Under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s (BEE) Star Labelling Programme, the overall energy efficiency improvement is 43 per cent for 1-star and 61 per cent for the 5-star level for split room air-conditioners (RACs).
On the other hand, the overall energy efficiency improvement for window RACs is 17 per cent for 1-star and 13 per cent for 5-star level. The market share of the more efficient, variable speed (inverter) RACs has increased from 1 per cent to 77 per cent in the eight years from 2015-16 to 2022-23, while that of the fixed speed RACs has reduced from 99 per cent to 23 per cent during the same period. The overall market for RACs reached 6.6 million units by 2020-21. This market transformation towards efficient technology was possible due to adoption of variable speed (inverter) RAC policy, which offers benefits to the consumers in terms of electricity and cost saving.