Room Air Conditioners to have default temperature setting of 24 degree celsius from Jan 1, 2020

All room air conditioners to have default temperature setting of 24 degree celsius from Jan 1, 2020

New Delhi: The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on Monday said that the default temperature of all room air conditioners should be set at 24 degree Celsius. This means that when an AC is switched on, it’ll start from 24 degree Celsius.

“The Central Government in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has notified new energy performance standards for Room Air Conditioners (RACs) on 30th October 2019. The Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) as per the new standards will range from (3.30 – 5.00) for split and (2.70 – 3.50) for window air conditioners. Additionally, the 24-degree Celsius default setting has been made mandatory for all room air conditioners covered under the ambit of BEE star-labelling program vide this notification. These performance standards will be applicable from 1st January 2021 onwards” said a PIB release.

The notification states, “All brands and types of star labelled room air conditioners, namely, Multi-Stage Capacity Air Conditioners, Unitary Air Conditioners and Split Air Conditioners which are rated from one star to five star, based on their relative energy efficiencies up to a rated cooling capacity of 10,465 Watts (9,000 kcal/hour) and manufactured, commercially purchased or sold in India, shall ensure default setting of temperature in the room air conditioners at twenty-four degrees Celsius with effect from the 1st January 2020.”

BEE launched the voluntary star labelling program for fixed-speed room air conditioners (RACs) in 2006, and this program became mandatory on 12th January 2009. Thereafter, in 2015, voluntary star labelling program for inverter room air conditioners was launched and which was made mandatory with effect from 1st January 2018.