Ease Inverter Split Air Conditioner, 3 Star

Details

The same machine as our 5 star with a smaller heat exchanger, and it exists because a star rating is a payback question rather than a virtue. Here is the arithmetic, on the page, so you can settle it yourself. Rated cooling capacity on the 1.5 ton is 5,275 W, measured to IS 1391 (Part 2) at the standard rating condition. One ton of refrigeration is 3,517 W, so 5,275 W is exactly 1.50 ton. That matters because tonnage inflation is the oldest cheat in this category: a unit sold as 1.5 ton that measures 4,200 W is 1.19 ton, and the way to catch it is to read the watts on the rating plate instead of the name on the box. Energy next. This unit is ISEER 3.9 and uses 960 units a year on the 1.5 ton over the 1,600 running hours the BEE label assumes. The 5 star version is ISEER 5.2 and uses 720, because 5.2 divided by 3.9 is exactly four thirds. The difference is 240 units, Rs 1,920 a year at Rs 8 a unit, against a Rs 9,000 price gap on the 1.5 ton and a Rs 7,000 gap on the 1 ton. So the 5 star repays in about five years at BEE's 1,600 hours. Halve the hours and you double the payback. A guest room or a study run around 700 hours a year saves only about Rs 840 a year on the 1.5 ton, which is close to eleven years, and that is longer than the machine. Below roughly 700 to 900 running hours a year, depending on tonnage, this is the one to buy.

• ISEER 3.9. Annual units 640 (1 ton), 960 (1.5 ton), 1,280 (2 ton) over 1,600 hours, so about Rs 5,120, Rs 7,680 and Rs 10,240 a season at Rs 8 a unit
• Rated cooling 3,517 W (12,000 BTU/h), 5,275 W (18,000) and 7,034 W (24,000), to IS 1391 (Part 2) at 35 C outdoor and 27 C dry bulb, 19 C wet bulb indoor. Exactly 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00 ton
• Condenser and evaporator tubes are copper with a 0.3 mm wall, and the interconnecting pipe kit in the box is copper. The fins are aluminium, as they are on every split air conditioner including the ones that print 100 percent copper, because a copper fin costs several times more and buys nothing. What copper buys is repair: a leaking copper tube is brazed on site, an aluminium micro channel coil is replaced whole
• Twin rotary inverter compressor, variable 15 to 90 Hz, R32 refrigerant at GWP 675 against 2,088 for R410A. R32 is mildly flammable and is a reason to have the unit handled by someone who knows it
• Installation is not included and we do not arrange it. A split has to be mounted, piped, vacuumed and gas checked by someone competent, which in most cities costs Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 for a standard fit, with core cutting, extra pipe, a stand and cabling on top. That is what installers charge, not a quotation from us
• The outdoor unit ships pre charged for a pipe run up to 5 m: 0.70 kg of R32 on the 1 ton, 1.05 kg on the 1.5 ton, 1.45 kg on the 2 ton. Beyond 5 m the installer adds about 20 g a metre
• An installation caused leak is not a manufacturing fault and is not covered. A badly flared joint is the commonest thing that goes wrong with a new split, and we would rather say so here than at the claim
• 34 dB(A) indoor on low, 44 dB(A) on high and 50 dB(A) outdoor, all at 1 m, all measured in a room with a background below 30 dB(A). Slightly louder than the 5 star, because a smaller coil needs more airflow for the same cooling
• Washable pre filter, front slide out, no cartridge to keep buying. Fault codes blinked on the indoor unit and published, so no dealer only diagnostic tool is needed
• Spares held 10 years at published prices, on a spares bank bought with the first production run, a ten year supply clause with the maker, and the moulding tooling held in our name. The compressor and the PCB are bought in, so those rest on the supply clause rather than on tooling, which is the honest distinction
• 2 years comprehensive on both units including one gas recharge if a factory joint leaks, 5 years separately on the PCB, 10 years on the inverter compressor, covering the compressor itself and not the gas, the labour or the piping
• What the star costs you back in size: the 3 star outdoor unit is 800 x 550 x 285 mm and 32 kg, against 900 x 700 x 320 mm and 42 kg on the 5 star. On a narrow ledge that is occasionally the deciding factor
• Left out: no ioniser, no UV lamp, no filter subscription, no sealed PCB, and no pretence that a lower star suits every room
• There is no Shuunnya service network. We send parts and publish the fault codes so any competent technician can work on the unit. We do not promise a turnaround, because we cannot keep one yet