After months of research we have shortlisted the best window AC’s in India. Our top pick is the Voltas Delux 5 Star (Y series) window AC. It’s quiet, affordable, cools efficiently and has excellent rating and reviews.
In this article, we also tell you if you should pick a window AC or a Split AC and what capacity air-conditioner to buy. If you are looking to get a Split AC read The Best Split AC’s guide .
The Best Window AC’s in India
1. Voltas Delux 5 Star (Y series)
The Voltas Delux (Y series) is a 1 Ton air conditioner with a 5 Star energy rating. Its powerful, energy efficient, cools well and is perfect for use in a medium sized bedroom of around 120 sq.ft. It comes with a copper condenser and has nice frills like dust filter, sleep mode and auto restart features. Voltas backs it up with a 1-year product warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty.
2. Hitachi Kaze Plus Window AC (RAW511KUD)
The Hitachi Kaze Plus is a 1 Ton air conditioner with a 5 Star energy rating. Its powerful, cools well and is slightly more energy efficient and quieter than the Voltas. It comes with a copper condenser and has nice add-on features like auto climate mode, dust filter, sleep mode and auto restart features. The unit comes with a 1-year product warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty.
Split or Window Ac, which one should you get?
Split air conditioners are made up of two parts, an indoor unit and an outdoor unit that work together to cool the room. Usually, Split AC’s are faster at cooling, more energy efficient and quieter. If you own your place and do not plan to move for a long time you should look at getting a split A/C.
Cons:
- Expensive to install.
- Need to make a hole in the wall.
- Need an outside area to keep the compressor and tubing
A Window AC is a single compact unit that has all its components contained in one box. Window models are the most affordable and the easiest to install. Window AC’s are great for smaller rooms like bedrooms. Window air conditioners are ideal for controlling the temperature in a single room or a confined space.
Pros:
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They are noisy since the compressor is attached to the unit.
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Not as effective as Split AC in cooling and uses older more polluting refrigerants like R22.
What capacity AC is right for you?
This is an important question to answer since, for an AC to be efficient, it has to match the requirements of the room. Simply buying a larger capacity AC is not the solution since if they are not matching, the AC may deliver either unsatisfactory results or cause wasted energy. This is because a less powerful AC will run constantly, trying to get the room to cool down. If you get a unit that’s too big, it reduces temperature faster and it removes moisture from the air making the room uncomfortable to be in.
Usually, a 100 – 120 sq. ft. room (or 12 x 10) will require an AC with a capacity of 1.0 T. If you have larger room, you may need to go up to 1.5 T. If you live in a city that gets very warm or, if you live on the top floor and have many large windows with direct sunlight, you may need a higher capacity AC. We recommend you use the calculators provided here.
http://www.jci-hitachi.in/tonnage-calculator or https://www.bluestarindia.com/roomacs/tonnage-calculator.asp
Copper or Aluminium Condenser Coils?
There are two types of condenser coils that are used in air conditioners to condense and cool air – Copper and Aluminium. An air conditioner cools your home with a cold indoor coil called the evaporator. The condenser, a hot outdoor coil, releases the collected heat outside. The evaporator and condenser coils are the long winding tubing that are surrounded by aluminium fins. Usually they are made of copper. Generally copper coils are more efficient at cooling and easier to maintain. However, you will find that many cheaper models use aluminium to save costs.
Energy ratings
The efficiency of an air conditioner’s is measured by it’s energy efficiency ratio (EER). EER is the ratio of the cooling capacity to the power input. Thus, a higher EER rating indicates more efficiency, the more efficient the air conditioner. When buying a new room air conditioner, look for the EER levels in the Energy ratings. Buying a 5-star AC ensures that you save on electricity costs in the longer run. You are typically buying an AC for a minimum usage of 5 years and the savings will be more than the additional costs from a 3-star AC.
Refrigerants and Pollution
Air conditioners employ the same operating principles and basic components as your home refrigerator. Refrigerants are fluids that make refrigerators and air conditioners work. They absorb heat and transfer it outside through coils and through evaporation and condensation processes eject the heat outside.
Earlier generation of refrigerants – chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) contributed to the depletion of stratospheric ozone and are being phased out by most countries, including India under international treaties. Most window AC’s use R22 refrigerant which is a HCFC and is scheduled to be phased out in a few years. As R-22 is gradually phased out, alternative refrigerants are being introduced. Some of the substitutes are R-410A, R32 and R290 which do not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Many modern inverter AC’s these refrigerants which are environment friendly. You will continue to get R22 refrigerants for refilling but just note that it is not really environment friendly.
The Best Window AC’s in India
How we decided
For this guide, we focused on 1 Ton window air conditioners because it’s the most popular size at retail, which implies that it’s what most people need. These ACs are suited for spaces between 100 to 120 square feet, roughly the size of a bedroom in most cities. If you have larger room, you may need to go up to 1.5 T. If you live in a city that gets very warm 0r if you live on the top floor and have many large windows with direct sunlight, you may need a higher capacity AC. You can look for the same models in a higher capacity and it should be fine.
