Review of Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton Eco-Inverter Air Conditioner

Introduction

Surviving Calcutta's super hot and humid summer last year, I finally made up my mind to go for Air Conditioners which are day by day becoming an essential equipment rather than luxury to middle class family like ours. With an ever increasing demand fueled with widely available EMI schemes, it has mooted variety of brands and products availability in the market. Some of the renowned brands that can be found in the market are Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Daikin, Panasonic, Sharp, LG, Carrier, O-General, Toshiba along with several indigenous brands like Voltas and BlueStar. Each of these brand offers non-Inverter air conditioners with variety of added features like inclusion of antibacterial air purifiers, anti-odour, etc where as the best of them having proper R&D facilities offers newer and much advanced technology like Inverter air conditioners.

In India room air conditioners are generally available from 0.8 to 2.5 Ton range denoting their cooling capacity class. Internationally the air conditioners are rated as 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3 HP (Horse Power).

Below is a chart of the cooling capacity class:

0.5 HP = 6,000 BTU/Hr = 0.5 Ton
1.0 HP = 9,000 BTU/Hr = 0.8 Ton
1.5 HP = 12,000 BTU/Hr = 1.0 Ton
2.0 HP = 17,100 BTU/Hr = 1.5 Ton
2.5 HP = 24,000 BTU/Hr = 2.0 Ton
……..

As a consumer it became very difficult for me to determine which type air conditioners to vouch for, I mean Inverters or non-Inverters, the one that provides the best bang for the buck and is also extremely energy efficient to counter the rise of per unit cost of electricity?

One way was to go relatively cheaper non-Inverter route where air conditioners are rated from 1 ~ 5 stars in terms of efficiency by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under the Indian Union Ministry of Power. Affixing BEE star label has been made mandatory by BEE to all the manufactures for the benefit of general public, showing the level of energy consumption by non-Inverter air conditioner both in terms of absolute values as well as equivalent number of stars varying from one to five, in accordance with BEE stipulation. The greater the number of stars on the label, higher the appliance energy efficiency and lower its electricity consumption. While selecting non-Inverter air conditioners refer to the BEE Star Rated Label affixed is must.

Energy Efficiency of Air Conditioner

Efficiency of an air conditioner is normally measured as Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER), which is the ratio of the cooling output, measured in British thermal units (BTU) per hour, to the power input (in Watts, and includes all inputs to compressor, fan motors and controls) to operate AC at standard rating conditions. This means a higher the EER, the more efficient the air conditioner is.

At times, EER is defined a little differently. The cooling capacity instead of being denoted in Btu/Hr is also denoted in Watts (1 BTU/Hr = 0.293 Watts). Thus EER is represented as Watts/ Watts or as a number without any units and will be assumed from now on.

EER Calculation of non-Inverter Air Conditioner

Non-Inverter Model: Hitachi i-Clean (RAU518ITDA)
Tonnage: 1.5 Ton
Star Rating: 5
Rated Cooling Capacity: 5274 watts
Total Power Drawn: 1524 watts
Rated EER: 5274/1524 = 3.46

So the higher the EER number better is its efficiency and more costly it’s going to be, due to the use of more advanced technology.

BEE Chart of star ratings applicable to air conditioners for 2012 ~ 2013

1 Star -> 2.5 to 2.69 EER
2 Star -> 2.7 to 2.89 EER
3 Star -> 2.9 to 3.09 EER
4 Star -> 3.1 to 3.29 EER
5 Star -> 3.3 and upwards EER

And for 2014 ~ 2015

1 Star -> 2.7 to 2.89 EER
2 Star -> 2.9 to 3.09 EER
3 Star -> 3.1 to 3.29 EER
4 Star -> 3.3 to 3.49 EER
5 Star -> 3.5 and upwards EER

Let us assume someone buys a 5-star rated non-Inverter air conditioner in 2011 with EER of 3.1. By 2012 the same AC becomes a 4-star since 5-star requirement is 3.3, by 2014 a 3-star since 5-star now requires 3.5 and by 2016 a 2-star since 5-star now requires 3.7. By 2018 the same AC becomes a pesky 1-star AC since 5-star now requires 3.9. For non-Inverters it generally takes seven years for the epic climb down form 5-star to 1-star.

So, we find EER star rating of non-Inverter air conditioners as an ever moving target and its star rating is respective to the year a particular model was released. This is very important to keep in mind while going for non-Inverter air conditioners.

The other and more expensive way was to go for Inverter Air Conditioners which are sophisticated piece of equipment. At the very start of an air conditioners operation, powerful cooling is required to reach the set temperature. After the set temperature is reached, less cooling is required to maintain it. A conventional non-Inverter air conditioner can only operate at a rated capacity which is below the maximum capacity but still too powerful to maintain the set temperature. Thus, in attempting to maintain set temperature non-Inverter air conditioners switches the compressor ON and OFF repeatedly. This results in wider temperature fluctuations leading to wasteful consumption of electrical energy.

The Inverter air conditioners on the other hand have a full-output operation mode to operate at maximum capacity as soon as they start thus reaching the targeted temperature faster than non-Inverter and when the set temperature is achieved drastically reduce energy consumption by going into energy-saving operation mode by varying the rotational speed of the compressor along with the indoor and outdoor fan motors for optimum performance at all times. This provides a highly precise method of maintaining the set temperature and drastically reduces wasteful cooling operation and energy consumption.

Advantages of Inverter Air Conditioners

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To achieve this technical feat, in-built sensors from both indoor and outdoor units measuring temperature and humidity are processed at over 4000 times per second by Inverter air conditioners brain i.e. Digital Micro-computer Module which then maintains targeted room temperature and humidity by constantly controlling the voltage, current and frequency send to its highly energy efficient DC motor compressor and also sending commands to its highly sophisticated electronic pulse linear expansion valve to precisely control coolant pressure for more efficient heat exchange. In conjunction to the above activities the electronic module also controls speed of the indoor and outdoor fan units which contain high quality DC motors. DC motors are more efficient and save energy over conventional AC motors used in non-Inverters since they use magnetic force to operate.

