What is BEE Star Rating in AC? What is EER and ISEER?

In 2019, increasing heatwaves propelled a surge in the sales of air conditioners. In April and May, air conditioners registered a year on year growth of a whopping 20%. With increasingly energy-efficient technology and affordable cooling solutions, the air conditioning market is booming. With the plethora of air conditioners flooding the market, pinpointing the ideal model is quite the task. However, by keeping some simple parameters in mind, consumers can get their hands on air conditioners that are cost-efficient yet highly effective at cooling. 

One such parameter is the BEE, EER and ISEER star ratings. It is important to understand what the BEE Star Rating of an AC is, in order to understand how much energy it consumes in order to cool a room. Be it a portable AC or a split AC, it is important to know the energy-efficiency of your particular model in order to keep your electricity bills in check. Read on to know more about the BEE Star Rating, the EER, and ISEER. 

BEE Star Rating

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is an agency founded by the Ministry of Power in 2002. It was founded to conserve energy by generating awareness among the public about the effective use of electricity. 

Knowing the BEE star rating of an appliance is an indicator of how energy-efficient it is. Marked out of 5, the more the energy rating, the higher the energy-saving ability of the appliance in question. This, in turn, leads to a lower electricity bill at the end of each month. 

Since 2006, BEE has been rating all AC brands and models. In fact, the government has made it mandatory for several heavy appliances to have a BEE rating since January 2010. The idea is to ensure that consumers are thoroughly aware of the energy consumption of a particular appliance and its effect on the overall power consumption of the individual. 

Therefore, purchasing a split or a portable AC with a 5-star BEE rating will save more energy and generate lower electricity bills than one with a 3 or a 4-star BEE rating. Checking the long-term value of the appliance includes factoring its BEE score, in order to ascertain the money saved over a long period of time. 

EER and ISEER

The EER, or the Energy Efficiency Ratio, is used to calculate the BEE rating of a particular appliance. It is calculated as follows: 

EER= Amount of heat removed (from a closed space) in an hour/ Power consumed in an hour

The ISEER value is an improvement over the EER, especially for the variable Indian weather. With the introduction of inverter ACs, BEE began to be calculated additionally with the ISEER, which stands for Indian Seasonal Energy Efficient Ratio. It is calculated as follows: 

ISEER: Cooling Seasonal Total Load (CSTL)/Cooling Seasonal Energy Consumption (CSEC)

What is distinctive about the ISEER value is that it factors in the changing seasons, which the EER score does not. Further, it is rated for inverter ACs, while the EER score is not. On the whole, the ISEER score is more accurate than the EER score. 

Conclusion

When buying an AC, be it a portable AC or a split one, it is important to check the BEE star rating for the same.