total power consumption = 0.779 + 7 x 0.331 = 2.96 units.

An inverter AC – Daikin FTKL35 (BEE 3 star)

Cooling Capacity Range of the AC – (Max) 5200 Watts (or 17100 BTU/hr) and (Min) 1750 (or 6000 BTU/hr)

Power Consumption Range of the AC – (Max) 1750 Watts and (Min) 375 Watts.

Assuming that the variation is linear and goes through a straight line. The relation between cooling capacity and power consumption is expressed as

y (cooling capacity) = mx (power consumption) + c

then m = (5200 – 1750) / (1750 – 375) = 2.509

and c = 809.25

Now same as non-inverter AC, for the 1st hour the AC has to remove about 10000 BTUs, and in steady-state it has to remove 4000 BTU/hr (or 1137 watts)

Now assuming that in 1st hour the running speed of the AC is such that it averages out at 10000 BTU/hr (or 2843 Watts).

Using the line formula, the power consumption is

(2843 – 809.25)/2.509 = 810.58 watts

So, units consumption in 1st hour = 810.58 Wh or 0.81058 units. (which is more than non-inverter AC’s 1st hour). Assuming it behaves linearly.

In subsequent hours it has to remove 4000 BTUs/hr or 1137 Watts.

But the min cooling capacity of this AC is more than the hourly requirement. So it will run at 1750 watts cooling capacity.

Time of running the compressor = 1137/1750 = 0.65 hrs

Units consumed = 375 Watts x 0.65 hrs = 243 Wh or 0.243 units

Total Power Consumption in 8 hours = 0.81058 + 7 x 0.243 = 2.5115

Total Savings

Non inverter consumed 2.96 units in 8 hours.

Inverter AC consumed 2.5115 units in 8 hours.

Savings = 0.4485 units = 15% of 2.5115

Now assume that inverter AC had lower (Min) range of 1000 Watts of cooling capacity

So when it has to remove 4000 BTUs/hr or 1137 Watts, then it will run at 1137 Watts.

In that case, the power consumption =

(1137 – 809.25) / 2.509 = 130.63 watts.

It will run 1 hour to remove 1137 watts (or 4000 BTUs/hr).

So units consumed = 130.63 x 1 = 130.63 Wh or 0.13063 units.

Total Power Consumption in 8 hours = 0.81058 + 7 x 0.13063 = 1.725 Units

Total Savings

Non inverter consumed 2.96 units in 8 hours.

Inverter AC consumed 1.725 units in 8 hours.

Savings = 1.235 units = 41% of 2.5115

Why does inverter AC offer better efficiency at lower tonnage?

At lower cooling capacity, gas pumped is less. This results in lesser heat to be dissipated at the condenser. This keeps the condenser cooler, and thus there is less pressure on the compressor. Thus, the compressor draws less current and is efficient. The condenser is already large.

Important Observations based on the above calculations

Now what sense do you make out of the calculations above that you can use in your decision making:

• Inverter ACs are best if they have a big tonnage range so that they can cover your least cooling requirement as well.
• Undersized Inverter ACs are BAD and will not save you any electricity. Whereas Oversized Inverter ACs can be super saving if they have a big cooling capacity (or tonnage) range.
• You definitely save more electricity on continuous usage of Inverter AC. Switching it on/off does not help in your electricity saving. Better to keep it at a comfortable temperature and use it for long.

Does ISEER number offer any value to consumer?

The ISEER number or annual electricity consumption that is provided to you is just meant for comparison of ACs. It can be a good tool when you want to make a purchase decision. But it has no relevance in real life because the ISEER that you get from your inverter AC can be very different from what is mentioned. It will depend on the conditions where an inverter AC is running. However, for non-inverter, the ISEER will not change depending on running conditions. For an oversized inverter AC, you can achieve ISEER much higher than what is stated, whereas, for undersized inverter AC, ISEER will be much lower. An inverter AC with bigger cooling capacity range has the potential to offer better ISEER than an inverter AC with smaller cooling capacity range.

What should we do as Consumers?

The most important thing is to ask for data. Leaving a handful of manufacturers, most do not provide much data to compare. Yes, we do have data from BEE where they get testing reports from manufacturers done in a NABL accredited lab, but that data is also insufficient. The ISEER calculation is based on the power consumption of inverter ACs at 100% and 50% capacity. But it does not consider the lowest capacity that the AC can run at and the power consumption at that capacity. The nature of inverter ACs is such that it is complex to make a standard apple to apple comparison without standardizing the calculation process. However, there is more beyond those standard comparisons that can offer more information. And without getting into complex calculations, you should just look at ACs that offer bigger cooling capacity ranges. And just ask for that data!

Conclusion

So, inverter technology is not just a hype. It works great in ACs as well as refrigerators. But making the right selection and using it right is very important for your energy-saving project.

Disclaimer

This exercise is purely based on market data and observation. We have not measured any appliances to really calculate electricity consumption. This is based on trust that we put on manufacturers that they provide correct data.

Do not agree?

Do not agree with the analysis above and want to punch holes in the theory? Feel free to put your analysis in the comments section below. It will help us improve the understanding that we have about the inverter technology.

The post Why and How Does Inverter Technology Save Electricity? appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

For any disruptive technology, there is a tipping point—a point in time where it seems certain that the disruptive technology would become mainstream. Electric vehicles (EV) can also be considered as one of such ‘disruptive technologies.’

As we will understand in this article, electric vehicles (EV) are on their path to revolutionize the automobile industry. But how close or how far we are to this tipping point is highly contentious given the challenges associated with the EV.

Human ingenuity throughout history has shown remarkable resilience to overcome challenges. And on a personal level, I feel the same would happen with electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles (EV) are major challengers to the mainstream internal combustion (IC) engine-driven vehicles that work on petrol or diesel. But are electric vehicles better than conventional IC-engine vehicles? How energy efficient are they? How much cheaper (or costlier) will it be to own and drive an electric vehicle? And how do they fare when it comes to mitigating pollution?

We’ll address all these questions one by one in this article.

Why is there so much interest in electric vehicles?

India homes 14 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world. After the US and China, India is the third-largest carbon-emitting country in the world. Although petrol/diesel-based vehicles are not the only culprits in polluting our cities, they still significantly contribute to polluting the air.

More than 99% of vehicles running in India presently use petrol or diesel. India is one of the biggest importers of oil and petroleum products. We have a very little reservoir of oil to serve our needs. Thus, we have to heavily depend on imports to meet our petroleum fuel needs which affect our foreign reserves.

Oil import is one of the major culprits of the weakening of our currency (rupee). If we can somehow get rid of this oil dependence, our country will come out of these shackles of large oil import bills and progress towards the path of self-dependence or Atmanirbhar Bharat in terms of energy requirement.

How we can do that? Using electric vehicles. Electricity is an energy source which we can produce internally without depending much on other countries.

The unique automobile industry of India

For electric inspiration, it is tempting to look at Teslas and Volkswagens of the west. But the structure of the automobile market and consumer needs here in India is very different.

Two typical characteristics dominate the Indian automobile industry. First, preference for smaller size vehicles. That has to probably do with the high population density in India. The second is affordability. That is mostly because our per capita income is low compared to the developed nation of the west.