'The Brain' of an Inverter Air Conditioner (Digital Micro-computer Module)

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One has to understand that technology comes at a price. The hard earned money one pays for Inverter air conditioners are put in using much better components which never came with non-Inverters, reaping their benefits in terms performance and efficiency with significant reduction in power consumption, not the mentioned the prolonged life-span with use of high quality materials. Also Inverter air conditioners produce no humidity when adjusting room temperature. This is very important since it is the moisture removed from the room which actually produces the feeling of cooling. If the air conditioners can effectively remove enough moisture from the room it will produce a feeling of comfort.

'The Brain' of Inverter Air Conditioners are generally located on the Outdoor Units and their heatsinks are cooled by the ODU fan

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Since I plan for extended use on a daily basis, I decided for Inverter ones over cheaper non-Inverters. I was astounded to learn in Japan almost all air conditioners are Inverter's where as in India the same Japanese air conditioner companies sell low cost non-Inverter, 5 star rated air conditioners at same price of Inverter air conditioners. The reason I believe is people awareness, very few people know about the real benefits Inverter's offer in terms of cooling performance, efficiency and low power consumption under part load conditions. This companies takes advantage of the situation and garner fat profit margins by selling 2~5 star rated age old technology.

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It have been over four months since I installed two 1.5 Ton Sharp Eco-Inverter (Model no: AH-XP18MV) air conditioners. These includes in-built Plusmacluster air purifier technology.

Sharp AH-XP18MV

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Personally, I am not the kind of person who buys a consumer product because Mr. ‘X’ had recommended buying product ‘Y’ from manufacturer ‘Z’. After haplessly wandering in the forums for a month or so I understood people in India being unaware are still happily using stone age star rated non-Inverter technology filled with R22 refrigerant gas where as the rest of the developed countries have moved on to a whole new level with Inverters, filled with energy efficient and environmentally friendly R410A refrigerant gas.

In my vision, Inverters are the way to go, no matter if they cost more or less. In Japan, people do not think about how many hours they are going to use them, they just buy Inverter air conditioners. Thus all room air conditioners in Japan are Inverters. They not only look at the money aspect, they also save precious energy and environment.

After some six months of market study, personal experiences while visiting various dealers/ showrooms I reached to the conclusion there are NO ‘number one ’ or ‘number two ’ among air conditioner manufacturers. Some companies like Hitachi & Daikin are revered in India and sale self advertised 'premium quality ' air conditioners due to their face value where as general consumer appliance manufacturers like LG & Samsung have their range from the very bottom to the top. Hitachi have an unprecedented reputation in India which they built through the last two decades when there was simply no competition at their level by providing excellent products at sky high prices. Amazingly even today with their extra-high quoted price people go by hype and buy them blindly because it’s a 'Hitachi'.

But buyers like me who have done a through market study and want the most out of the rupee find the current landscape to have dramatically changed with multiple previously unknown international air conditioner companies jumping in the lucrative and nascent Indian air conditioner market raising the performance bar higher every year with cut throat competition. This is a boon for us buyers. In the Inverter air conditioner market I find Hitachi and Daikin as just two players along with Sharp, Panasonic, LG, Mitsubishi and Carrier.

After personally experiencing the Sharp, LG and Hitachi Inverter air conditioners, I found Sharp and LG's to be much superior than the similar Hitachi/Daikin ones in terms of performance, reliability and product quality. LG uses the most advanced technology of all Inverter air conditioners currently available in India and one will be a lucky to get their 1.5 Ton version at less than INR 54K. Also the product qualities of LG Inverter air conditioners are in altogether different premium level w.r.t. their non-Inverter air conditioners models.

But the real deal is how much you get at a certain price point (cost versus efficiency) and from that perspective Sharp Inverter's are truly hard to beat.

Sharp AH-XP18MV

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Specification

Indoor Unit [IDU]: Sharp AH-XP18MV
Outdoor Unit [ODU]: Sharp AU-X18MV

Cooling Capacity Range [kW]: (1.6 - 5.27 - 6)
Cooling Capacity Range [BTU/Hr]: (5,400 - 18,000 - 20,500)
Power Consumption [Min-Rated-Max]: (320 - 1,440 - 1900) watts
EER through Operating Range [Min-Rated-Max] (W/W): (5 - 3.66 - 3.16)
Rated Cooling Capacity: 5.27 kW/ 18,000 BTU/Hr
Rated Power Consumption: 1,440 watts
Rated EER (W/W): 3.66
Indoor Airflow Rate (CMM): 16.8
Indoor Noise Level (High): 44 dB
Outdoor Noise Level (High): 53 dB
Plasmacluster Air Purifier: Available
Refrigerant Gas: R410A
IDU Weight: 12 kg
ODU Weight: 35 kg

My 1.5 Ton Sharp AH-XP18MV Inverter air conditioner come fully imported from Thailand with an MRP of INR 50K. The indoor unit looks gorgeous, has amazing cooling performance capability and just oozes quality. Being the premium 1.5 Ton model, Sharp also have their patented Plasmacluster air purifier built inside it. If one can really bargain well he will get them for 43K. And if one can really really bargain like me, he will get them at 41K, below which the dealer will simply refuse to sale since their profit margin falls below 1K. In comparison the best price I got for the Hitachi i-Clean non-Inverter 1.5 Ton, 5 star air conditioner was a sky high 42K where as their i-Tec Inverter 1.5 Ton costs an earth shattering 56K!!!

I immediately dumped the Hitachi for their un-justified pricing and went for Sharp Inverters, other reasons being their excellent customer support and after sales service provided in Calcutta.

Sharp Plasmacluster Air Purifier Mechanism

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I was thus able to get two Sharp AH-XP18MV, 1.5 tonners at 82K along with complete free installation kits. After adding two pairs of best after market ODU brackets and installation charge, total damage to my wallet rested at INR 87K.

One of the key reasons opting for Sharp's other than performance and being a true VFM product was that they provide the best and safest installation kits out here which contains:

1) 4m Copper Tubes for both gas and liquid side of class leading 0.8mm wall thickness
2) 4m XPE insulation for both gas and liquid side tubes of white color which reflect heat
3) 4m 4 core electric copper cables to connect IDU with ODU
4) 4m drain pipe
5) Surgical gloves to be used by installers. Our installer was very happy to see that at least one company in India is including this with their kits.
6) Cleaning cloth
7) All of above elements in a separate packaging box.

