Types of Air Conditioning

Systems in Residential Buildings

Subject - INTERIOR SERVICES

Interior design 3rd Year
By – Deepshikha chouhan , Sarvika
Hazari , Bhagwati Chouhan
 INTRODUCTION
Residential ACs are meant for use at homes and apartments while
commercial ACs are designed for use at bigger spaces like office buildings,
malls, airports, hospitals, etc where cooling demand is high.

Types of Air Conditioner Used in Residence -

1. Split Air Conditioner
2. Window Air Conditioner
3. Portable Air Conditioner
4. VRV/VRF System
5. Central Air Conditioner
1. Split Air Conditioner
•The AC is divided into two parts.
•One is the indoor unit and the other is the outdoor unit.
•Indoor unit is mounted on a wall in your room and the outdoor unit is
either placed on the roof, or ground, or balcony, or sides of your
building.
•Indoor unit contains the evaporator and expansion valve, and blower.
•Outdoor unit consists of a compressor and condenser.
•Both the units are connected to each other via coolant coil. The gas or
coolant circulates between both units via coolant coil.
Pros
•Highly Energy Efficient – With time newer split ACs are becoming more and
more energy efficient.
•Consumes Less Power and leads to low electricity bills
•It can be installed on any wall of the room. No need to worry about windows
or frames.

Cons
•Needs hole in the wall for connecting the outdoor and indoor unit. This is a
big issue with people living in rented spaces where the landlord doesn’t
allow drilling of walls.
•Its indoor unit occupies wall space.
When to buy
You want to cool a single room
You want low electricity bills.
You don’t want noise while sleeping,
especially at night.
Your daily usage is high, like above 6
hours.
2. Window Air Conditioner
•The AC which fits into a window is called window air conditioner.
•It’s a standalone unit and a complete cooling package in itself.
•Every component is packed inside a single unit. The compressor,
evaporator, condenser, and blower are fitted inside the same tiny
space.
❑The key factor why people buy window AC is its price and easy
installation.
•It’s very cheap.
•However these are inefficient in terms of power consumption, and are
too noisy.
•The demand for window AC is going down with time.
Pros
•Window AC is the cheapest option available.
•Installation is easy, many householders install on their own.
•Maintenance, servicing and cleaning is easy and inexpensive.

Cons

•Window air cons are too noisy as the main culprit “compressor”
responsible for noise is fitted in the same unit.
•Poor Energy Efficiency – Its EER rating is low compared to that of split
ACs.
•Requires Window – Without a window one cannot use window AC.
When to Buy

Your budget is low and you need a cooling solution.

Your daily usage of AC is low.
You want to be free from servicing issues and servicing costs
because window ACs seldom require servicing except for
cleaning.
3. Portable Air Conditioner
Portable ACs are a new type of air conditioner which are slowly picking up the pace in the
home cooling market.
The key USP of this AC is its portability.
•It can be used anywhere and everywhere inside a house. This appliance is moveable and
small in size.
•This can also be seen as a hybrid between an air cooler and an air conditioner.
•Portable AC like window AC has all the components like compressor, condenser,
evaporator, blower inside a single unit.
•It has an exhaust pipe which throws hot air, this pipe needs to be fixed in a
window or door for expelling the heat outside.
•Manufacturers send panels for fixing the exhaust pipe in the window or door.
Pros

Easy to use, simple to setup.

Can be used in any room.
Good for spot cooling.
Can be stored in a store room when not required.

Cons

Low Cooling Power

Fails to cool a room to the desired temperature within a good span of time.
Inefficient in terms of power consumption
The exhaust pipe needs to be fixed in the window or a door.

When to Buy

Portable AC is good for bachelors living in rented rooms where there are no
windows and the landlord prohibits drilling the wall for installing split AC.
4. VRV/VRF System

•VRV: Variable Refrigerant Volume

VRF: Variable Refrigerant Flow

•Both the terms refer to the same air conditioning technology.

•This system was first introduced by Daikin to be used in commercial buildings

but now it can also be used in residential spaces.