If we study automobile sales of the past few years, we will notice that nearly 80% of the sales are coming from two-wheelers. Cars on the other hand just contribute around 15%. So, the focus of India should be on electric scooters and bikes first as they contribute to nearly 70-80% of vehicles in India. This article too will primarily cover two-wheeled electric vehicles.

Petrol vs Electric

Comparing energy efficiencies

Internal combustion engine (ICE) which is at the heart of conventional petroleum-operated vehicles has paltry energy efficiency. Only 20-25% of the energy from the fuel (petrol or diesel) is converted into meaningful energy which drives the vehicle. Rest is lost in the form of heat and other energy.

On the other hand, at the heart of an electric vehicle is a battery. Electric vehicles (EV) using a setup of batteries, motors, and controllers are much more efficient than an internal combustion engine. You can safely say that an EV would convert 80-90% of the energy stored in the electrical form in the battery to run the vehicle. So, when it comes to extracting energy from fuel, electric vehicles are around 4 times more efficient. But wait that’s not all…

Comparing energy density

It’s not just the engine efficiency of fuel conversion which one should look at. There are a couple of other important parameters which need to be taken into account. One of them is energy density. On the energy density parameter, electric vehicles fare far below gasoline-fueled vehicles and this is the area that will need a major innovation for EV adoption.

In a conventional vehicle, you have a fuel tank wherein you fuel petrol or diesel. In the case of an electric vehicle, the fuel tank or the container for energy is the battery. How much energy this battery store is usually specified in Wh (Watt-hour) or KWh (Kilowatt-hour).

To understand what KWh means let’s take an example of a bulb of 30-Watt power. Now, if you keep this 30-Watt bulb lighted for one hour it would consume 30 Watt-hour of energy. 1000 Watt makes 1 Kilowatt, so in KWh terms, this bulb would consume 0.03 KWh. This “KWh” represents the unit of energy which you are charged for in the electricity bills. The cost per unit of electricity varies with states and electricity distributors in India. You can use our calculator to check the electricity tariff. Typically the cost of electricity comes to around 6 Rs per unit (KWh) in India. Again, this is just a typical cost and it can vary anything between 2 Rs to 15 Rs.

Coming back to the battery, the problem is that it is simply too heavy compared to a tank (even if a fully petrol-filled tank is considered). Or in other words battery stores much less energy per unit weight (or per unit volume) when compared to a similar size tank filled petrol or diesel.

The energy density of petrol vs electric battery

An energy density parameter comes in handy to assess how much is energy stored per unit weight. It is specified in Watts-hour per kilogram (Wh/Kg). The energy density of petrol and diesel is around 12,000 Wh/kg. In comparison, the energy density of typical lithium-ion batteries which are used in electric vehicles is approximately 300 Wh/kg. So, in a way a petrol or a diesel stores much more energy per unit weight; or even per unit volume.

But the good thing is over the past few years, engineers significantly improved the energy density of batteries. In 2011 energy density used to 80 Wh/kg which is now improved to above 300 Wh/kg in 2021. But still, it is a long way to go if it has match energy density offered by petrol/diesel.

Comparing moving parts

Another important difference between ICE vehicles and electric vehicles is in the number of moving parts. ICE vehicles can have thousands of moving parts. If you own a vehicle you know that are so many things inside the vehicle which can malfunction. On the other hand, electric vehicles have very few moving parts. They have just around 20-30 moving parts which make the design of EV quite straightforward and maintenance easier.

Comparing running cost

Kitna deti hai? (How much it gives?): this used to be the tagline of Maruti Suzuki’s car advertisement. This tagline indeed very aptly captured the mindset of Indian automobile consumers. The typical Indian consumer is cost-conscious of fuel expenses; because a big chunk of money would be spent on it during the vehicle’s lifetime. Moreover, over the past few years, petrol-diesel has served as a soft target for the government to collect taxes. A small hike in crude oil prices is largely amplified because of heavy taxations on petroleum products.

As mentioned earlier, the Indian automobile is heavily dominated by two-wheelers. So, let us look at what would be the expenses of running an electric two-wheeler. There are several new companies in the electric vehicle space like Ather Energy, Okinawa, Ampere, Evolet, etc. Even established names like Bajaj and TVS have jumped on the electric bandwagon. So, the cost of running an electric vehicle will vary with models. Nevertheless, we’ll pick one example to understand how much money can one expect to shell out if he/she decides to opt for an electric vehicle.

To calculate expenses of running an electric vehicle we will need to know a few things: the battery capacity, the range it offers on a complete charge, and electricity cost.

Let us try to understand with an example of an Ather 450x electric scooter. It has a battery capacity of 2.6 KWh. With 2.6 KWh (or 2600 Wh) it gives a range of 85 kilometres in Eco mode (at least that’s what the company claims). For the uninitiated, Eco mode is the most fuel-efficient mode wherein acceleration and peak speed is lower than normal but the range scooter would offer would be the best. Thus, at best, Ather 450x consumes 30 Watt per kilometre or 0.03 units of electricity per kilometre.

This is what the company claims and in real life you can expect more power consumption than just 30 Watt/km. Moreover, batteries are around 80% to 90% efficient in converting the stored energy. So, you can roughly assume Ather 450X would consume 0.035 to 0.04 units of electricity per kilometre. As mentioned earlier, electricity cost varies across India depending upon the state, phase, and whether it is used in a residential or industrial setup. Assuming 6 rupees of electricity cost per unit per cost kilometre, the expense of operating Ather 450X would come to 20 to 25 paisa per kilometre.

Typical ICE-based scooters are advertised to come with a 60 KMPL fuel efficiency. And petrol price at the moment is above 90 rupees/litre in most of India. A typical cost of running a petrol-based scooter comes out to 1.5 rupees per kilometre if we take 60 KMPL mileage at its face value. Again, this is what the company claims. In real life scenario, mileage would come down and per kilometre, the cost would become exceed 2 rupees per kilometre. So, fuel cost in petrol-based scooters is roughly 8 to 10 times higher than electric counterpart (assuming electricity price of 6 Rs/unit and petrol price of 90 Rs/litre).

Problems with electric vehicles

Although the fuel cost might cheer you up, but replacing your existing petrol scooter with an electric scooter isn’t a straightforward option. The first thing you need to do is typically shell out a lot more money upfront. Roughly 1.5 times than conventional scooters. Although you’ll get some electric scooters at the prices comparable to Activa or Access or even less, but then their battery capacity, range, speed and acceleration would be quite less.

Inconvenience of charging

And then there is another big problem with electric vehicles. It’s charging. In a conventional vehicle whenever you run out of fuel, you simply go to the fuel station and get it fueled. Fueling petrol or diesel at a petrol station doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes. But the same cannot be done with electric charging.

Most of the electric scooters need a few hours to fully charge. Typically, around 5 hours. Yes, some of them come with “fast charging” capabilities but still, you would need to wait 45-60 minutes to charge it to 50% to 80% capacity.

Imagine you are on a long trip in your electric vehicle and suddenly you are nearing zero battery level. Even if you are lucky enough to find a fast-charging station (which at the moment are very few and far off), will you be okay waiting for an hour or so? No, right? The convenience which petrol vehicles offer of refueling in seconds or minutes is not possible with electric vehicles at the moment.

