Certainly, one of the latest, advanced & energy-efficient technology in the air conditioning mechanism is the Inverter Air Conditioner Technology. But, exactly what are inverter air conditioner? & what is the technology behind Inverter AC working principle?
Subsequently, if you are planning on buying an air conditioner, the one thing that would constantly pop up in your mind would be the surge in electricity bills.
On this note, Inverter ACs would surely settle down your above query.
Before we move any further, let’s break the myth that the meaning of Inverter Air conditioner technology in AC, does not act as an inverter pbased supply for AC. In order, to keep the AC running when the power goes down. In short, the inverter air conditioner means a technical aspect behind it’s working. Basically, it controls the power supply frequency to vary the cooling & heating capacity of an AC.
Table of Contents
Basic Working Of an Air Conditioner
Firstly, before discussing what are inverter air conditioner, let us first know the basic working of an AC. Particularly, we will not be discussing the Window AC units as their technology is getting obsolete because of no major upgrade. Although, the working principle in Window ACs & Split ACs is the same.
Typically, an air conditioner has 4 major components Evaporator, Compressor, Condenser & Expansion Device. Altogether, they govern the entire process of removing the heat from the room & making it cooler.
Specifically, the entire circuit is a closed system connected with a set of coils wherein the refrigerant or the coolant circulates to ensure the smooth functioning of the AC.
Meanwhile, the refrigerant undergoes the limitless series of cooling & heating, again and again, to remove the heat from the room & keep it cool.
The Indoor & Outdoor Circuit:
The cool refrigerant in the evaporator coil takes up the heat from the air in the room and converts into hot refrigerant vapor.
This hot refrigerant vapor is then circulated to the compressor where it is compressed to high pressure & high temperature.
The compressed high pressure & high-temperature refrigerant is then passed to the condenser coil where the heat from it escapes to outdoors & the refrigerant becomes cool again. This cool refrigerant is now again ready to move to the evaporator coil for the purpose. The flow of this refrigerant is controlled by the expansion device.
Check here for Detailed content on How Does AC Temperature Work?
What Are Inverter Air Conditioner And How It Is Different From Non Inverter AC?
Within all that is mentioned above in the working of an air conditioner, the compressor is one of the most important equipment that is said to consume most of the power for the function to compress the coolant/refrigerant. The answer to what are Inverter air conditioner lies within it’s compressor tech.
Although, both the inverter air conditioners and the fixed speed air conditioners have similar functions, the difference for inverter ac vs split ac lies in the type of compressor technology.
Normal Split AC:
Basically, in a normal fixed speed split air conditioner, after you set the desired temperature the AC cools the room. Thus, all this while the compressor motor keeps running at high speed and remains on load. As soon as you reach the set temperature, the compressor shuts down and continues to remain so until the room temperature goes up again.
So, the compressor either remains ON or OFF. Not to mention, while running, it operates at full capacity & uses the peak designed electricity for it’s working.
Inverter AC:
Contrarily, coming over to the newly developed technology, what are inverter air conditioner? Well, the compressor in Inverter AC working principle always keeps on running or to say remains ON continuously.
With that being said, it’s normal for everyone to question What is the benefit of Inverter Technology? To answer this, we take into consideration a normal Split AC of 1.5 ton. in order, to keep the room cool, the compressor of this AC would run continuously at it’s said design speed & power requirements.
Whereas, in the Inverter Air conditioners, it would be ensured that only the required amount of power is provided to the compressor. Although, the compressor would keep running but will draw only that much power that is required to keep the temperature stable at set levels. Thus, instead of running at peak load it will adjust its power consumption depending on the cooling required. Hence, it would draw much less power comparatively and lesser would be the electricity unit usage.
Please make sure you evaluate the capacity of the air conditioner required to cool your room before you rush into buying one. Significantly, it is of prime importance to understand the right tonnage of AC.
Simplifying Inverter AC Working Principle
Here, is a simplified image regarding what are inverter air conditioner, that strikes out the basic difference between working of an inverter AC & the normal split AC i.e. Inverter ACs vs Normal Split ACs. Markedly, the track for the Green car shows the operation of Inverter AC. Wherein, the other car works as per the operation of fixed speed split AC.
