AIRCONDITIONER ENERGY SAVER

Seminar Report
2010-2011

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree

of Bachelor of Technology in Electrical and Electronics
By

SOORAJ RAJU
Univ roll no:372845

Under the guidance of

Ms. VIJI J. VIKRAM

Department of Electrical and Electronics

RAJAGIRI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Rajagiri Valley, Cochin-682039
Kerala, India
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the report entitled ‘Air Conditioner Energy Saver’ is a bonafide
record of the seminar done by Sooraj Raju of seventh semester Electrical and Electron-
ics Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Degree of
Bachelor of Technology in Electrical & Electronics Engineering of the Mahatma Gandhi
University, Kottayam during the academic year 2010 −0 11.

Ms. Viji J. Vikram

(Guide)
Lecturer
Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Prof. K. R. Varmah
Place: Kakkanad Professor & HOD
Date:13/09/2010 Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
 Acknowledgements

First and foremost I would like to thank God. I could never have done this without the
faith I have in you, the Almighty.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. K.R. Varmah, Head of Department
of Electrical Engineering who guided me through the process of the seminar. I am
extremely grateful to Ms. Viji J. Vikram,Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering,
for her able guidance and useful suggestions.
I am much obliged to the facilities of the institution and all teaching technical
staffs of Electrical Engineering Department for the kind help and cooperation they have
rendered.
I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents for their
blessings, my colleagues for their help and wishes.

Sooraj Raju

2
 Abstract

Air conditioner energy saver, is an electronic control unit, that adds intelligence to
existing air conditioning systems.It detects thermodynamic saturation and optimizes the
compressor accordingly. When overcapacity is detected, it switches the compressor off
and avoids inefficient overcooling. Various other methods like Thermostat adjustment,
efficient fan control, Timer operation etc can also be used to achieve energy efficiency
and the set room temperature is reached without the inefficient parts of the cooling
cycle.Thus Air conditioner Energy Saver substantially reduces the energy consumption
and reduces the green house gas emission. It also reduces the dripping and icing up of
compressor and thus improves its lifespan. Altogether, Air Conditioner Energy Saver
results in significant energy savings without compromising cooling comfort.

i
Contents

1 Introduction 1
1.1 Need for Electrical Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Why Air Conditioner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Working of Air Conditioner 4

3 Present AC problems 6
3.1 Over sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Over Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.3 Old Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Air Conditioner Energy Saver 8

4.1 Principle Of Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 Efficiency consideration: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5 Typical Operating and Performance Curves 10

6 Other Types of Energy saver 12

6.1 Based On Time Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6.2 Based On External Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

7 Advantages of Energy Saver 13

8 Commercial ACES and Its Technical Data 14

9 Testimonials 15

10 Conclusion 16

ii
List of Figures

1.1 Need For Energy Efficient Technology[1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Primary Energy and Electricity[3] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Electricity Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Residential Electricity Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 Air conditioning system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

5.1 Room Supply Air Temperature Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5.2 Power Consumption of AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3 Power Consumption of AC with Energy Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

8.1 Commercial Energy Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

iii
Chapter 1

Introduction

Energy effciency offers seemingly glittering promises to all-savings for consumers and
utilities, profits for shareholders, improvements in industrial productivity, enhanced in-
ternational competitiveness, and reduced environmental impacts. Improving energy effi-
ciency is the best short-term source and answer to today’s energy problems.Until cleaner
and sustainable sources of energy become easily available on a large scale, improving the
energy effciency of today’s systems is the best way to reduce CO2 emissions and to save
energy. Investments in energy efficient technologies offer significant benefits to electric
utilities and the Nation.

Figure 1.1: Need For Energy Efficient Technology[1]

Co-generation, Demand Side Management, Integrated Resource Planning, Green

Energy are some of the methods to achieve energy effciency. Demand-Side Manage-
ment(DSM) refers to utility-led programs intended to affect the timing or amount of
customer electricity use. Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) is a technique used by
utilities and State energy regulatory agencies to develop flexible plans for providing
reliable and economic electric power supply for customer needs. Cogeneration is the si-
multaneous or sequential production of both electrical or mechanical power and thermal
energy from a single energy source.The technical opportunities are myriad and potential
savings real, but consumers and utilities have so far been slow to invest in the most cost-
effective, energy-efficient technologies available. Greater energy efficiency can achieved
by replacing, upgrading, or maintaining existing equipment to reduce the amount of

1
energy needed. So any indigenous technology that improves energy efficiency can the
development of a country accelerates.