Fast charging isn’t exactly the solution

Also, one might be tempted by fast charging technology. But there are heavy tradeoffs of using it. Although it charges the battery initially at a rapid pace, it leads to faster wear and tear of the battery. This means your battery would deteriorate faster if you frequently fast charge it.

Another thing to understand is that during summers temperatures in India go beyond 40oC in many places. Fast charging batteries in outdoor at such a high temperature would be detrimental to battery life.

The dearth of electric infrastructure

The biggest problem with battery-operated vehicles is that the infrastructure needed for them is missing at the moment. To charge your electric scooter many manufacturers offer a special charging plug. Now, if you live in a bungalow or own a garage this should work out. But if you live in a flat of a multistoried building, charging a vehicle at home becomes difficult. Many societies are hesitant in permitting electric vehicles to be charged in society’s compound. They fear that it’ll cause fires. Although that’s not really the case.

If you see petrol is highly combustible and much more dangerous. But we have learned how to handle petrol. So, on a personal level, I feel it safe to charge the vehicle. The issue though is you need special charging points. Many manufacturers also offer an adapter that fits into the regular socket for charging. But for a person residing on the 10th floor of a building and absence of charging infrastructure downstairs would make charging electric vehicle a daunting task.

Companies like Ather and others have set up charging stations in some cities. Again, charging points are limited and one needs to be close to avail charging with convenience.

A better solution: battery swapping

If we can get the convenience of quickly refuelling electric vehicles like petrol vehicles then the adoption of EVs will definitely skyrocket. Well, fast charging is not really the solution. Rather a better solution to this problem would be to have a large infrastructure of battery swapping stations.

So, the idea is that you’ll purchase a vehicle without the battery. You’ll be surprised to know that battery constitutes 40-50% of the total cost. If we can do away with batteries, the cost price of the vehicle would come down significantly.

Then who will give you batteries you may ask? Well, battery swapping stations would own the batteries and they would give you batteries on rent/lease. So basically, you take a full charge battery from the battery swapping outlet pay them the cost of providing you a full-charged battery. When you are about to run out of battery you return the battery and get a fully charged battery at some cost. This is just a theoretical business idea. If can be implemented and achieves profitability, we will witness an electric revolution on Indian roads.

Charging in a controlled environment

Another key advantage of this mode of operation is that batteries would be charged in a controlled environment. Remember we discuss temperatures in India that can go past 40oC which isn’t good for charging batteries and hampers their longevity? Professionals would be involved in handling batteries and charging would take place in a controlled environment so that batteries last longer.

Environmental effects of electric vehicles

So far, we have talked about energy efficiency and the cost of operating an EV. But how does it fare when it comes to reducing carbon emission? Electric vehicles are definitely eco-friendlier than gasoline-fueled counterparts. They emit much lesser greenhouse gases and air pollutants. In fact, a pure electric vehicle does not have a tailpipe, which means no carbon dioxide emission while riding/driving. Although running an electric vehicle helps in reducing the carbon footprint significantly but there’s a catch.

Manufacturing electric vehicle consumes more energy. Moreover, many people argue that though electric vehicles may not directly pollute as much as conventional vehicles but indirectly electricity-generating power plants would. That argument becomes valid for countries like India and China which primarily depend on coal for electricity generation.

You see coal is a fossil fuel and extracting energy from it releases a higher amount of carbon and other greenhouse gases. In countries like France or Sweden where renewable sources like nuclear or hydropower are the main sources for electricity generation, electric vehicles turned out to be a much cleaner alternative to petrol-fueled vehicles.

Good thing is that in India too we are striving to use more renewable sources to generate electricity. In the future, we can expect a larger share of electricity generation coming from cleaner sources like solar, winds, tides, etc.

Conclusion

All in all, there is huge potential for electric vehicles in the future. How quick would be the adoption remains debatable.

The infrastructure needed for electric vehicles to smoothly ply on roads is very nascent at the moment. A lot of work needs to be done in this area. Perhaps battery swapping could come out as a good solution because charging vehicles at home or on the highway isn’t always feasible/convenient. The government too is taking efforts to nudge consumers to buy electric vehicles by giving subsidies, tax exemptions, and other financial incentives. The focus should be on setting up electric infrastructure and ensuring that electricity generation comes from renewable sources of energy.

The post Electric Vehicles in India – A study appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

A Vacuum cleaner is a valuable tool not only used for cleaning the home but is also helpful in maintaining the necessary domestic hygiene. Importantly, a lot of time, hard work, and patience are required to wipe, mop, and wash away all the dirt and dust from the house.  This handy domestic tool is certainly capable of easily removing dirt, dust, also reducing the risk of allergy. Therefore, to fulfill our cleaning requirements buying a proper vacuum cleaner seems to be the perfect option. First, let’s take a look at some of the best vacuum cleaners in India in in 2022. But, before making a purchasing decision, do understand first what a vacuum cleaner is, what are its types, and which are the key cleaner metrics and features to look at by checking our buying guide.

Best Vacuum Cleaners in India in in 2022

Buying Guide

What is a Vacuum Cleaner?

The vacuum cleaner is an electrical device, which makes use of an air pump for sucking-up dirt, dust and small particles from the floor and other surfaces. Depending on the type of the vacuum cleaner, the dirt is collected by either a dust bag or a cyclone for disposal.

Types of Vacuum Cleaner (for Domestic Usage)

The type of cleaning requirement determines the suitability of the vacuum cleaner, as there are several options available to choose from. There are 4 popular types of vacuum cleaner available in the market:

• Upright vacuum cleaners
• Canister vacuum cleaners
• Handheld vacuum cleaners
• Robotic vacuum cleaners

Let us look into the detail of each type of Vacuum Cleaners:

Upright Vacuum Cleaner

As the name suggests, these types of vacuum cleaner can stand in an upright (vertical) position. As it can stand in a vertical position, it does not require for the person operating it to bend. The nozzle head of the cleaner comes in direct contact with the carpet and this direct contact between the motor and nozzle induces the cleaner to clean the carpeted closet deeply. The upright vacuum cleaner is new and only a few models are available in the Indian market, despite being popular in developed countries like USA or Canada. That’s because the composition, partly carpeted area, space availability, and internals of Indian homes are fairly different from the developed nations. Upright vacuum cleaner boast of large capacity, capable for cleaning a large cleaning area. They are considered as an expert in-floor cleaning. They are best suited for big halls and rooms with negligible upholstery and mostly carpeted area. Upright vacuum cleaners are generally heavy and bulky machines, and therefore it is hard to move them in the corners to clean. Also, they are fairly incapable of cleaning the stairs.

Pros:

• Most effective cleaning  of the large vacant hall
• Provides best in class for cleaning the carpeted area and large place

Cons:

• Bulky
• Expensive
• Cannot clean sofa set, furniture or underneath furniture

Canister Vacuum Cleaners

In contrast to the upright vacuum cleaners, canister vacuum cleaners are fairly popular in India. The canister vacuum cleaner body contains a cylinder integrated with motor pump.  Additionally, there is a storage container (usually a bag). Cylinder connected to the suction nozzle with a hose pipe provides suction power. The good thing about them is that they are usually light and mounted on wheels for easy manoeuvrability. The canister vacuum cleaners are efficient in cleaning tricky places like stairs, underneath furniture, bed, sofa sets and armchairs. So, If you are looking for, all-in-one vacuum cleaner capable of cleaning bare floors, drapes and car interiors etc than canister class cleaners should be your choice.

