Most of you might have heard of an Inverter Air conditioners. Apart from the advantages of this device, have you ever wondered how the device works or why it is one of the most preferred types of AC on the market today?
Even though the purpose of all the inverters is the same, the power consumption and the working of the device are comparatively different in inverter air conditioners. Comparing the power consumption of an inverter AC with normal AC, you could easily understand that an Inverter AC consumes lesser power than any other type of AC with the same star rating and this is the main reason why it is one of the highly recommended types of Air conditioners on the Indian market right now.
An inverter AC serves the common purpose of cooling or heating the void based on the command provided to it by the system. The whole working of inverter AC is different; an inverter AC has an inverter system incorporated into it that controls the speed of the compressor motor. If you have a basic knowledge of HVAC, you would know the fact that if you control the compressor speed then, you could control or alter the cooling or heating output of the air conditioner.
So, what makes inverter AC different from normal AC?
The answer is simple; there are two extra Things that an inverter AC has
- The inverter that controls the compressor speed and
- The drive that converts the AC to DC
It also has microcontrollers that are designed to sense the room temperature and send a signal to the inverter which, in turn, control the speed of the compressor to maintain a constant room temperature. The presence of microcontrollers in inverter AC avoids any sharp load fluctuations and this, in turn, serves a lot to increase the device efficiency and reduce the power consumption.
To be simple, an inverter AC and non-inverter AC serve the same purpose, but the internal working of both types of AC differ. An inverter AC, as I mentioned above, comes with a DC inverter system that controls the compressor. If the compressor speed is controlled or altered the heating/cooling output of the AC could be changed. In an inverter AC, this is what happens exactly. An inverter, which is connected to a micro controller, controls the speed of the compressor based on the signals transmitted by the micro controller.
To make things a little simpler for you, let me explain the working simply with a comparison of the non-inverter AC and inverter AC.
We know that every AC has a compressor incorporated into it, which is the key part of the AC. Both inverter AC and non-inverter AC have a compressor. However, in a non-inverter AC, the cooling/heating capacity is fixed and the indoor temperature could be controlled only by starting or stopping the compressor.
On the other hand, an inverter AC comes with an inverter a microcontroller system incorporated into it that could control the speed of the compressor according to the cooling/heating requirement of the room rather than starting/stopping the compressor every now and then
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Here is the best example for you, an inverter AC with tonnage 1.5 could work from a tonnage that ranges from 0.3 to 1.7 based on the cooling requirement of the void. However, the same 1.5 tonnage capacity non-inverter AC can work at 1.5-ton capacity only.
The inverter is the heart of the inverter AC that controls the speed of the compressor, but a non-inverter AC does not do this, it simply starts and stops the compressor based on the cooling requirement of the room.
So, how exactly do you think this system in an inverter AC reduce power consumption? If you are not from an electrical background, it will not be easy to answer it. As mentioned earlier, a non-inverter AC starts and stops the compressor based on the indoor room cooling/heating requirement, which means, each time the compressor stops the power consumption and current goes down, but, when the compressor starts again the power consumption and current rises up sharply. Now, if we calculate the average power consumption of a non-inverter AC then the power consumed would be more. On the other hand, in an inverter AC, the compressor does not stop, so there is no sharp rise in power consumption or current. So, if we calculate the average power consumption of an inverter AC, it would be comparatively less.
That is everything you need to know about an inverter AC. However, here are the advantages and disadvantages of an inverter AC
Advantages of inverter AC
- An inverter AC consumes less power than any other normal AC with the same tonnage
- An inverter AC produces comparatively less sound than non-inverter ACs
- Inverter ACs are comparatively faster in heating/cooling than non-inverter ACs
- Experts conclude that inverter AC has a longer life span than non-inverter ACs
- An inverter AC comes with comparatively more smart features than non-inverter ACs
Disadvantages of inverter AC
- An inverter AC is comparatively costlier than non-inverter AC
- If an inverter AC malfunctions, it would prove expensive to repair
- Not all technicians or repairman could fix an inverter AC
With all these things being told, you would now have a basic idea about inverter AC. It is best recommended that, if you are planning to purchase an AC, then you consider purchasing an inverter AC.
