A Consumer Council test on air conditioners has found discrepancy in the actual and claimed values of cooling capacity and energy efficiency.
Of the 15 models of air conditioners ranging in cooling capacity from 2.45 kW to 2.64 kW (suitable for cooling a bedroom or living room) in the test, only two models could live up to their own specification by delivering the cooling capacity exactly as claimed.
The rest were found to fall slightly below their own claim. 11 samples fell within an accepted tolerance level of 5% (as stipulated in the EMSD Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme EELS). Two others were more serious with discrepancy of between 8% and 9%.
All samples in the test were shown to display the Grade 1 energy label of the voluntary Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme.
When the test data were analysed and converted into the Energy Consumption Indices of the scheme, the values of four samples were, however, revealed to fall below the requirement of Grade 1 (the higher the index the less the energy efficiency).
In the case of one particular sample, the Council's test showed that the energy efficiency was up to the standard of Grade 3 only - contrary to its Grade 1 label.
The EMSD has requested the supplier of the sample concerned to follow up accordingly. The supplier has since claimed that it has put its products to test at recognized laboratory in compliance with Grade 1 requirement in energy efficiency.
It is observed that under the existing EELS, many room air conditioners bear the Grade 1 energy labels. Under the scheme, air conditioners of high performance are more ready to take part voluntarily in the scheme and are therefore issued, in the majority of cases, the Grade 1 label. To the consumers, this may appear to be of little assistance to them in making purchase decisions.
Since technology has been improving, the Council believes that regular updating and reviewing of the standards adopted for the scheme should be conducted to reflect advances and to induce improvement.
The Council welcomes the proposal of the EMSD to make EELS mandatory for three types of household electrical appliances including air conditioners.
Energy efficiency is closely related to the consumption of air conditioners which are heavy users of electricity. It was estimated the annual running cost of electricity of the models ranged from $1,322 to $1,615 a unit a year - an 18% difference or savings of $293 annually. The savings would add up if there is more than one air conditioner in the house.
In other aspects, all models passed the enclosure sweat and condensate disposal tests. But under the extremely humid ambient condition in summer here, air conditioners may still produce dripping on the outside as the large amount of condensate water may not evaporate fast enough. Consumers are advised to install a drain hose if dripping does occur.
Air conditioners in operation invariably generate some level of noise - a range of about 10 dB was found between the quietest and the noisiest samples (when tested in a reflective environment at the lowest fan speed). Such difference in noise level will not go unnoticed to the noise-sensitive in their sleep.
A series of safety checks covering insulation resistance, earth continuity and cord anchorage, with reference to IEC60335-2-40 were performed. Only one sample had problem with the cord anchorage test: its power cord was pulled out of the chassis when a pulling force of 100 N was applied.
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