Green Planet: Smart Way To Choose Your Air Conditioner

Jakarta is hot, so may of us installed Air Conditioner (AC) in our home so we can rest, relax and cool down. Nevertheless, on the other hand, AC consumes a lot of energy (electricity) which triggers and increases the global warming which will negatively impact our planet and our children.

In relation to this, let me share with you a smart way to eco-friendly choose your AC.

First, you must choose the correct cooling capacity, otherwise your room will be either too warm or too cold. If you go to the shops, there are several capacities you can choose; 1/2PK, 3/4PK, 1PK, 1 1/2PK and 2PK (PK or Paard Kracht is Horse Power in Dutch). Even though higher PK equivalent with higher cooling power, but the actual cooling power will be determine by the BTU (British Thermal Unit) number.

Nonetheless in Indonesia, most consumer shops will only know PK, while BTU is often used by commercial contractors, engineer etc. In simplicity, 1/2 PK equal to 5000BTU, 3/4PK equal to 7000BTU, 1PK equal to 9000BTU, 1 1/2PK equal to 12000BTU, and 2PK equal to 18000BTU.

The simplest way to calculate the PK required to cool a room is as follows :

PK = L x W x H x 0.233

while L,W,H are the lenght, width, and height of the room in meter (m). With this formula, you will find that most of the time the result will not exactly be 1/2, 3/4PK and so on, therefore please use your judgement to round it up or down. Please note that any room in upper floor, or has more exposure to the sun (eg many windows facing to the West) will require higher cooling power compare to the room on the ground floor and has less exposure to the sunlight.