1.1 Need for Electrical Energy

Importance of Electrical energy is that, one third of the global energy use is based on
Electricity. Electric utilities are among the Nation’s biggest energy users and energy
producers.

Figure 1.2: Primary Energy and Electricity[3]

Some key conclusions: Electricity = 30% of primary or total energy and In terms of
CO2 emissions: 1 W of electrical energy -2.1 W of primary energy.
In sector wise, it is the energy source for 30% residential consumers,42% commercial
end users and 16% industrial sector energy need.

2
 Figure 1.3: Electricity Consumption
[3]

1.2 Why Air Conditioner

Air conditioning is one of the largest energy consumers in the residential and Industrial
sector. Thousands of air conditioners put high demands on the Electricity networks. On
a smaller scale, air conditioning probably accounts for a significant part of your energy
bill, representing approximately 40% to 60% of the overall electric bill. Recent history

Figure 1.4: Residential Electricity Consumption

[2]

has shown that air conditioner ownership can grow more rapidly than economic growth in
warm-climate countries. Room air conditioner purchases in India are currently growing
at 20 percent per year, with about half of these purchases attributed to the residential
sector. So improving energy efficiency of air conditioner is the need of the hour.

3
Chapter 2

Working of Air Conditioner

Air conditioners use chemicals that easily convert from a gas to a liquid and back again.
This chemical is used to transfer heat from the air inside of a home to the outside
air. The machine has three main parts. They are a compressor, a condenser and an
evaporator. The compressor and condenser are usually located on the outside portion
of the air conditioner. The evaporator is located inside the house, sometimes as part of
a furnace. The working fluid arrives at the compressor as a cool, low-pressure gas. The
compressor squeezes the fluid. This packs the molecule of the fluid closer together. The
closer the molecules are together, the higher its energy and its temperature.

Figure 2.1: Air conditioning system

[?]

The working fluid leaves the compressor as a hot, high pressure gas and flows into
the condenser. If you looked at the air conditioner part outside a house, look for the
part that has metal fins all around. The fins act just like a radiator, in a car. It helps
the heat go away, or dissipate, more quickly. When the working fluid leaves the con-
denser, its temperature is much cooler and it has changed from a gas to a liquid under
high pressure. The liquid goes into the evaporator through a very tiny, narrow hole. On

4
the other side, the liquid’s pressure drops. When it does it begins to evaporate into a gas.

As the liquid changes to gas and evaporates, it extracts heat from the air around it.
The heat in the air is needed to separate the molecules of the fluid from a liquid to a
gas. The evaporator also has metal fins to help in exchange the thermal energy with the
surrounding air. By the time the working fluid leaves the evaporator, it is a cool, low
pressure gas. It then returns to the compressor to begin its trip all over again.

Connected to the evaporator is a fan that circulates the air inside the house to blow
across the evaporator fins. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so the hot air in the room
rises to the top of a room. There is a vent where air is sucked into the air conditioner
and goes down ducts. The hot air is used to cool the gas in the evaporator. As the heat
is removed from the air, the air is cooled. It is then blown into the house through other
ducts usually at the floor level. This continues over and over until the room reaches the
temperature you want the room cooled to. The thermostat senses that the temperature
has reached the right setting and turns off the air conditioner. As the room warms up,
the thermostat turns the air conditioner back on until the room reaches the temperature.