Pros:

• Higher manoeuvrability
• Quieter than upright models

Cons:

• The hose and wand arrangement makes it harder to squeeze cleaner into a closet
• Carpet cleaning performance not as good as upright ones

Handheld Vacuum Cleaner

Handheld vacuum cleaners are portable vacuum cleaners known for its compactness and lightweight. Small sizing means a smaller motor and other parts which imparts less power. Main USP (unique selling prospect) of handheld models is their capability to clean tricky places like a curtain, car interiors where even motility of the canister models fail. Another plus point is that most of the models nowadays comes with an inbuilt battery which can be easily recharged. So with handheld models users can carry the cleaner all over the home without worrying cable entanglement. Most of the handheld vacuum cleaners are bagless, wherein dust is collected in an internal bin. This type of vacuum cleaners weights only a few KGs making it easier on the hands of the user. Modern handheld vacuum cleaners are equipped with a disk filter made up of paper or cloth traps dust particles.  Certain models from premium brands comes with a powerful HEPA filter (found in air purifiers) capable of removing 99.9% of the dust particles.

Pros:

• Portable
• Lightweight
• Cheap

Cons:

• Less powerful
• Need to make sure battery levels are adequate

Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

This is the future of “smart ”vacuum cleaning. Though it may sound like a scene of a sci-fi movie but slowly it is become a reality–at least in the developed economies like USA, UK, Japan etc. Soon we would see adoption even in our country. Robotic vacuum cleaner delivers fully automatic vacuum cleaning with help of a smart robot usually in spherical shape, which moves around the house for cleaning. These robots, usually navigate around furniture, moving autonomously while collecting surface dust and debris into a dustbin.

Premium models like Roomba comes with a built-in camera and sensors that help robot to map and navigate smoothly in the room. When fully charged, they can clean the clutter around and under furniture for couple of hours. The best part is when the battery falls below certain threshold (around 10-20%) robot automatically goes back to its docking station for charging. Premium models come with an app support that lets the user schedule the cleaning process for a specified room/area at a specified time. It also allows the user to track and monitor the robot when in operation. Moreover, customer can raise the queries, if any, related to the robot from the app itself for quick resolution.

Pros:

• Fully automatic cleaning
• Smart features like scheduling, tracking and monitoring

Cons:

• Very expensive
• Not as powerful as upright or canister cleaners
• Not suitable for houses which has lots of apparels, upholstery, and other material lying on the room floor in an haphazard manner

Besides the four main types of vacuum cleaners there is also stick and convertible type of vacuum cleaner which are less frequently bought by the customers. Stick vacuum cleaner is streamlined version of upright vacuum cleaner with compactness in size and weight. These vacuum cleaners are preferred for their versatile design and easy maneuverability. For those suffer from back bending problem and searching for easily movable vacuum cleaner, stick cleaners can make a good choice. Also, if you have a multi-story apartment, stick vacuum cleaner is a must have. Convertible vacuum cleaner are an advanced version of vacuum cleaners presently not available in India. These vacuum cleaners are made for handling multiple cleaning places with variegated needs. Upright vacuum cleaner are great for carpet cleaning but falters when it comes to cleaning the stairs. So, now you have to go for the stick or or canister vacuum cleaner. Just imagine what a convenience it would be had we been able to convert upright to canister or even canister to handheld! Well, this isn’t just a wishful thinking but a reality. There are variants of vacuum cleaner which offers that convertibility but sadly they are not available in India.

Key Parameters of Vacuum Cleaner Explained

With the latest innovations, the vacuum cleaner industry is expanding day-by-day. Every now and then companies introduce unique designs in their models. It is also important for the buyer to check its key parameters before buying a cleaner. Therefore, to decide which type of vacuum cleaner is suitable, one must investigate through the finer details and features. Below is the list of key parameter one must look at before buying a vacuum cleaner, explained in a detailed manner.

Design

The shape and size is the basic but important parameter to look at before buying a cleaner. Key design parameters to look at are:

• Capacity
• Weight
• Height
• Placement of buttons & indicators
• Additional attachments

The capacity of the vacuum cleaners is usually between 4 and 6 liters. Importantly, higher the capacity, lesser time is required in changing the bag or emptying the drum. Another important consideration is the weight of the vacuum cleaner. Some full-size upright models can weigh more than 10 Kgs while lightweight handheld models are just a 2-5 Kgs. Normally, the lighter cleaners are considered to be easier to handle and maneuver. The ‘auto-cord rewind’ attachment, usually found on cylinder cleaners, is considered a good option with regard to storage and convenience. Also, the modern vacuum cleaners are equipped with telescopic extension tubes and stair cleaning hoses, which are also considered as particularly useful. The modern vacuum cleaners are also equipped with a ‘full indicator’, an important feature providing a useful warning when the machine is getting full.

Bag vs Bagless

When you decide to buy a vacuum cleaner one of the important thing to decide is the storage type for dust. You will have to decide between the disposable bags and reusable bin. Cleaners with disposable bags tend to hold more dust. But it’s much harder to tell how full the bag is without removing it completely from the vacuum because most of the bag variants don’t sport a ‘bag full’ indicator. But the bright side is that bags release less dust into the air during disposal. It is ideal for those who have asthma or other respiratory disorder. But remember it would require frequent change of dust bags which means increase in operational cost of vacuum cleaner.

Bagless or the dust bin models are gaining popularity since Dyson came out with the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaners. The good thing with bin arrangement is they are often transparent, making it easier to know when they are full–but you have to manually empty and reuse them countless times. Additionally, you may have to replace the filters too. Though the replacement of filters is way less frequent than changing of bags but filters are pretty expensive. So go for the bagless models if you want hold no qualms in emptying the dust bin manually and would like to see dust collection done by the cleaner in real time.

Cord Vs Cordless

Based on cord, vacuum cleaners can be cord or cordless. Big and powerful cleaners usually come with cord. If you decide for vacuum cleaner with cord one of the important consideration shall be on cord safety. The vacuum cleaner generally comprises a circular spool upon which a power cord is wound. Look for the cord winder option. It is useful when an extra-long power cord is required, for example, when an area to be cleaned is not closely adjacent to the source of power. Also few premium models come with an automatic cord winders or the retractable cords reel that keeps electrical cords in place, especially when not in use. Usually cheap vacuum cleaners are not earthed. However it is important that the vacuum cleaner is properly earthed. Because if exposed to conductive surfaces  it may lead to electrical hazard. The typical cord length in most vacuum cleaners is about 5-7 meters long, which is normally adequate; however 10 meter cord vacuums are also available these days.

Cordless vacuums on the other hand work on the battery power. So, cords won’t get in the way of the cleaning path, and needles to say there’s no need to plug them in. They’re also usually much lighter than corded vacuums, which makes them easier to maneuver on stairs or ladders. Available in the handheld, stick and upright categories, cordless vacuums are good for fast cleaning of small clutter like cereal that gets knocked over in the kitchen or dirt that’s tracked in by pets or toddlers. Also they can clean crumbs out of crevices and hard-to-reach places too. Cordless handhelds most effective for above-the-floor cleaning needs, such as windows and upholstery. They’re portable enough to even clean the interiors of a car.