•It is similar to a split air conditioner where there is an indoor unit and an outdoor
unit.

•In a VRV or VRF system there is 1 ODU(outdoor unit) just like in split AC but can
have multiple IDU(indoor units).

•It can cool multiple rooms with a single outdoor and a multiple indoor units.

•Every indoor unit is connected the single outdoor unit with coolant pipe.
Also called the multi-split air conditioning system.
For example if you have 4 rooms and you want to cool each room then ideally you may buy 4
different split ACs. Each split AC’s outdoor unit will consume extra space that can be saved with
the VRV/VRF system where a single high power outdoor unit is used.
Pros

No need of ducts
Can cool several room
Highly Energy Efficient
Each Room has a different remote for controlling temperature.

Cons

Very Expensive
Servicing and Maintenance can only be done through the manufacturer and so its
servicing and repairing is costly. Also local technicians cannot service a VRF
system.

When To Buy

Want to cool several rooms but do not want to go with a central air conditioning
system.
 5. Central AC
It is used for cooling large apartments and buildings.

More common in the United States.

According to the Energy Information Association, of all the air conditioning systems
in the US, 87 percent use central AC. Their homes are designed and built keeping
in mind the requirement of central AC.
But here in India it is uncommon to see central AC in residential homes.
Though it is the go to solution for commercial spaces.
Pros

Suitable for office buildings, factories, airports, hospitals.

Suitable for big houses and apartments.
With the Air Handling Units(AHU), it can bring fresh air from outside,
maintaining the oxygen level inside.
Sophisticated air filters can be used to filter and purify the air

Cons

Higher upfront cost, higher installation cost, higher maintenance cost.

Consumes a lot of electricity which leads to high bills.
The ducts can be infested with bugs and rats.
AC DUCT LAYOUT
 MARKET SURVEY
Two of the most common A.C we find in our
market survey for residential use are :-

• Split A.C
• Window A.C
Classification of A.C used in residential spaces on the
basis of tons and rating stars

❑ A.C consumption depends on stars:-

• Energy consumption is inversely proportion to stars.

❑ There are two series of A.C-

1. Inverter series- power consumption is less and costly.

2. Non inverter series- more power consumption and cheaper than

inverter series.
 Series Ton Price Capacity Rating

Non Inverter 1 Ton 22500/- 100 sq.ft 5 star

A.C
Non Inverter 1.1 Ton 35000/- 150 sq.ft 5 star
A.C

Non Inverter 1.5 Ton 42500/- 200 sq.ft 5 star

A.C

Series Ton Price Capacity Rating

Inverter A.C 1 Ton 27500/- 120-150 5 star

sq.ft
Inverter A.C 1.1 Ton 65000/- 200-250 5 star
sq.ft
DAIKIN BROCHURE
LG BROCHURE
A.C. AUTOMATION

• A home-automated air conditioning

system is interconnected to a
centralized system within the
house.
• A central console allows you to
control different temperatures in
different rooms. You control the
dates and times that the A/C turns
on and off.
• You can install more than one
central console for easy access in
any room.
• In addition, a home automated
system can be linked to one or
several mobile devices.

• Control the heating and cooling

unit from your smartphone, tablet,
laptop or from a website.

• Decide which rooms should be

cooler or warmer than the others
and at which times of the day.

• Use the zoning system to change

the comfort levels in different
parts of the same room.
FEATURES OF AUTOMATED AIR CONDITIONERS
• A smart A/C system includes motion detection sensors that respond to
environmental stimuli.

• Some smart air conditioners turn on or off when prompted by certain

functions, such as the light switching on or the door closing.

• The point is to sense when the room is occupied to increase the home’s
energy efficiency and reduce wastage.

• Another less common feature includes smart vents or windows that open
or close automatically.

• If you’re in another building and notice that the A/C is running in your
home, command the windows to close automatically.

• Close the vents if the temperature cools and you want to preserve the
warmth in a room.
THANK YOU