Our installer (he is a very experienced professional being in this air conditioner installation business for over 30 years) said the pipes will last a lifetime and no company even Daikin & Hitachi provides the copper pipes of similar quality to connect the indoor unit to the outdoor unit as provided by Sharp.

Nature inspired NatureWing Cross-flow Indoor Fan

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Indoor Unit (IDU)

I found Sharp AH-XP18MV is using a new concept on their cross-flow fan design which they say is inspired by nature, called NatureWing. To me its just a new marketing name. :-D

The fan feature blades modeled on the shape of dragonfly’s wings which have ridged surfaces that generate minuscule air eddies during flight. These eddies function like ball bearings to make their flight smoother with less effort. These new dragonfly wing shaped fan blades are said to harnesses the flow of air a bit better than previous designs to boost air circulation efficiency. I find the indoor units are super quite in Auto Mode and only when I select Super Jet function do I hear jet stream of air gushing out!!! In the end AH-XP18MV indoor unit's NatureWing concept is worth the salt as it is capable of achieving a max airflow rate of 16.8 CMM (cubic meter per minute) resulting in strong chilling windblasts. In contrast Carrier can do a max of 14.3, Daikin a 14.7, Mitsubishi a 15.1 and Hitachi a 16.7 with their respective 1.5 Ton Inverter models.

Outdoor Unit (ODU)

While comparing similar 1.5 Ton Inverter outdoor units, I found Sharp is using a bigger and higher cooling capacity Rotary Compressor for its class. With the compressor having quite advanced Torque Control Technology controlling load torque generated by the compressor rotation by combing it with the torque generated by the compressor's DC motor, substantially reducing noise and vibration of the compressor contributing to higher efficiency, and thus higher energy savings. The compressor drive technology is also quite advanced which adopts a 180° conductance sine wave instead of the conventional 120° conductance waveform used by its competitors resulting in smoothing of compressor motor rotation at high RPM (revolutions per minute). Lastly, the compressor unit of this Sharp Inverter comes enclosed inside an acoustic jacket to eliminate noise and makes the outdoor unit very quiet. It is so quite that it becomes hard for me to guess from a distance whether it is running or not until the ODU fan starts rotating.

Unlike the cheaper capillary used in non-Inverter air conditioners which allows free flow of the refrigerant gas, the Sharp Inverter's controls the flow according to the load needed by using technically superior and much more performance oriented Electronic Pulse Linear Expansion Valve. It has numerous settings to precisely control refrigerant flow which helps in drastically improving the efficiency of the desired cooling. It also helps in maintaining room temperature within a near accurate 0.5 degree centigrade variation of the set temperature unlike typical temperature change that occurs with non-Inverter air conditioners, thus reducing energy consumption.

Electronic Pulse Linear Expansion Valve

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While Mitsubishi, Daikin, Carrier & Panasonic Inverter air conditioners have a rated 17,100 BTU/Hr cooling capacity for their 1.5 Ton class, Sharp uses a compressor which being rated at 18,000 BTU/Hr equates to a 1.6 Ton Inverter. So +1 to Sharp.

On the other hand while comparing with 1.5 Ton non-Inverter models with fixed rated 17,100 BTU/Hr cooling capacity, I find this 1.5 Ton Sharp Inverter have a maximum cooling capacity of 20,500 BTU/Hr equating to a 1.8 Ton non-Inverter!!! This implies the Sharp Inverter will have a full-output operation mode of a 1.8 Ton non-Inverter to operate at maximum capacity as soon as it starts thus reaching the targeted temperature faster than a 1.5 Ton non-Inverter and then gradually reduce its energy consumption by coming down to its rated cooling capacity of 1.6 Ton. When the set temperature is achieved it will drastically reduce energy consumption by going to energy-saving operation mode and rolling down to a minimum cooling capacity of just 5,400 BTU/Hr which equates to an amazingly tiny 0.4 Ton non-Inverter consuming just 320 watts of energy. This is the reason why dealers say a 1.5 Ton Inverter will suffice for a 2 Ton non-Inverter. So +10 to Inverter technology.

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One of the key reason to opt for Sharp Inverters were the use of complete all-aluminum, galvanic corrosion resistant, more efficient & durable condensers having canalicular tubing resulting in superior refrigerant flow velocity, improved heat exchange efficiency and decreased heat transfer loss from tube to fin in their outdoor units. This modern condensers are costlier as well as lighter to age old, bulky, less efficient copper-aluminum condensers with circular tubing that other manufacturers like Hitachi, Daikin and Panasonic uses to save cost.

All-Aluminium Canalicular Tubed Condenser VS Copper-Aluminium Circular Tubed Condenser

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All-aluminium canalicular tubed condensers are definitely the next step towards advanced technology and improved efficiency where the refrigerant enters multiple tubes at the same time, therefore enhancing the air conditioners performance and reduce the power consumption. Such efficient condensers with high heat capacity have long been used in cars and are designed with increased surface area and less resistance to airflow enabling improved thermal efficiency and much better performance compared to copper-aluminium circular tubed condensers. They also call for special carefully designed outdoor condenser fans for proper heat expulsion. Sharp says AH-XP18MV employs a newly shaped fan blade which is based on the aeronautical theories of NASA and is run by a highly efficient DC fan motor. The redesigned fan blade cross-section with an ideal streamline is said to increase “lift” (the principle by which airplanes fly), thereby achieving a high rotation efficiency of 120–170% compared to their previous outdoor fans having superior blowing performance.

More about all-aluminium canalicular tubed condensers and their advantages: All-Aluminum Canalicular Condenser VS RTFP Copper Condensers

Being all-aluminum the outdoor units of Sharp 1.5 Ton Inverter's weighs just 35 kilos having a much smaller footprint with reduced weight. In contrast the similar 1.5 Ton Inverter outdoor units from Daikin are much bigger and weigh 47 kilos!!! Due to use of all-aluminum canalicular tubing, Sharp 1.5 Ton Inverter requires just 700 grams of R410A refrigerant gas to cool while the same 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioners from Hitachi, Daikin & Panasonic using circular tubed copper-aluminum condensers requires 1.5 kg of R410A gas to cool the same area!!!