Filters

Owing to the type of work that they perform, vacuum cleaners are generally fitted with more than one filter these days. In such cases, one of the filters serves as the primary filter, which works by collecting a good proportion of the dust and dirt from the air that has been sucked into the vacuum cleaner before it is exhausted back to the environment. Then, there are secondary filters, which further clean the air before it gets in touch with the most crucial parts of the machine and the external environment as well. Some filters have been engineered in such a way that they can be washed, dried and used again. This extends the shelf life of a filter and reduces the cost of running a vacuum cleaner. Some manufacturers also advertise ‘Pet Filters’, specifically engineered to pick pet hairs from the air.

Following are the common types of filter usually found in the vacuum cleaners:

• Cloth filters: Cloth filters are in shape of bag and they act as a prefilter. They are washable, tough and less temporary compared to other filter types.
• Cartridge filters: Cartridge vacuum cleaner filters are disposable, and need periodic replacement.
• Disk filters: The disk filters are mostly primary filters, which draw their name from the shape that they assume. They can sustain a low to reasonable amount of dust before they need to be rewashed/replaced, and due to their structure, are usually more expensive than the rest.
• Foam filters: They serve as a secondary filters in vacuums cleaners. It takes primary filter air as input and removes, blocks dust particles then release fresh air back into the home. They are washable and reusable.

Some premium vacuum cleaner are also equipped with HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorber) filters.  The HEPA filters are the most potent class of filters used to filter out microscopic particles; even of the tiniest size. Formally speaking, HEPA filters can remove around 99.9% of airborne particles sizing 0.3 µm or more. HEPA filters nullifies the problem associated with ordinary filters of simply sucking in the particle and then blowing back into the air through back exhaust without proper filtration. They employ robust filtration mechanism to filter out harmful particulates. If you asthma or other respiratory problem its advisable to go with vacuum cleaner coming with HEPA filter.

One of the essential things to take care with vacuum cleaners is the maintenance of filter. Be sure to change/clean the filter every few months, especially if you or family member have severe allergies. And, preferably go for washable filters in order to save money.

Sealed Suction

The sealed suction of a vacuum cleaner is measured in inches of water it can lift. This rating is taken when the motor is totally sealed, and the term refers to how many inches the motor will vertically lift a 1″ column of water. The power to pick up or lift clutter from the floor is measured through this parameter. Because the vacuum cleaners with more sealed suction will have an easier time picking up dust and other heavier dust particles from carpet and flooring. A good water lift rating means that a vacuum cleaner will keep performing well even as the dust bag gets filling up to higher levels. Normally, 18 -22 kPa or 2000 mm/WC are is considered good for the vacuum cleaner with 500 W rating.

Power Consumption

Whether it’s a upright, canister or a handheld model, when it comes to making a clean sweep of housework, all of them good consume good amount of energy. You may wonder how to much power your vacuum cleaner would consume. We will simplify that for you. Amperes (A) is a measure of the power coming into the vacuum from your outlet. The maximum amperes that can be drawn from a home outlet is usually 5A. But there would be some dedicated outlet(s) which would be rated higher at 15/16A. Heavy models of upright or canister vacuum, usually consume around 12A of current. You will need 15 or 16 ampere socket to run those vacuum cleaners. Wattage is what you get when you multiply amperes and the voltage. Wattage is specified under specifications of the model. Assuming a typical upright model with 1400W power consumption rating used 1 hour every week, monthly electricity cost for running it would be roughly 70/80 Rs (assuming 12 Rs/unit electricity cost).Additionally these days vacuum cleaner also comes with another unit called air watts. Air watts is a good indicator of a vacuum power capability because it factors in resistance to suction.  Anything with more than 200 air watts is a good enough to give the power for a typical home cleaning.

Noise Level

The Noise levels depend on the way the engine of the machines is designed. Generally, there is a fan which turns at very high speed, and the centrifugal force throws out the air, so the air is sucked in at the center and blown out at the periphery, creating noise. The best way to know the noise levels is to check the the decibel levels (dB) in the specifications. A vacuum with a decibel level in the 55-65 dB range will be relatively quiet, while a vacuum with a decibel level in the 70s dB range will be matchable to the noise levels of a kitchen garbage disposal. Many new models also come with ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ modes for setting the sound or noise levels. Battery operated vacuum cleaners and the robotic models are considered as quieter, due to their lighter weight and lower power consumption.

Additional Attachable Accessories

Generally Indian households, require a vacuum cleaner which can do more than just sucking up the dirt and dust from the floor. Like users also want to clean their drapes, sofas, chairs, and even dust shelves. Additionally cleaner which could go deep into cracks and clean the the otherwise inaccessible part of the room is also part of the buyers wishlist. To do all that, one need to make sure to buy the right attachments along with the main cleaner. Some popular attachments to consider are:

• Dusting brush: To gently dust shelves and tables
• Turbo brush:  To deep clean longer carpets
• Crevice tool: To clean the corners and tight spaces
• Upholstery tool: To easily vacuum the furniture without damaging

Conclusion

Any home maker will acknowledge the fact that keeping the homes dirt free requires rigorous and tiresome exercise and it is for these very reasons, vacuum  cleaners were manufactured and are widely used especially in the developed economies. Nuclear family structure, erratic schedule of household maids and busy lifestyles have led to increase in interest of buying vacuum cleaner amongst the Indian families. But the daunting task when a user has decided to buy a vacuum cleaner is the understanding of abstruse specifications and the associated jargons. Hope with this guide we have been able to simplify your vacuum cleaner buying decision. We saw how an upright vacuum cleaner is best for pure carpet cleaning while the canister is good for cleaning stairs and ladder. Stick and handheld are most battery operated appliances suitable to manoeuvre and clean crevices, corner and other inaccessible parts of the upholstery. Robotic vacuum cleaners are the smartest form of vacuum cleaning wherein user need to just schedule the cleaning time and the robot would clean the specified room. We also explain key parameters that a buyer must consider while opting for a cleaner based on his needs and preferences. Hope you found this buying guide useful. If you have any queries feel free to post it in the comment section below.

The post Best Vacuum Cleaners in India And Buying Guide appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

As people become more and more health–conscious, the curiosity towards Air fryers, their functioning, the utility for healthy food, and to know more about the benefits compared to oil cooking is increasing.

History of introduction of Air Fryer

The first mention of the air fryer is found in Technical Word Magazine 1904. The article explains that the invention was perfected and allows for food to retain its flavor while minimizing shrinkage. However, the size and weight of the early models made them unpopular as a kitchen appliances. With the invention of microwave ovens in the 1960s, interest in air frying waned. But, in 2010, Philips introduced Airfryer in Berlin invented by Fred van der Weij, which found many takers due to its ability to make fat-free foods that taste similar to oil-fried foods and the size which suits as a kitchen appliance. From here on, the air fryer caught the attention of many of the reputed kitchen appliance manufacturers and got popularized as fat-free cooking with recipe books showcasing healthy and tasty food.  

In India, the indirect air frying technique is prevalent in households. This is when potato/sweet potato/peanuts are put at the bottom of chullah/anghethi for air heating through convection. 

