Which air conditioner to choose for home
In summer, it is difficult to do without a fan or air conditioner, especially if the apartment windows face the sunny side. But which device for cooling is better to choose and can you save money when buying? We find out.
7 2017 June
The gadget costs less than the simplest air conditioner. On average, from 600 to 3000 rubles. In addition to the price, the fan has one more advantage: before using it, you do not need to invite a master who will connect the device. When choosing a model, you should adhere to a simple rule: the larger the area of the room in which the fan will work, the stronger it should be. For example, in a room of 20 sq. m requires a unit with a power of 50 watts. He will need 0,05 kW per hour. It is easy to calculate that if the device works 6 hours a day, then every day it will consume 0,3 kW of energy. In 30 days, 9 kW is obtained. At a cost of kW 5,38 rubles. the electricity bill will increase by 48,42 rubles.
By type, fans are desktop, floor and ceiling. The most compact and with a low power of 15 W is a desktop one; it makes sense to place it only in a small room. The radius of rotation of the device is 90 degrees. Such a fan can be purchased at a price of 600 rubles.
A floor fan with large blades cools the air better than a desktop fan. As a rule, it has several speeds of rotation, as well as a high leg, which can be adjusted to change the direction of the air flow. The price of such a device starts from 1300 rubles.
The most efficient fan is ceiling mounted. Its price is from 4000 rubles. It is more powerful.
Disadvantages of fans:
· Increased noise level;
· Impossibility of air cooling. The hot stream only moves through the apartment. Because of this, the device has to be kept on at all times. While it is working, the room has a comfortable temperature, if you press pause, it gets hot.
Air conditioner: expensive and efficient
This device cools the air to the desired temperature. But you will have to spend money on its installation. Installation will be cheaper if you buy the device from the same company that provides the system connection. On average, this is from 5 thousand to 8 thousand rubles.
The unit should be chosen taking into account the area of the room. If the room is large, the low-power model will have to work hard and spend much more time and energy on cooling the room. But there is one more indicator that is important to pay attention to. This will help reduce energy costs while using the appliance. When buying, it is better to choose an inverter air conditioner. Usually sellers in stores offer this option, they say that it is better, but what is the advantage, they cannot explain. Let’s try to understand the situation.
A conventional air conditioner cools the air to a preset value, and then turns off. After that, the temperature in the room inevitably begins to rise. As soon as the value increases by 3-5 degrees, the device turns on. And again it works at full capacity. The inverter device acts differently. Having cooled the air, it does not pause, but continues to work, but only at low speeds, consuming 25-75% less energy than when cooling. This is enough to maintain the desired temperature. By the way, units of this type have another plus, which is noticeable in winter. They can work for heating in a 25-degree frost outside the window. A conventional device can only function at -5 degrees. It cannot cope with lower temperatures.
Disadvantages of inverter models:
· high price. For example, a regular model costs from 7900 rubles, an inverter model costs 21 rubles;
· Sensitivity to voltage drops;
· Expensive repairs.
As for the approximate electricity costs, it will not be possible to calculate them as easily as in the case of a fan. It depends on the conditions: the higher the temperature of the air to be cooled, the higher the electricity bill.
But you can still make an approximate calculation. If we assume that the device (not an inverter) will work 6 hours a day in moderate heat, and the specified demand is 0,8 kW per hour, then it will spend 4,8 kW per day. At a cost of 1 kW / h 5,38 rubles. the price of refrigeration in one day will be about 24,21 rubles. Then it is easy to roughly calculate how much electricity the air conditioner consumes per month – the resulting value is multiplied by the number of days in a month. For example, 30 days at 24,21 rubles. will cost 726,30 rubles.
Again, it should be borne in mind that these indicators are very conditional. In extreme heat or cold, the data can change significantly.
Important! The operating costs of the air conditioner increase by 10-12% when the windows are open.
Pay attention to the energy class. If the label has the letter “A”, then the device is economical