Amazingly with even less than half the refrigerant gas available this Sharp 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner still comes out on top with class leading cooling performance scientifically measured as EER of 3.66 (W/W) and at the same time be more environmentally conscious by using less gas. Performance & efficiency speaks. In contrast the Daikin could manage an EER of just 3.23 while Hitachi does a little better of EER of 3.51. Mind you both of them cost a minimum of 15K over this Sharp!!!

Rated EER of some 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioners available in India (Higher value means more energy efficient):

Sharp (AH-XP18MV): 3.66
Hitachi (RAU018EQE): 3.51
LG (BS-Q186C7M1): 3.34
Carrier (42CVSR018-703): 3.31
Panasonic (CS-S18NKYP): 3.27
Daikin (FTKS50): 3.23
Mitsubishi Electric (MSY-GE18VA): 3.12

Sharp Inverters not only have the best cooling performance in 1.5 Ton category, it has one of the widest cooling capacity range. As Inverter air conditioners are constantly varying its cooling capacity according to needs, when set temperature is achieved the Hitachi will climb down from its rated cooling capacity 5.33 kW to minimum of 2.37 kW to save power consumption, Daikin will climb even lower from their rated 5 kW to 1.7 kW to save a little more than Hitachi while Sharp will climb down from rated 5.27 kW to even lower 1.6 kW and consume even less power under part load.

Comparison of cooling capacity range (Min - Rated - Max):

LG (BS-Q186C7M1): (0.9 - 5.2 - 6) kW. Range: 6 - 0.9 = 5.10 kW
Sharp (AH-XP18MV): (1.6 - 5.27 - 6) kW. Range: 6 - 1.6 = 4.40 kW
Daikin (FTKS50): (1.7 - 5 - 6) kW. Range: 6 - 1.7 = 4.30 kW
Mitsubishi (MSY-GE18VA): (1.4 - 5 - 5.4) kW. Range: 5.4 - 1.4 = 4 kW
Hitachi (RAU018EQE): (2.37 - 5.33 - 6.04) kW. Range: 6.04 - 2.37 = 3.67 kW

LG Inverters are simply unbeatable with their widest cooling capacity range of 5.10 kW and under part load conditions can come down from their rated 5.2 kW to an amazing 0.9 kW consuming very very less power. Hats off to LG to perform such a technically daunting task for controlling a 6 kW compressor to run smoothly at just 0.9 kW!!!

An important aspect to note is Inverter air conditioners are not star rated in India due to their variable cooling capacity and power consumption which results to variable energy efficiency. They are more or less super star rated!!!

EER Calculation of Inverter Air Conditioner

Inverter Model: Sharp AH-XP18MV
Rated Tonnage: 1.5 Ton
Star Rating: Not Applicable
Cooling Capacity (Min/ Rated/ Max): 1600/ 5270/ 6000 watts
Total Power Drawn (Min/ Rated/ Max): 320/ 1440/ 1900 watts
EER through the Operating Range: 1600/ 320, 5270/1440, 6000/1900 = 5/ 3.66/ 3.16

From the above calculation we find my Sharp AH-XP18MV Inverter model having an EER which is constantly varying between 3.16 to 5, while the Hitachi non-Inverter model discussed above always having a constant EER of 3.46. In other words the Inverters have varying efficiency and as much the air conditioners can reduce its cooling capacity greater will be their overall efficiency. But it is tough to do from a technical point of view.

Inverter air conditioner for every three hours of operation are said to reduce power consumption w.r.t. a non-Inverter air conditioner of same capacity by roughly:

30% in comparison to a 5 star rated
35% in comparison to a 4 star rated
40% in comparison to a 3 star rated
45% in comparison to a 2 star rated
50% in comparison to a 1 star rated

According to Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for non Inverter air conditioners to qualify for a 5 star rating a minimum EER as below is required:

2012-2013 -> 3.3 (W/W), 2014-2015 -> 3.5 (W/W), 2016-2017 -> 3.7 (W/W)

My Sharp AH-XP18MV -> 3.66 (W/W) = ~ 3.7 (W/W)

Standing in 2012, my Sharp AH-XP18MV Inverter air conditioners not only surpasses the 5 star requirement of 2015 with flying colors, it also matches 5 star requirement of 2017!!! And that too it is an Inverter which means it will provide better cooling performance than a 5 star rated non Inverter air conditioner of 2017 while consuming even less power.

Long live Inverter air conditioners. I advice everyone to go for Inverter air conditioners eyes closed, it is the future.

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Contd ...

One of my Sharp AH-XP18MV, 1.5 Ton Eco Inverter Air Conditioner with In-Built Plasmacluster Air Purifier

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My other Sharp AH-XP18MV

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Front View (IDU)

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Side View (IDU)

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Display shows power consumption instead of indoor air temperature. 0.1kw means equal or less than 100 watts consumed (Running in Auto mode)

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Full blast with Super Jet function + Plasmacluster air purifier in Auto mode. Varying power consumption now showing 0.8 kW = 800 watts

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Some other shots of the Indoor Unit

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Remote Control Unit

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Sharp AU-X18MV [Outdoor Unit]

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Sharp AU-X18MV outdoor unit implementing much advanced all-aluminum condenser with canalicular tubing

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Since finished installing the Sharp Inverter air conditioners during last winter months I refrain to provide a conclusive personal review as of now. Even though the air conditioners are chilling the rooms in no time, let the summer heat of May and June arrive and then only I believe a conclusive personal review can be written. Follow this thread for future updates.

Anyway I just thought it will be useful to provide the link below which to me was very useful and helped me in decision making. It is regarding the real personal experiences of a FM using the same Sharp Inverter air conditioner as above.

Link: HifiVision: Recommend an inverter based AC (some prices inside)

Enjoy!!!

i never did deep research like you of my Ogeneral AC's(but inverter and non- inverter) even though i've had it for years...I'm a Ogeneral fanboy

really rice review, but how did you get so much info, like diameter of pipes? aeronautical theories of NASA
I really like the idea of displaying power consumption instead of temperature...

kARTechnology said:
i never did deep research like you of my Ogeneral AC's(but inverter and non- inverter) even though i've had it for years...