Air Fryer Technique

The air fryer cooks food by using heat with air pressure, similar to how a pressure cooker uses steam. The hot air in the Airfryer swirls like a powerful typhoon – throughout the entire cooking basket. The food being fried is coated with oil, and the heat from the air fryer penetrates due to air pressure through the surface of the food. 

The outside of the food becomes crunchy while the inside remains soft when cooked with an air fryer. This is because less oil is used and it penetrates the inside of the food more evenly. While it does not taste exactly like deep frying in oil, it is a healthier option. It is important to learn how to use temperature and time settings correctly in order to get good results from cooking with an air fryer. A recipe book can be helpful for this purpose.

For more reading on the comparison between an air fryer and microwave oven, as well as the biochemistry involved in Maillard reaction and caramelization, click on this link.

Selection of Air Fryer

The following aspects should be considered when choosing an air fryer for your kitchen:

1. Capacity: An air fryer is generally good for a small family of 4-6 people. If you need to cook for more people, you should do it in batches. The capacity is measured in liters and most air fryers are designed for 2-6 liters. For a family of 4-5 people, you would want to get an air fryer that is 2-4 liters. For a family of 6-8 people, you would want one that is 4-6 liters.
2. Size: The dimensions listed as length x width x height can help you understand how much countertop space the appliance will take up. Generally, it is egg–shaped and requires more height than either length or width.
3. Wattage: The wattage of an air fryer can range from 1200 to 1800 watts. If you use a 1200 watt air fryer for 30 minutes, it will consume about 0.6 units of energy.
4. When choosing an air fryer, you can either go for one with a touch screen or dial control for temperature and time settings. Touch screens may look more attractive, but as far as function goes, dial controls are also fine.
5. Air fryers have a maximum temperature that can be attained, as well as presets for different temperatures. In general, 200° C is fine for cooking, but if it can be higher, go for it.
6. The operating Voltage for an Air Fryer is 140–250 V, single–phase. You will need a minimum 15A socket and plug to use it.
7. When looking for an air fryer, it is important to find one with features that make it easy to clean.
8. Look for an air fryer that comes with a recipe book.
9. Before you purchase an air fryer, double-check to see what kind of warranty and after–sale service the brand offers.
10. Price range: The price of an air fryer usually depends on its size, how much heat it can produce, and the brand. They can range from 4000 to 8000 rupees.
11. There are many popular air fryer brands on the market, making it difficult to choose one. In our opinion, Phillips, Inalsa, or an Indian brand would be a good choice.
12. The body of an air fryer is usually made from stainless steel, aluminum, or FRP. All types of material are suitable to the requirement and the brand generally takes care of its durability, surface finish, and appearance. 

Best Air Fryer

Here are some of the good air fryer models in the market:

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Imagine that you are in the market to buy a car. You are looking for one that has an automatic transmission (gearless). You want to have freedom from changing gears and ease of driving. But then you come across a model that is automatic transmission but also can change gears. This ability to change gears is being sold as a value proposition to you. Would you be interested in it? If you went to buy a car that is automatic transmission or the ability to change gears automatically, why would a feature that lets you change gears be important to you? There may be scenarios where you may want it, but you do not wish to change gears in most cases manually.

Something similar happens when you are in the market to buy an inverter AC, but you are sold a model that lets you change operating cooling capacity.

Let us understand how an Inverter AC works.

Inverter AC is a variable cooling capacity air conditioner. Like your automatic transmission car, it determines the running capacity of the AC depending on the needs of the room. A room never has a constant heat load. In peak summers, your heat load is more, whereas your heat load is less in off-peak summers. During the daytime, your heat load is more; at night your peak heat load is less. Inverter AC constantly analyzes your heat load and adjusts its cooling capacity depending on the heat load and the temperature setting on your AC, it determines its cooling capacity. Just like how an automatic transmission car determines the running gear depending on the speed of your car.

The automatic transmission car will automatically run at a lower gear if your speed is less. Similarly, when your heat load is less, or you keep your AC at higher temperature settings, the inverter AC will automatically run at a lower capacity. You need not set it manually. If your heat load is high or you have set the AC at a lower temperature, then the inverter AC will automatically run at a higher capacity, and you need not set it manually.

Temperature setting plays a big role.

What is important to understand over here is the role of the temperature setting. Temperature is a measure of heat in the room. A higher temperature means more heat in the room and a lower temperature means less heat in the room. If you set your AC temperature to 20 degrees, then it means that you want lesser heat in the room (or excessive cold). The AC will thus have to work more to remove the heat from the room and thus it means that it has to work harder. If you want to run your car at a speed of 120 kmph, then your car’s engine has to work more, work harder. If you run your car on 1^st gear and expect that your car will reach the speed of 120 kmph, it will not happen.
Similarly, if you keep your AC at 18 degrees or 20 degrees and run your convertible AC at 20% capacity, it will not happen. But suppose your leave your inverter AC to decide its own running capacity. In that case, it will certainly figure out the right running capacity (if it can achieve that temperature). If you want a speed of 200 kmph, but your car’s engine cannot achieve it (even though you do see a speed of 200 kmph on your car’s speedometer), then your car will never achieve it. Similarly, even if you see a temperature of 18 degrees on your AC’s thermostat, if your AC is not big enough (does not have peak capacity) to cool the room to 18 degrees, your AC will never cool to 18 degrees.

If you know that you want to run your car only at a speed of 20 kmph, and you know that keeping your car at first gear will be good enough for that, then in that case a feature like having manual gear in an automatic car may help. However, the automatic transmission will determine that the car should run on the 1^st gear and it will run it. Similarly, suppose your room needs lesser cooling capacity. It may be good to set it at a lower capacity, but then your AC will automatically determine that it needs lower running capacity.

Why does convertible technology make sense in refrigerators?

The key difference between convertible technology in refrigerators and that in ACs is that in refrigerators, convertible technology lets you change the freezer’s temperature and not the running capacity. Whereas in ACs, the convertible technology is about changing the running capacity. And this makes a huge difference.

For years refrigerators had a single heat exchanger for the fridge and freezer section, whichh did not allow independent temperature control of each section. If you increase the freezer’s temperature, the fridge will also become hot. Or, if you cooled the freezer, you would find that the items in your fridge would also become too cold. With inverter technology, it became possible to have separate heat exchangers for the fridge and freezer. This allowed for separate temperature control for the two sections. Imagine if you have a single AC indoor unit for 2 rooms, then you cannot independently control the temperature of each room. But if you have two separate AC indoor units, you can keep the two rooms at different temperatures. This feature gave flexibility in converting the freezer into a fridge. The inverter compressor could independently figure out the running capacity to ensure that each section’s temperature was managed. The key is that the sections were controlled by varying temperatures and not the running capacity of the compressor.

In the case of Air conditioners, there is only 1 section (or one space or 1 room) to cool. And there is only 1 indoor unit (or heat exchanger). And it already has temperature control built-in. There is no real benefit of having a convertible feature in this scenario.

Is there any Scenario where convertible AC makes sense?

None that I could think of. Even if you are on rent and do not know the cooling requirement of your future rooms, or you have a transferrable job and do not know the requirements of your future houses, you do not need a convertible feature. The best thing you can do in such a case is to go for a big enough inverter AC that can handle the most cooling capacities you may need. So, a 1.5-ton inverter AC will work perfectly fine for a room that needs only a 1-ton cooling capacity.