Undeniably, it is quite easy to understand that the track of the Green car is quite economical & convenient without involving any surges or dips. Hence, this is exactly how the compressor during an Inverter AC working functions.
Normal Split AC Working:
Meanwhile, in the Normal fixed speed AC, like the car remains accelerated at a fixed speed, the same goes for the compressor. As a result, running on a fixed speed takes more amount of time to reach the desired level of temperature.
Usually, the Thermostat senses the outside temperature to keep the compressor running or to shut down. However, until the time the thermostat senses that set temperature, the compressor keeps running. Thus, creating the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator. Hence, it happens that the refrigerant becomes more after a time and the heat load of the room is less. By the time, the compressor shuts down, the cool refrigerant liquid is available largely in the evaporator coil. As a result, it tends to draw more heat from the room. Thus, tends to drop the temperature below the set limit.
Basically, this causes the room temperature to reach at the uncomfortable level as shown in the image above. In the same fashion, vice versa, the temperature starts dropping to an uncomfortable range when the compressor remains shut off until it starts again.
Inverter AC Working:
On the other hand, the Inverter AC working, i.e. Green car keeps on running on the comfortable track. This happens because the moment it realizes the speed is going high it takes off the foot from the accelerator instead of applying brakes. Hence, it reduces the power required. And on the vice versa, when it needs to speed up it accelerates the car accordingly providing the required power again. Altogether, the car keeps on running at variable speed continuously instead of starting & stopping every time.
In short, this explains what are inverter air conditioner & how the Inverter AC Technology works by making the compressor run continuously on variable speed. Thus, it regulates the flow of refrigerant so that the room remains cooled at a set comfortable limit only. Thereby, consuming less current and power.
To rephrase it, this answers one major concern people have that Are Inverter technology air conditioners slow in cooling?
Power Consumption & Star Rating of An Inverter Air Conditioner
So, after a comprehensive discussion about the inverter AC working technology & What are inverter Air Conditioner above, it gets quite clear that this modern-age technology is highly energy efficient & with low power consumption. As a result, it saves big on electricity bills.
However, before looking for Best Inverter AC in India in 2020 one of the final aspects of this article is the consideration of power consumption & star rating.
Comparatively, based on the data on power consumption by BEE, Inverter ACs of BEE 3 star ratings are about 7% more energy-efficient than BEE 3 star rated non-inverter ACs.
Basically, Inverter AC working technology is designed in such a way that it can save 30-50% of electricity units over a normal non-inverter air conditioner.
Do You Know?
Before 2016, inverter ACs didn’t have BEE star rating on them. It’s since 2016; BEE has introduced giving a star rating to the inverter air conditioners as well. And after Jan 2018, BEE merged the star ratings of both air conditioners Inverter vs Non-inverter.
Comparison Between Normal Split vs Inverter Split AC:
All in all, here is a general comparison chart that shows the difference in energy consumption between air conditioner Inverter vs Non inverter split AC, to put in light on what are inverter air conditioner when compered with normal split ACs:
More Enhancements
1. Dual Inverter Air Conditioner:
Certainly, it functions similarly to the Inverter AC working principle by controlling the speed of the compressor. However, when the temperature outside rises above 46°C to about 52°C or more, Dual Inverter ACs tends to perform better in extreme conditions. Generally, this AC has dual rotary motors in the compressor that helps in more efficient & faster cooling with very little to no noise.
2. Inverter Air Conditioner Window Type:
In case you have a question like Is there a Window AC with inverter technology available in market? Well, then in 2018 LG model LG JW-Q18WUZA Inverter Air Conditioner Window AC was launched in the market. Surprisingly, it was said to have ISEER values similar to that of 3 star split air conditioners.
Conclusion
So, with this article, we tried to simplify the concept of AC Working Principle, What are inverter air conditioner vs inverter AC working more easily. We hope that this helps you understand What are Inverter Air Conditioner, How it is Different from Non Inverter AC? & How Inverter Air Conditioner work?
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