Most people don’t do research before buying consumer electronic goods.

kARTechnology said:
I'm a Ogeneral fanboy

And there is nothing wrong in that. Everyone have the right to be a fan of somebody, some entity etc.

kARTechnology said:
really rice review

Thanks for the complements.

kARTechnology said:
… how did you get so much info, like diameter of pipes? aeronautical theories of NASA

Deep research on web, visiting dealers and gathering catalogues enabled me to collect the info.

In my review I wrote about wall thickness of the refrigerant pipes and not their diameter.

kARTechnology said:
I really like the idea of displaying power consumption instead of temperature...

Air conditioners like Sharp AH-XP18MV are tour de force in there segment. A super cheap local made air conditioner costing half the price of this Sharp can provide equal cooling, but it will do so by consuming two times the power input required by this Sharp.

I believed the overall efficiency of an air conditioner is mostly dependent on its compressor. But with closely coupled controlling network maintained by the digital micro-computer modules in today’s Inverter air conditioners helps the other vital components of the air conditioner like the outdoor condenser unit, indoor evaporator unit, electronic expansion valve controlling the overall flow of refrigerant, outdoor fan motor, outdoor fan, indoor fan motor, indoor fan to also play a vital part in improving the overall efficiency. And the condensers for sure are a big part of this equation as it rejects heat absorbed from the indoor atmosphere to the outdoor atmosphere.

For long I was searching for two identical Inverter or non-Inverter air conditioner models having two different types of outdoor condenser units in order to get a measure of the improvement in overall efficiency this new type of all aluminum condensers having canalicular tubing brings over the normally used copper aluminum condensers with circular tubing. These new type of all aluminum condensers where first pioneered by Sharp in the room air conditioners segment and are now widely followed by LG, Samsung and Panasonic.

Luckily, Panasonic have two identical models of their ever popular CUBE series in the 1.25 Ton range, the only difference being one has this new innovative all aluminum condensers having canalicular tubing while the other uses normal copper aluminum condensers with circular tubing. Here are their specs:

Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY

Tonnage: 1.25 Ton
Cooling Capacity: 4.40 kW
Power Input: 1600 watts
EER (W/W): 2.75
Star Rating: 2-Star
Condenser Type: Copper-aluminum condenser with circular tubing having blue fin coating

Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY-3

Tonnage: 1.25 Ton
Cooling Capacity: 4.40 kW
Power Input: 1480 watts
EER (W/W): 2.97
Star Rating: 3-Star
Condenser Type: All-aluminum condenser with canalicular tubing

Comparing the above two we find for every hour of operation the CS-ZC15PKY-3 model saves 1600 - 1480 = 120 watts of energy consumption. This means 120/1000 = 0.12 energy unit saved per hour. For a 12 hour operation on a daily basis saves 0.12 X 12 = 1.44 units. In a month’s time of this daily routine saves 1.44 X 30 = 43.2 units. Considering an average rate of rupees 5 per unit, equates to INR 216 savings per month and for 10 months of use a year equates to an amazing INR 2160 savings per year.

In an assumed 10 year life cycle the CS-ZC15PKY-3 model incorporating the all-aluminum condenser saves a total of 2160 X 10 = INR 21.6K over its sister CS-ZC15PKY model using copper-aluminum condenser!!! With this much of money saved one can buy another brand new CS-ZC15PKY-3 every 10 years!!!

I am just amazed by the amount of savings a new type of condenser unit can bring over an older one. No doubt the other air conditioner companies are incorporating this new type on condensers quite fast in their lineup.

Would love further views and comments of respected FMs on this topic.

Awesome post dude.

Where were you when we bought our first AC last year?

Awesome man.

Now.....Im buying my AC this week. I have Hitachi,Sharp And Carrier already. The new AC Im gonna buy will be used say for 6/8Hrs maxm,and maybe not everyday. I have spent the whole day today calling up all the store sin Chandni area for price quotations.

Mitsubishis Hybrid Inverter AC 1.5Ton 5 star AC is available at Rs 39000
Daikin 5 Star 1.5 Ton (Non Inverter) is available at Rs 38000

These are best prices I have got along with VAT. Now tell which one should I get. Or should I stick with 3 star ones , because of usage patter which is not heavy duty?
Mitsubishi 3 star 1.5 ton - Rs 34000
Daikin 3 star 1.5 Ton 31000

And if at all I get the Sharp ( I love the Company) get me the name of the store from where you managed it for Rs 41K in Kolkata

R

Today I read this review and yesterday only i purchased our second AC LG Nova 1 Ton 5 star rated AC after lot of thinking and discussions, let me put up my views and experience here in this thread, with your kind permission

We have a 1.5 ton voltas AC in our master bedroom around 130 sqft area and we needed a second ac in our another bedroom of 120 sqft area and after doing many calculations i came to the conclusion that a 1 ton ac is enough for our small bedroom.

So now started the research on internet and going to dealers / shops. Here is the result of going to shops near my area in chennai chrompet:

Reliance digital, newly opened shop in chrompet, just opened last month, prices for LG was too high i.e for LG they didnt offer installation and stablizer inclusive of cost, which was weird to me, only for voltas, reconnect ( reliance brand) and hitachi they offered installation and stablizer included in Price. Also prices quoted were very high and the AC stand was quoted at Rs.1500/- whereas outside in other dealers it costs rs.750 - 850 only.

Samsung Plaza: Sells only samsung products so had less crowd the person was somewhat not friendly but gave all features on interrogation and quoted the price inclusive of all stab, standard installation.