5
Chapter 3

Present AC problems

Present air conditioning system suffers from number of issues.They can be summarized
as follows:

3.1 Over sizing

Most air conditioner units are designed to deliver desired cooling under the most demand-
ing situation imaginable such as on hottest day of the year with a crowded room and
lowest room temperature possible. But for 99% of the time, they operate in off-design
conditions. Single-Speed systems (majority of window/wall and single split systems, not
inverter systems) have no mechanism to match the system’s cooling capacity to current
heat load. (It’s like a sports car that can only drive at 250 km/hr and cannot slow down,
no breaks and no throttle). They keep running on full capacity until the room thermostat
is satisfied and turns the system off.So running the system continuously until the room
thermostat switches it off means that the system operates with excess capacity most
of the time This over sizing is a well documented fact/problem in the air conditioning
industry.

3.2 Over Cooling

A typical cooling cycle with excess capacity looks like this: When the cycle starts, the
compressor pushes cooling energy into the heat exchanger which acts as an energy stor-
age. At this stage, the system works with high efficiency because compressors operate
most efficiently when fully loaded. In normal weather conditions, the energy storage is
soon fully “charged up”. From this point onwards, the compressor provides more cool-
ing energy than the heat exchanger can take up (thermodynamic saturation). Running
the compressor beyond this stage does not increase the cooling effect any more. It’s
just a waste of energy!! In thermodynamic terms partial load means that the air which
is blown across the coils can only take up a small part of the available cooling energy
provided by the compressor. The available cooling capacity is much greater than the
required cooling capacity. This is called “over cooling”.

Analogy of the principle of Thermodynamic Saturation:-

Your bathroom has a faucet and a sink. The faucet represents the compressor. The

6
sink represents the evaporator. The purpose of the faucet (compressor) is to fill the
sink (evaporator). The faucet can deliver more water than the sink can hold, just as
the compressor can continue to run when the evaporator is as cold as it’s ever going to
get. That’s Thermodynamic Saturation. If you don’t turn off the faucet, the sink will
overflow. If you don’t turn off the compressor, you’ll waste electricity and money.

3.3 Old Technology

Many existing air conditioners use old and quite inefficient technology. Although im-
proved technology has become available in more expensive systems (e.g. inverter tech-
nology), the payback time of these systems is still very long.
Also at present, a considerable amount of installation may be based on individual
like, or may be restrained from the limited space of the premises, or may be limited
by the pre-existing exhaust opening for the air conditioning system in the building.
Such ways of installations will cause the room machine being installed at a level near
the ceiling far above the height of people or at the corner of the room, in the case of
case machine. Due to the different temperature level in the room, the sensor of the air
conditioning device can hardly sense the actual temperature generated from the human
activity in the room, as such, there will be a certain amount of temperature difference
between the position of the human body and the air- taking place, thus causing too
high or too much in making cool or heat, the inertia of the temperature control sensor
device, out of temperature control. Only by placing the temperature sensor inside the
human activity area, the effectiveness of the air conditioning device can be upgraded.
However,this cannot be solved in the present air conditioning device

7
Chapter 4

Air Conditioner Energy Saver

Air conditioner energy saver (ACES) is an electronic control unit, which adds state-
of the art intelligence to air conditioning systems and improves their energy efficiency.
Its sensor-driven software algorithms are designed to detect thermodynamic saturation
and to optimize the compressor accordingly. When overcapacity is detected, the ACES
switches the compressor off and avoids inefficient over cooling. The unit switches into
“saver mode”. The fan keeps running and your system makes maximum use of the
stored cooling energy in the heat exchanger. Once the stored energy is used up, the
compressor can work efficiently again and is switched back on. The set room temperature
is reached without the inefficient parts of the cooling cycle. This results in significant
energy savings without compromising cooling comfort. Since the correct point to switch
the compressor varies from unit to unit and changes with different weather conditions,
the ACES is constantly adapting its settings to ensure efficient operation of the air
conditioning system at all times.

