Replacement of old air conditioners with one that is more efficient on power consumption and uses green refrigerants such as R-32, can result in 70 per cent savings for consumers in energy costs, said an expert.

Prolonging the use of an old air conditioner will result in high energy bills and be detrimental to any sustainability and energy conservation initiatives, stated Daikin, a leader in manufacturing and production of cooling and heating solutions.

It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of residential electricity bill comes from the use of air conditioning.

"Generally, a high-quality air conditioner can last for up to 15 years if it is maintained properly through regular servicing including the cleaning and changing of filters, coils, and in some cases a refrigerant change.
However, this will only take you so far," observed Nabil Shahin, the director of Product Planning and Marketing at Daikin Middle East & Africa.

"If you have a very old air conditioner, especially one that is using HFC refrigerant, it consumes more energy resulting in higher operational costs, and emits more CO2 into the environment," he stated.

"At this point it is better to replace the old unit with one that is more efficient on power consumption and uses green refrigerants such as R-32 that are considered safer for the environment," noted Shahin.

Air conditioning has become a necessity in the UAE, but its use and consumption leads to large energy bills for households and significant pollutant contribution to the atmosphere.

However, by selecting the correct air conditioner, these two issues can be significantly reduced without compromising on quality or comfort, he added.

Shahin pointed out that high efficiency new air conditioning systems can save thousands of Dirhams in fuel and thereby energy costs as they operate at 90 per cent annual fuel utilisation efficiency (AFUE) compared to older systems that operate at around 65 per cent, with the remaining 35 per cent simply lost.

“This is obviously an efficiency issue leading to energy wastage and global warming. The new high efficiency models are great for household energy budgets, business profits, and the environment,” he added.

Shahin said the most efficient conventional air conditioners are those that use both variable refrigerant volume (VRV) and variable refrigerant temperature (VRT) technologies.

These can provide an additional 28 per cent energy savings on top of the inverter type systems, and up to 70 per cent over the old non-inverter systems, he added.-TradeArabia News Service