Shahs Chrompet: it is a dealer shop and has all brands of AC, washing machine, etc, so had a lot of crowd in that crowd lots of people were buying AC / enquiring about them I enquired about Acs and got the prices of voltas, whirlpool and LG. Shopkeeper told that only whirlpool has copper coil in indoor unit and outdoor unit which gives better cooling but since i had doubt on credibility of whirlpool did not buy it also power input was 985W and Cooling Capacity some 3300 W

In all the above shops I enquired about 3 star rated AC only without even knowing what exactly are the BEE ratings and what those stars do, and niether did any staff at the above stores did explain to me what exactly the ratings do mean. I had literally made up my plan to buy Voltas AC from Shahs when one colleague just mentioned why not go from MIT Bridge to Tambaram, as there may be some shops, i have never been to that area, been but very few times so we just went and lo just after MIT bridge we found LG company showroom and a panasonic company showroom. Panasonic Acs were costly 3 star ac was costing rs.29000/-

Then we went to LG showroom and enquired about 3star LG ac and the difference between various models, since we use the AC only 2-3 hours a day and did not want to invest on exhorbitant amount on inverter acs i decided that will invest on budget ac with 3 star rating to save power, the LG showroom had on display 2 star and 5 star ac only and the technician told that there is no difference between 2star and 3 star AC, whereas I thought that each star made a huge difference, then he explained to me the only thing matters is cooling capacity and power consumption watts. And told that the difference of power consumption in watts is only 20 between 2& 3 star. Then once i got the logic i came outside and went home and did the research on various ac, their cooling capacity , bee star ratings and educated myself about them.

I found that not all 1 ton acs do really give out put of 12000 btu or converted to watts as 3517 watts approx. I found that almost all 1 ton AC had rated cooling capacity CC as 3250, 3350, 3300 etc and power consumptions was 1150, 1250, 1175, 1075 watts etc. So now my objective was to find the maximum cooling capacity with minimum input power.
In this the best i could find was LG Nova 1 ton , 5 star which gave 3600W cc with input of 1050 Watts around 12300 Btu/hr. Then in LG itself I had two options zxya and nova, zxya had 4way swing and 3m micro filter and costed additonal 3ooo rs , hence i thought for normal home use the LG Nova 1 ton 5 star would be good and bought LG nova 5 star yesterday, product was delivered yesterday night and awaiting todays installation. Hope all goes well and the Ac runs kicking. Also in internet and other recommendations of technicians i found that copper tubing is far superior and retains more cooling than aluminium which in sharps brouchure is mentioned as opposite , please check that.

About Copper and Aluminium , general theory states that Copper conducts heat better and Aluminum dissipates better. So I believe a mix of both is better.

My dealer quote 46K, he told me there is tax difference VAT & SAT. It was his price, thanks to Chinese phone I hear his voice when he talking to his boss.

@Rishi: Which stabilizer you are using and how much it cost you.

R

Rishi,

While installing your AC did the technician conduct nitrogen leak test and vacummed the system before opening refrigerant.

Where did you get from in Kolkata?

papul1993 said:
Awesome post dude.

The Incinerator said:
Awesome man.

Thanks for the complements.

Came upon two of the funniest air conditioner ads ever. Sure, humor is subjective—but some advertising over the years has been undeniably hilarious. These are made by Argentinean Electronics manufacturer BGH for their air conditioners.

Check them out.

BGH - Dads in Briefs Campaign

BGH - Summer Hater

rsk11584 said:
Also in internet and other recommendations of technicians i found that copper tubing is far superior and retains more cooling than aluminium which in sharps brouchure is mentioned as opposite , please check that.

Recently I have observed a lot of hotly debated threads in different forums relating to the performance of:

1) The newly used all-aluminum micro-channel (canalicular tubed) condensers
2) The older round copper coil/tube with aluminum plate fin (bi-metal) RTPF condensers

By nature copper is a better conductor of heat than aluminum. All thermal properties of copper are better than aluminum. Copper is also costlier than aluminium. Aluminum’s advantage is that it is lighter and easier to machine.

RTPF condensers have serpentine internal coils to carry the refrigerant to be cooled. These copper coils are further assisted with aluminium fins when air passes through them. Let us consider three types of RTPF condensers:

RTPF-1: Copper coil with copper plate fin condenser (all-copper)
RTPF-2: Copper coil with aluminum plate fin condenser (copper-aluminum)
RTPF-3: Aluminum coil with aluminum plate fin condenser (all-aluminum)

Here definitely RTPF-1 (extremely rare in AC's) will have the best thermal performance due to (all copper) and most costly to implement. It will be followed by RTPF-2 (most widely used in AC's) and then by RTPF-3 where performance in concerned as price goes on decreasing. I have observed there are few people who have this conception or rather misconception that RTPF-1 and even RTPF-2 will have better thermal performance than the new micro-channel condensers variants, reason being micro-channels are all aluminum.

THEY ARE WRONG.

So let me state again for two identical shaped, volumes, face areas, and fin densities condensers one being RTPF-1/ RTPF-2 and the other being all-aluminum micro-channel, the micro-channel condenser will ALWAYS have better thermal performance. This is not just due to the metal used but by the inherent design advantages that micro-channel rejoices over RTPF.

All-Aluminium Micro-channel Condenser VS Copper-Aluminium RTPF Condenser

*imageshack.us/a/img213/5130/al2vl.jpg

Before we dig deeper let us revise the work cycle of an air conditioner in layman’s terms to get a full picture. Air conditioners follow a simple rule where they absorb heat from air situated inside the room in question and reject that heat to the outside atmosphere. For split ACs when the cross-flow fan situated inside IDU starts to rotate it sucks air from above the IDU passing it through the cold evaporator unit situated inside which is finally blown out from below where the louvers are situated to guide the cool airstream. While passing through the evaporators the residence time the air spends causes heat transfer from indoor air to the evaporator via convection. This heat absorbed is then carried by the refrigerant gas via dedicated copper pipes to the ODU situated outdoor and are finally ejected to the outdoor atmosphere via convection. The component that does this very important job is known as the condenser unit or heat exchanger. An outdoor fan is provided to aid the heat exchange by expulsing the air through the condenser fins. The overall efficiency of an air conditioner is highly dependent on how efficiently these heat exchange of the both indoor and outdoor takes place. And this is where the micro-channel all-aluminum condensers have a distinct thermal performance advantage due to their inherent design advantage.