4.1 Principle Of Operation

ACES applies fuzzy-logical technology to simulate human being’s sense of temperature
and enhance the refrigeration efficiency by optimizing the operation curve of compressor,
as well as to control compressor to adjust cool air output and prevent the air over-cooled
from over-using energy, and further to save the over-used energy. It’s carried out as
follows:-
1. Save electricity by controlling low limited temperature. According to the operation
curve of AC compressor, when compressor runs to the low limited temperature, the
whole temperature will rise. The current and the energy expenditure will also increase.
However, the cooling temperature will not descend any more or descend little. In this
situation, the ACES Saver will control the compressor to stop, and to save the energy
that will be wasted on. In the meanwhile, the compressor is completely cooled down,
and its reliability will be increased.
2. The cooled refrigerant still maintains in the compressor system after compressor
stopped. As the cooling fan continues to run while compressor stopped, the air from
cooling fan still keeps cool and maintain the room temperature. When the air tempera-
ture rises to a certain level, the simulator of ACES saver will control compressor to start
up for next cycle, and so on. This does avoid compressor frequently starting up, and
the energy is saved successfully.

8
 3. Avoids frequent starting up the compressor. The compressor’s start and stop are
controlled by protractor. In the state of heating, it stops when the temperature is higher
than the targeted setting, and starts while lower. In the state of cooling, it starts when
the temperature is higher than the targeted setting, and stops while lower. Actually, the
work cycle is a few minutes. So frequent to start and stop compressor, it will bring in
rush current impact and huge energy expenditure. Whereas the working cycle of ACES
saver is scores of minutes, it avoids frequent inrush current impact to compressor and
extends compressor’s lifespan.
It provides anti-short cycling, mandatory compressor off time after thermostat reaches
set point (3 min) or loss of power (1 min).ACES Reduces equipment operating tempera-
ture and prevents evaporator freeze-over by properly cycling the compressor, constantly
adapting its settings to inside demand requirements and outside weather conditions. Cy-
cling the compressor too frequently in too short time intervals may harm the compressor
and must be avoided. For this reason, the ac energy saver features a built-in anti short
cycling protection.

4.2 Efficiency consideration:

It is important to understand that efficiency of a system is defined as effective output
divided by the sum of consumed power. When the unit starts, the compressor manages
to move a lot of energy into the coils. The coils can be viewed as an energy storage
which is filled up by the compressor.
As long as the compressor manages to push more energy into the coils (and they in
turn become colder (evaporator)), it is working comparatively efficiently. When thermo-
dynamic saturation is reached, the coils (in terms of energy storage) are fully ”charged
up”. In the efficiency calculation fraction this means that the compressor efficiency wors-
ens. So if energy savings are to be achieved, this is the most suitable point to switch
off the compressor. The stored energy in the system should then be used up. Once
that has happened, the compressor can provide cooling with high efficiency again and
should be switched back on. This is exactly what the ACES achieves. It optimizes the
overall efficiency of the compressor and cuts out the inefficient stages of operation at
partial load. Compared to operation of the unit without the ACES, the percentage of
operational time in which the compressors (as the largest consumer) works with higher
efficiency increases. This is where the energy savings are: Less energy is wasted during
the inefficient stages which don’t produce any further cooling effect.
Compressors consume approximately 80% of the units energy use.A 4 ton home unit
will draw 18-25 amps (approximately) with compressor and fans running. The same
4 ton unit will draw 4-6 amps (approximately) with compressor off and fans running
Once the ACES senses a 1.5 degree rise in evaporator temperature, it will restart the
compressor.An ACES installed will basically turn older units into “Variable Speed Drive”
units.Simple units cannot do that by themselves. They do not even have the required
sensor which is essential to determine thermodynamic saturation. So the ACES transfers
the philosophy of load matching from inverter units to single speed units in the form of
an easy and cost effective retrofit.

9
Chapter 5

Typical Operating and

Performance Curves

1. Temperature Curve

Figure 5.1: Room Supply Air Temperature Curve

[9]

The above figure shows the typical temperature points at different time for an air
conditioning system.
2. Power Consumption of AC without Energy Saver

Figure 5.2: Power Consumption of AC

[9]

10
3.Power Consumption of AC with Energy Saver
It optimizes the overall efficiency of the compressor and cuts out the inefficient stages
of operation at partial load. Compared to operation of the unit without the ACES, the
percentage of operational time in which the compressors (as the largest consumer)
works with higher efficiency increases. This is where the energy savings are: Less
energy is wasted during the inefficient stages which don’t produce any further cooling
effect.