Does Convertible technology save electricity?

Not much. If your room needs your AC to run at 40% capacity, inverter technology will ensure that your AC runs at 40% capacity. The energy efficiency of the AC when it runs at 40% capacity will exactly be the same as the energy efficiency when you manually set it to run at 40% capacity. If you do not set the running capacity, the only difference would be that it will start at 100% capacity and then come down to 40% capacity (cooling your room faster. In contrast, if you start the AC at 40% capacity (capped), it will not go beyond 40% cooling capacity. It will take more time to cool when you cap it, but it may save a small bit of electricity that it may have spent by running at 100% initially and then coming down to 40%.

I must state that an inverter AC runs at better efficiency when it runs at lower capacities than at higher capacities. To read more about it, check this link on this website: Why and How Does Inverter Technology Save Electricity?

Conclusion

The whole idea of this post is to help you decide if you should focus on getting convertible ACs, and for that, I would say, do not pay extra to get this feature. It is not a deal-breaker. Look for better energy efficiency, and do not worry if an AC is convertible or not.

P.S: Just like automatic transmission cars have AMT (Automatic Manual Transmission) and CVT (Continuous Variable Trasmission) options, similarly inverter ACs have stepped and continuous variable-capacity compressor options. A continuous variable-capacity compressor will have a smoother operation and finer temperature control.

The post Convertible Technology: Why it makes sense in refrigerators, but not so much in Air Conditioners appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

We at Bijli Bachao always try to bring forward exciting technologies that can help you save electricity. In the past, we have helped people adopt inverter ACs, refrigerators, washing machines, and BLDC fans. Whenever we come across something new that has the potential to impact the energy efficiency of an appliance significantly, we do try to help that. When my friends at Atomberg (my fellow alumni from my engineering school) came to me with a BLDC/Inverter Tech Mixer Grinder, it excited me. BLDC/Inverter tech has the potential for improving many appliances (like air coolers, etc.); however, unfortunately, it has not been applied in most of them. So, when I did get to hear about the BLDC mixer grinder, I did want to try it out and measure it. Thankfully, the Atomberg team did send a sample unit for me to test out. So here are the first impressions:

The Content of the Package

The packaging was pretty good, and it came with the following things:

• Base Unit
• 6 L liquidizing jar with lid
• 1 L dry grinding jar with lid
• 5 L chutney jar with lid
• 5 L chopper jar with lid
• Spatula
• Instruction and Warranty Manual.
• Cookbook

First Impression

The unit does look premium. The quality of steel, as well as the plastic used, is pretty good. The unit is pricey, and the looks do justify the price of the unit.

The base unit has LED lights that show the speed at which the unit is running. However, the most beneficial aspect of the LED light is that it shows if the jar has been set well or not. The light is yellow if the jar is not placed well but turns blue when the jar is set.

The base unit has suction cups that make it stick to the platform where you keep it. This is also helpful as the unit is relatively stable and does not move around quickly.

However, the most noticeable difference is the “slow mode” visible on the base unit. This is not usually available on mixer grinders, and thus, this comes across as visibly different. We will talk more about this mode later.

Power Consumption

At Bijli Bachao, our first approach is to measure the power consumption of any appliance and evaluate it on the same. So, we picked up our energy meter and measured the machine using the same. We also ran the same test on our old 750-Watt Bajaj Mixer Grinder to get a comparison. The Atomberg mixer grinder is rated at the peak of 485 Watts, and it was interesting to observe the power consumption of both in similar scenarios:

I tried simple tests of juicing a watermelon and grinding black pepper, and here are the results.

The observation was that once the watermelon was crushed, the power consumption did not differ much if you increased or decreased the speed. The power consumption initially goes to 485/750 watts when the product is intact. Once the product is crushed, the power consumption comes down immediately. The significant effort for a mixer grinder goes into crushing the solid, but the difference in power consumption is not much once crushed. The slow mode in Atomberg indeed was really low in power consumption. And the time it takes to grind anything is just a few seconds.

The Slow Mode

This looks like the USP of this mixer grinder. This mode is quite helpful in making chutneys as the texture and taste it generates are pretty good. The power consumption of the mixer grinder in this mode is also very low. We have not seen such a mode in most mixer grinders available in the market, and thus this does make it stand out if you are looking for a slow mode.

More Observations

I observed that the mixer grinder is pretty fast. At the speed of 2, it was moving faster than our old Bajaj mixer grinder at 3. This could be because our old mixer grinder is a bit old. But the general feedback in my house was that it is pretty fast. The RPM value of the new mixer grinders from other brands is the same as the RPM value of this mixer grinder (18000 RPM). Please note, we were in general pretty happy with our old mixer grinder too, and had absolutely no complaints about it.

The mixer grinder has quite low noise levels. Especially in the slow mode, the mixer grinder is super quiet. Even though the speed was good, that did not significantly increase the noise.

The copper jar that comes along with this mixer grinder is quite useful. It can do very good basic vegetable chopping (in slow mode).

The mixer grinder does not have any vents, etc., so the cleaning process is quite simple.

The Positives of BLDC Mixer Grinder

• The “Slow Mode” is the most significant positive of this BLDC mixer grinder. It can be very useful if you do not want finely powdered output. It is not available in other mixer grinders. However, they can certainly add it soon. The power consumption in slow mode is really low.
• Being a BLDC mixer grinder, it does not have a high startup current and thus can be used more easily than a regular mixer grinder in case of power failures on power inverters or Solar inverters.
• The power consumption is indeed low as compared to a regular mixer grinder. If you want to bring down the electricity consumption of your house or want a greener option, then this is a great choice.
• Noise levels on this mixer grinder are lower. However, because the jars are made of steel, the solids in the jar will still make noise while getting crushed.
• It is pretty easy to clean the mixer grinder.

The negatives of the BLDC mixer grinder

• A newer technology that many local repair shops may be unable to fix. Our older mixer grinder has been going well for years now with small fixes done by our local mechanic whenever we had issues.
• Low Power consumption does not justify the ROI on high upfront investment. The usage of mixer grinders is usually relatively low in a household. At best, a mixer grinder is used for 5 mins daily. Saving just 100 Watts (or 100 x (5/60) = 8 Wh or 0.008 units per day) may not provide much economic benefit.
• Many pricier grinders have presets, and Atomberg can do good by adding the same to their mixer grinder.

Conclusion

Atomberg has made a good start by introducing the BLDC mixer grinder (it was long overdue). The product looks and feels premium and has good features. However, if you are looking at electricity savings through it, you will not see a significant difference in your electricity bills as the usage of the mixer grinder is less. It is indeed energy efficient, and if you like to go green, this is an ideal machine. But do not go for this to get an ROI. Go for it to get a premium product that functions well.

Atomberg Mixer Grinder on Amazon:

The post BLDC/Inverter Tech Mixer Grinders: Power consumption, efficiency & review – Can they change the market for Mixer Grinders? appeared first on Bijli Bachao.