Micro-channel condenser technology is not new. It was first introduced as a viable heat exchanger/ condenser option in the late 1980’s in the automotive industry. These types of condensers are used to replace R22 by R134A, R410A and R407C. The change in refrigerant type introduced new thermo-physical properties. What the industry required was a coil with heat transfer properties equal to or better than the oversized RTPF condensers were being evaluated – but with a reduced size, reduced weight and increased leak protection. Micro-channel coils brazed in a controlled environment offered the solution. Since that time, all-aluminium micro-channel technology has taken over the automotive industry.

With time environmental concerns garnered more and more interest recently there came a similar push in the residential air conditioner market where companies started to shift from older R22 to far more efficient and environmentally friendly R410A refrigerant gas. And with R410A the micro-channel all-aluminum condenser was dragged from the automotive industry.

Let’s be clear, R410A and all-aluminum micro-channel condensers go hand in hand. Micro-channel condenser coils are all aluminum coils with multiple flat tubes containing small channels (micro-channels) through which refrigerant flows. Heat transfer is maximized by the insertion of angled and louvered fins in-between the flat tubes.

Micro-channel Condenser Internal Design

*imageshack.us/a/img560/961/microchannels.jpg

The coil is composed of three components:

1) A flat micro-channel tube.
2) Fins located between the micro-channel tubes.
3) Two refrigerant manifolds.

These components are joined with two refrigerant manifolds using an aluminum-zinc alloy brazing material in a nitrogen-charged braze furnace to make the completed micro-channel coil. Coil circuiting is accomplished by placing baffles in the distribution manifolds to feed the refrigerant through the flat tubes.

The advantages observed over RTPF design:

1) Thermal performance: The higher heat transfer performance is obtained by the flat tubes, which maximize airside heat transfer, and micro-channels within the tubes. The micro-channels maximize refrigerant side heat transfer via multiple tiny refrigerant channels which provide increased primary surface area. Additionally, the metallurgical fin-tube bond resulting from the braze operation maximizes surface contact and increases the heat transfer surface area, further improving the heat transfer performance of the coil.

2) Corrosion protection: The corrosion potential with the all aluminum micro-channel coil is significantly lower than in copper/aluminum (bi-metal) RTPF coils as there are no dissimilar metals to initiate galvanic corrosion. This makes micro-channel coils an inherently better solution for coastal installations or any application where corrosion may be a concern.

3) Refrigerant charge: Micro-channel coils have a smaller volume, lowering condenser refrigerant charge by as much as 75 percent. As such, the use of micro-channel coils provides a more environmentally friendly solution for refrigeration systems to help reduce ozone depletion and global warming.

4) Durability and reduced leaks: Micro-channel coils require only one braze operation versus 50-100 manually brazed joints for RTPF, significantly reducing the likelihood for leaks. Additionally, the flat tubes serve as a fin guard to help protect the fins from damage.

5) Ease of service and repair: Micro-channel coils are easily cleaned and can be field repaired using a two-part epoxy process. These micro-channel coils are less than one inch thick allowing for easy removal of any debris that may be caught within the coil. This is not so with RTPF coils, which are often 2 to 3 inches thick with staggered tube patterns using corrugated fins which make debris removal difficult, if not impossible, in some circumstances. The durability of micro-channel coils also allows for pressure washing (using a broad spray pattern), which is not recommended with RTPF coils. Coil leaks, while unlikely, can also be easily repaired in the field using a simple process. An epoxy based sealant (such as red epoxy), a cleaning solution, a vacuum pump, a few simple tools, and a hot air gun is all that is required.

-------------------------

All-alumunium Micro-Channel Condenser Internal View

*img189.imageshack.us/img189/6894/imgprmicrochannel.jpg

With the advantages of all-aluminium micro-channel condensers stated above I believe it is clear that they offer to be a more performance oriented, durable and viable solution over the old RTPF design and hold to be the future of residential air conditioning solutions. They improve cooling performance (EER), condenser capacity and evaporator capacity compared to the baseline systems using a RTPF condenser. These contributions are caused by the superior heat-transfer characteristic of a micro-channel condenser, lower refrigerant-side pressure drop, and consequently lower condensing temperature - resulting in requiring less work from compressor increasing its lifespan.

Some time ago I made a comparison between two identical models having different types of condensers. One had RTPF (Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY) and the other all-aluminum micro-channel (Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY-3). Naturally the CS-ZC15PKY-3 had better performance.

Link: Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY-3 VS Panasonic CS-ZC15PKY

I hope no more explaining from my part is required regarding the use of all-aluminium micro-channel condenser in Sharp AH-XP18MV.

NIGHTMARE said:
@Rishi: Which stabilizer you are using and how much it cost you.

In Kolkata, normally we do not use any stabilizer with air conditioners. Power is quite stable.

A

Dear RishiGuru,

Tried to send you a private message but looks like its not working since by "Sent" folder shows no messages. In case you have got the same, please excuse the spamming and repetition. Furthermore there was an error in the message since I mentioned 162 sq meter instead of 162 sq ft. Here's the message I sent:

Dear Mr. RishiGuru,

Thanks for an in-depth review of the Sharp 1.5T Inverter AC. Really appreciate the painstaking meticulousness of your research, but more than that, your willingness to share your findings, so that it can benefit all those who are wanting to invest in an AC.

Just would like to know your feelings about your purchase, now that almost 8 months have gone by. More than the technical aspects, I would like to know of your experience, specifically on the :
1. Performance of the AC- cooling, sound, problem free performance, etc.
2. About the after sale service which Sharp provides, and lastly,
3. The savings in electricity consumption- whether it is to the tune of 70% (as compared to the non-inverter models) as Sharp claims.

Am from Mumbai and I have been told that the after sales service which Sharp provides, leaves a lot to be desired. Of course, I have no idea as to the veracity of these complaints- whether they are real or perceived/subjective. But then, there are quite a few people who make the same complaint about the service and I feel that there possibly could be some fire responsible for all the smoke.