Figure 5.3: Power Consumption of AC with Energy Saver

[9]

11
Chapter 6

Other Types of Energy saver

Other than compressor technology there are some other methods to increase energy
efficiency of AC. They are:

6.1 Based On Time Setting

The unit consists of a cyclic dual timer, in which one having a fixed setting of 15
minutes and another selectable between the two options provided viz. 2 and 4 minutes
in one model and another model with an option to vary from 2 to 9 minutes of one
minute steps. The ACES can be installed in a matter of minutes. It is connected in
between the AC and the mains by using the plug and socket provided in the unit.
Another model suitable for installing the unit inside the Air Conditioner is also
available. This unit can be connected either to switch off the Air Conditioner totally or
only switch off the compressor and ensure continuous working of the blower.

6.2 Based On External Constraints

Various parameters of AC such as humidity,external temperature,number of persons in
the room etc, are given as constraints.
e.g.
Above 26 Celsius, all AC’s ON
Between 23 Celsius, Minimum AC’s ON
Below 23 Celsius,all AC’s OFF

12
Chapter 7

Advantages of Energy Saver

The ACES have a number of advantages.

Air Conditioner Energy Saver,

• Provides optimized parameter settings for higher savings, at no decrease in

cooling comfort

• Increases the switching power

• Significantly Reduce Carbon Emissions and Improve Air Quality

• Helps to prevent dripping and icing of compressor

• Provides protection against short and potentially damaging power outages

• Improves anti cycling protection and overall compressor protection.

13
Chapter 8

Commercial ACES and Its

Technical Data

The big names in the air conditioner energy saver are

AIRCONMISER,AIRCON,AIRCOSAVER etc.

Figure 8.1: Commercial Energy Saver

[8]

The technical data sheet of ACES

1. Operating Data
• Input voltage: 230V AC(+/- 10%), 50/60 Hz
• Max. current consumption: 15 mA
2. Output (Relay)
• Contact function : NO (Normally Open)
• Switching voltage : 24 V AC to 230 V AC
• Max. switching current : 12 A continuously / 120 A temporarily (20ms) at
250V switching voltage
• Anti-short cycle protection : 3 minutes (1 minute upon power-up)
3. Operating conditions

• Operating temperature : min. 0o C, max. 55o C

• Relative humidity : min. 15%, max. 90%
• No Condensation

14
Chapter 9

Testimonials

Apart from residential consumers, some of the big names in the industry have
implemented air conditioner energy saver.They are

• RELIANCE CAPITAL SERVICE installed it in New Delhi office and achieved a

saving of 25%.

• Project Green Light certified ACES, AT&T installs on 5/30/08 for Building
E4509, Plantation, Florida. The controller energy reduction Cost per/Month
savings of $151.90. That was 38.91% reduction in cooling costs.

• HSBC Bank Test Evaluation Trial of the ACES Unit was completed and verified
by HSBC Engineers and, as a result, 24.4% energy savings was recorded by data
logger.

• EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) certified ACES-multi-location (48

store) test with DOMINOS PIZZA (2009) - The controller immediate energy
reductions are realized in excess of twenty one percent (21%) for an annual
savings of $156,863.

• Energy Audit for Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Campus. Energy

Savings achieved by installation of ACES for a 1.5 ton AC.Thus savings of
35-40% was seen when the energy saver was fitted,with a simple payback period
of eight(8) month.

Some others installed ACES are South Eastern Railways Garden Reach,Hindustan
Newsprint Ltd.,ITC Limited, EXIDE Industries Ltd.,Bhatkawa Tea Inds. Ltd.,Hitech
Air Systems,Hilkon Ltd.,Nicco Corporation Ltd.,Bansal Cylinders and Tubes Ltd.,Steel
Product Ltd.,SRMB Udyog.,P. S. SONI (Home) and many more..

15
Chapter 10

Conclusion

Air conditioner Energy Saver substantially reduces the energy consumption and
reduces the green house gas emission. It also reduces the dripping and icing up of
compressor and thus improves its lifespan. Thus Energy Saver results in significant
energy savings without compromising cooling comfort.

16
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17