With the advancement in the technology, there has been a change in our lifestyles. Previously people had no option but to wait for long hours when power distributor faltered. But thanks to the invention of power inverter, followed by UPS and the present day online UPS, dynamics have completely changed. With inverters/UPS in place, people don’t need to wait for long for electricity to come back. Businesses used to face the worst impact of power cuts (in the pre-inverter era). But inverters are now the saviors. So, not only the households but also the business setups rely heavily on the UPS for the power back up. There are many brands which provide a solution to power outages in the form of inverters/UPS. They include renown companies like Microtek, Sukam, Luminous, Videocon etc. Microtek is one of the leading UPS brands. It is one of the largest manufacturers of power appliances, providing a gamut of products like offline UPS, online UPS, TPZi wave inverter, sine wave inverter, and solar inverter. Apart from inverter/UPS, Microtek also provides batteries which are needed alongside the inverter under the brand name, Okaya. It has started manufacturing e-rickshaw batteries and even plans to set up battery charging stations for e-vehicles in the future. Microtek boosts a robust infrastructural national network with 355 service points and 150 service centers spread across India.

Key Microtek Inverter Technology

Visual Indicator to Display Status of Various Parameters

To keep an eye on the status of an appliance is not an easy task. Therefore, Microtek inverter from Hybrid and Max+ series comes with 6 indicators on the LED display that apprises the user with various statuses and faults, if any. Continuous blinking of LED is an indicator that the system is completely charged. This is something we really liked about Microtek inverters. Additionally, there are indicators which notify the user about low battery, blown fuse, mains on and overload.

Static Bypass to Avoid Unnecessary Power Cuts

Normally, when regular power is available, an ordinary inverter helps the load (household appliances connected to the power outlet) work by passing on the main supply while simultaneously charging the battery. Now, if there is an issue in the inverter, then an ordinary inverter will not able to bypass the mains and would start drawing power from the battery. This would result in momentary discontinuity of the power and would only work till the battery lasts. This means customers need to call an electrician/engineer to fix this issue. But thankfully new inverters in the latest Max series comes with a static bypass feature. So, even if there is an internal problem in the Microtek inverter or it stops working, then the static bypass feature comes to the rescue. It bypasses mains and works the load without turning on to the battery for supply of power. This eases the customer’s predicament of frequently calling the inverter service guys and eliminates the need to change the wiring.

DSC-based Technology to Improve Processing Power of the UPS

Inverters, which converts direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC), are designed to be used with different voltage ranges and topologies. Besides the main functionality of DC to AC conversion, modern Microtek inverters also provide additional functions like power maximization, battery charging, and protection of the circuitry. All these functions require specialized control that can occur in real time or near-real time. The wide variations in application mandate the need for a system control to be highly flexible. Digital signal controller based (DSC) inverters/UPS from the JM series comes with that high level of computational performance needed for the real-time signal processing in the inverters. DSCs are a combination of digital signal processor and microcontroller which assist the inverters with motor control, power conversion and sensor processing. DSCs used in Microtek models help inverters in creating more efficient and cost-effective products that can support the growing demand for green energy.

PWM Technology for Efficient Battery Charging of Solar UPS

Battery charging in UPS especially the solar ones is not an easy process. Older UPS usually uses simple on-off regulators to limit battery outgassing when a solar panel produced excess energy. There have been developments in battery technology for inverters in recent years. Microtek is one of the vanguards of new technology and usage of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is a testimony of it. Modern Microtek Solar UPS models come with PWM which helps in achieving constant voltage battery charging by switching the solar system controller’s power devices efficiently. When a PWM regulation is active, the current from the solar array tapers according to the battery’s condition and its recharging requirements.

The Solar UPS chargers using PWM technology performs like other modern high-quality battery chargers. When a battery voltage reaches the predefined regulation setpoint, the PWM algorithm slowly reduces the charging current to prevent heating of the battery. But the charging continues to return the maximum amount of energy to the battery that too in short time interval. This results in an improved charging efficiency, rapid recharging, and a healthy battery at full capacity. These are additional benefits of using PWM technology in the UPS:

1. Battery desulphation
2. Increase in charge acceptance
3. Recovery of lost battery capacity
4. Maintenance of high average battery capacity
5. Better regulation even with voltage and temperature fluctuation

Multi Stage Battery Charging to Ensure Long Life of the Battery

Modern Microtek UPS/inverters come with multi-stage battery charging to expedite the charging process. Also, multi-stage charging improves the longevity of the battery used with the inverter. Depending upon the models, they employ 3-5 stages of battery charging. Let us cover individual battery charging stages in more detail:

Desulphation

Over the time as the inverter is used, due to chemical processes involved in the charging, sulphate crystals accumulate around the battery. This can hamper smooth charging of batteries. Solar UPS coming with PWM technology start the battery charging process with the desulphation stage wherein these harmful sulfate layers are disintegrated by a pulsing current. Thereafter, the actual charging process starts. This stage removes the sulphur impurities around the battery and maintains the stable internal temperature of the battery. Studies have suggested that desulphation stage can even help in recovering deep-discharged batteries.

Cold Start

Normally ordinary inverter starts the charging with bulk charge wherein if mains fail, the load works through the battery. But when the battery starts to discharge, the internal temperature of the battery increases. When the mains are available, a normal inverter starts to charge the battery in bulk charge that is with the full power. As a consequence, the internal temperature of the battery further increases, leading to an overheated battery. Instead of directly starting with the bulk charge, modern line interactive Microtek UPS models starts with something called as cold start, wherein low voltage low current electricity is passed through the battery. This prevents overheating of the battery and keeps the internal battery temperature stable and normal.

Bulk Charge

Bulk charge is the most common stage for any inverter battery charging. In this stage, Microtek inverter processor provides a full charge in high voltage and pre-define current. This stage is the longest stage accounting for more than 70 percent of the charging.

Absorption

Absorption stage is usually the penultimate stage of the inverter battery charging. In the absorption stage of the Microtek inverters, the battery charges slowly because of constant high voltage and decreasing current. They generally charge last 20% of the battery in a slow manner to safeguard it from overcharging and overheating.

Trickle Charge

This is the final stage of modern Microtek inverter battery charging. In this stage, inverter processor supplies intermittent electricity called trickle charge. Trickle charge is one in which the battery is supplied with low voltage and low current at a rate nearly equaling to the idle discharge rate of the battery. This is an effective way to prevent battery overcharge.

Conclusion

Microtek is one of the known inverter brands. In fact, it is one of only a few brands to offer trapezoidal waveform output apart from the models offering sinusoidal and square waveform output. Premium UPS models come with good looks and compact sizing. Operating instructions are fairly easy, even for a novice user. Then there is LED indicator displaying the status of power, charging, overload, battery low etc. Models coming with static bypass allows the user to be stress-free because even in case if inverter fails it won’t affect the supply of power from the mains. DSC and PWM technology gives more processing and management power to the UPS which ensures good battery life and enhances its performance. Things which we find missing with Microtek inverter is that there is no automatic temperature compensation feature which is present in the premium Su-Kam inverters. This means that in extreme climatic conditions inverter might not perform as expected. Also, like Su-Kam inverters, their battery charging stage doesn’t include equalization stage which means sulphuric acid remains weakly concentrated, thus slowing down the battery charging process. But barring these shortcomings, Microtek is still a good inverter brand to opt for given its durability and technologically rich features.

Some Good Microtek Inverters

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