Our testing began by shortlisting around 15 of the top rated window air conditioners in India, with a 1 Ton cooling capacity. Based on specs, features, price, and our experience we began our research. We checked Bluestar, LG, Carrier and other top makes. Our basis of finalizing was the cooling capacity, the decibel levels, the energy efficiency, the materials used and the overall reviews and feedback on the models.
1. Voltas Delux 5 Star (Y series)
The Voltas Delux (Y series) is a 1 Ton air conditioner with a 5 Star energy rating. Its powerful, energy efficient, cools well and is perfect for use in a medium sized bedroom of around 120 sq.ft. It comes with a copper condenser and has nice frills like a dust filter, sleep mode and auto restart features.
The air conditioner features anti-dust filters that trap the dust particles present in the air before it reaches your room. The copper coil condenser supports better heat transfer as compared to aluminium coils. Copper is durable coil and lasts long. A helpful auto-restart feature saves you the hassle of resetting the air-conditioner after a power outage. Your air conditioner will restart automatically with its previous settings when the power returns.
Another helpful feature is the sleep mode where the air conditioner increases the room temperature automatically by 1 deg C every hour for the first two hours and then return back to the original temperature setting, so that you can sleep peacefully during the night without having to adjust the temperature in the middle of the night.
The 5-star AC has an EER of 3.31 which is good. An interesting part is the airflow volume of 600 which is one of the highest we have seen. Voltas is known for its good after sales service and has a wide network across India. Voltas backs it up with a 1-year product warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty. All in all, if you need a Window AC, this is a great buy.
2. Hitachi Kaze Plus Window AC (RAW511KUD)
The Hitachi Kaze Plus is a 1.1 Ton air conditioner with a 5 Star energy rating. Its powerful, cools well and is more energy efficient and quieter than the Voltas. It comes with a copper condenser and has nice add-on features like auto climate mode, dust filter, sleep mode and auto restart features.
The Kaze plus is very energy efficient with an EER of 3.4 which is one of the best we have seen. It has an airflow volume of 400 which while lesser than the Voltas, is enough for most purposes. The Kaze plus has auto climate mode, which basically checks the temperature and humidity in your area and at the touch of a button adjusts the temperature and fan speed accordingly. It has an on -off timer and a very useful auto restart feature that restarts the AC in case of a power failure. The condenser is made of 100% copper and is long lasting.
The Auto Filter Clean Indicator feature reminds you when to clean the filter so that you can always get healthy air and save power. The remote control provided with this air conditioner is very good, it displays temperature and buttons glow in the dark. It also has light button which turn on light of the remote display for 30 seconds. This is especially useful as this air conditioner does not display set temperature. You have to check the remote’s display to see set temperature
The unit comes with a 1-year product warranty and a 5-year compressor warranty. However, Hitachi has outsourced the service to third party vendors and hence the service quality seems to vary from city to city. The Hitachi is a great window AC and it’s only because of the large number of service issues that we haven’t made it our top pick.
The competition
1. LG Bliss Plus (LWA3BP5A), 5 star – The LG is a good air conditioner and comes with most of the features of our top pick. However, LG does not use copper for its condenser and hence we haven’t made it among our top pick.
2. Hitachi Summer QC , 5 star – The Summer QC series is one of the quietest AC’s with a decibel level of only 45db. It also has a twin air flow system for uniform cooling across the room. However, the ratings are not as good as our top pick and it is also more expensive by around Rs. 5000 which we felt was a bit high.
3. Bluestar 5W13GA, 5 star – The Bluestar 5W13GA is a competent 5 star air conditioner. With multi-fan speed operation, auto restart with memory function and dust filter, this Window ACs is ideal for small and compact spaces. It has an EER of 3.35 and comes with a copper condenser. However, there seems to be limited availability of this model. It is currently available only on the Bluestar website that we have linked to.
Some Installation and usage tips
- The biggest factor for the efficiency of an AC is the proper insulation of the room. Also, if you are installing your air conditioner in a corner away from where you are, look for a unit that can direct its airflow so that you don’t need to wait for the entire room to get cooled.
- Set your air conditioner’s thermostat as high as is comfortably possible in the summer. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be. ACs temperature should be set at 25 to 28 degree C. Every degree below 25 will increase power consumption by about 5% and thus cost.
- Consider using an ceiling fan along with your window air conditioner to spread the cooled air faster and wider. Also to save power, you can use the AC for an hour before sleeping and then let the ceiling fan circulate the cool air inside the room.
- The ODU/ Condensing unit should be placed at shaded place and not exposed to sun. This will save up to 10% energy.
- Clean filters of your ACs regularly and this can save up to 10% cost.
- The optimum efficiency and EER will be around 27 degree C set temperature.
Team BeforeIbuy is a team of writers and editors who are passionate about their work. We are a bunch of geeks, nerds and modern day detectives who love getting to the root of things. We also work with experienced writers, researchers and engineers who give us the technical guidance on products before we come up with our recommendations. Beforeibuy is a list of the best things to buy for those who do not wish to spend hours and days figuring out what to buy. Our mission is to make buying easy. We have one expert article with links to the best products for each category that you can readily refer before you buy anything. We are unbiased, ethical and open in our decision process. We are open to feedback from all of you since we do see it as community effort.
