Full Title: Bringing Super Efficient Air Conditioners to the Market: Insights from Field Testing in India and the Path Forward
Author(s): Ankit Kalanki, Yash Shukla, and Lekhya Vennamaneni
Publisher(s): Rocky Mountain Institute
Publication Date: May 2, 2025
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Amid record-breaking temperatures and surging electricity demand for cooling, the world is facing a cooling challenge. This is especially significant in India, which is on track to operate over 1 billion room air conditioners (ACs) by 2050 — driving a ninefold increase in cooling-related electricity use compared to 2022. Without swift intervention, this explosive growth will place immense strain on the power grid and create serious environmental consequences.
This report from the Global Cooling Efficiency Accelerator (GCEA) — a coalition of scientists and cooling experts — unveils groundbreaking field-testing results from Palava City, India. Conducted over nine months in partnership with Lodha and CEPT University, the study compared performance of super-efficient AC prototypes against typical market models, revealing how they perform in real-world heat and humidity.
The findings are staggering: In real-world conditions, super-efficient ACs used 60 percent less energy than typical AC units, while reducing peak demand and enhancing occupant comfort. The study also uncovered critical gaps in current testing standards — particularly around performance in humidity. The current testing standards underestimate the real-world energy use of ACs in warm and humid climates largely due to the extra energy used by typical ACs to attempt to control humidity.