I am also planning to buy an AC and am evaluating different models and tonnage. Prima facie, I have narrowed down on two brands- Daikin and Sharp. Both are inverter controlled and have R410A as refrigerant. One main confusion I have is with respects to the tonnage. You see, I have bedroom which is 162 sq ft in area, not directly facing the sun and with floors above us. The Daikin engineer say that I have to go for a 1 ton AC ( FTKS35EVMA) whereas the Sharp Engineer says that a 0.75 ton Sharp AC (AH-XP 10 LV*) is the best choice. The reason for this he says is that, the latter Sharp model has a rated cooling range of 900-3280 watts. He says that the peak cooling range of 3280 watts is equivalent to around 0.9 T which is sufficient to initially cool down the room and then it gradually steps down to the minimum cooling range of 900 W to maintain the temperature. Is that true ? Or is he trying to confuse me because Sharp does not have a 1 T inverter controlled AC model. They have only a 1.1T. By the way the cooling range of the Daikin 0.75 Tonne model (FTKS25EVMA) is 1200-3000 watts.

Also which according to you would be a good time to buy an AC to get the best possible price ? Now to January ( winter/ off-season) ? Or some time in February/ March ( summer/ peak season). Some reviews say that off season is the best time to purchase since dealers tend to empty out old stocks and so give best discounts. Others, say that season is the best time when companies announce a lot of price deals. Which of this correct ? Of course, too early before the season means voiding the precious warranty period, since it is only from the season that the actual usage would start. By the way, I was quoted the following:

Sharp AH-XP 10 LV 0.75 Tonne-Rs.28,305
Daikin FTKS25EVMA 0.75 Tonne- Rs. 31,200
Sharp AH-XP13NRV 1.1 Tonne-Rs.33,291
Daikin FTKS35EVMA 1 tonne-Rs.38,150

Are the above good rates ? The initial cost is not a major factor in deciding between 0.75 T vs 1 T models. But the choice of a higher than optimum tonnage is going to push up my recurrent usage cost because of higher power consumption.

I know that my query has become quite long and apologize if it causes you any inconvenience. I shall be most obliged if you could help me by giving me good advice.

Cheers,

Abraham

Im using the 1.5 tonner Inverter and its amazingly efficient. Its electric consumption is criminally low. If the power company had a provision they would have sued Sharp. Even after using it for almost 10-12 +hrs on an average and some days almost 24hrs non stop its returning only a Rs 1350 bill.Some months where the average usage is low or 6-8 hrs for im getting a bill of Rs 750 max. Chills brilliant ,Im using it for a 266 sqft room and on top theres a roof :-o

The external unit so damn silent ,you wont believe.The build quality of the indoor/outdoor unit is bomb proof.Its the best AC available in India.

A

Thanks Incinerator.

So this means that the Companies claims of up to 70% reduction in electricity consumption is true indeed !!

What about the service response of Sharp, specifically, in Mumbai ? Anyone with any experience on this ??

Bump---Mr. Rishi...awaiting your advice.

Cheers, Abraham

Service experience was damn good atleast in Kolkata. I just gave them a call regarding a loose screw in the cabinet due to transort and within two hours there was senior service guy knocking on my door :shock:

The next day during installation the senior service guy again made sure over the phone that the installers vacuum my copper lines before firing my ac up

Service wise excellent.

The 70% claim holds true if you run the AC at 26C all the time.And 26C does cool which is what I do after running it in 20C for 4 hours.Even at 22C it will be efficient as the AC consumes only 1440 watts max compared to convectional ones which consumes way over 1800 watts.

A

Thanks again, Incinerator. That sort of settles it. Only two questions remain

1. What tonnage do I need for a 162 sq ft room. The Sharp 0.75 T AC AH-XP 10 LV or the 1.1T AC AH-XP13NRV. The Sharp engineer recommends the 0.75T since he says it has a rated cooling range of 900-3280 watts and that the peak cooling range of 3280 watts is equivalent to around 0.9 T which is sufficient to initially cool down the room and then it gradually steps down to the minimum cooling range of 900 W to maintain the temperature

2. When to buy to get the best deal -off season ( Jan/ Feb) or in season ( summer)

Any inputs on these questions ?

Regards,

Abraham

If the Sharp engineer is telling so I believe it should be true. Generally these people have a tendency to make you buy bigger tonnage unnecessarily.

A

2) Corrosion protection: The corrosion potential with the all aluminum micro-channel coil is significantly lower than in copper/aluminum (bi-metal) RTPF coils as there are no dissimilar metals to initiate galvanic corrosion. This makes micro-channel coils an inherently better solution for coastal installations or any application where corrosion may be a concern.

Well written article save for the above quote which to the best of my knowledge and experience is factually wrong. Let me try and explain why:

Corrosion can be due to various reasons.The most common type of environmental corrosion are due to 2 processes - oxidation and other chemical reactions , particularly chlorine attack. As far as oxidation is concerned,copper is more cathodic ( more noble) than aluminium and hence more resistant to oxidation. This is a a fact but does not give the complete picture. This is because even though Aluminium is more prone to oxidation, a layer of aluminium oxide is formed which protects the metal from further oxidation. In the case of copper to, even though it is more stable to oxidation a green layer of oxides of copper are formed, again protecting the underlying metal. So oxidation perse is not a major problem.

The villain is chlorine attack. Aluminium is highly susceptible to chlorination while copper is inert. Furthermore chlorine dissolves the aluminium oxide formed thus exposing the metal to both oxidation and chlorination. Oxides of copper are stable to chlorine attack and hence the corrosion is minimal.

If you observe aluminium ( especially utensils and pressure cooker) you find black pits. This is actually an attack by the salt used in cooking to exposed aluminium ( where aluminium oxides have not formed). The pits become larger and larger exposing underlying metal ( previously protected by oxide formation) to chlorination, leading to flaking and powdering. So chlorination literally rots aluminium.

The above is very true in coastal areas. I have worked in Florida as an HVAC and utilities engineer and where the climate is more or less like India- heat, salt content and humidity. I have seen Trane aluminium coils rotting after 18 months of buying AC and this was one reason for Trane to come out with copper coils. The problem became so wide that people despite the danger of copper coils getting stolen would rather prefer the same after building reinforced cabinets to prevent theft !!

I am not sure where Mr. Guru got the information,he has not cited a source,but if it from Sharp literature, then obviously it is wrong fact and biased. In a nutshell in coastal climates like Mumbai, Kerala, Goa etc. the aluminium coils and fins are likely to rot faster leading to replacement ( unfortunately unlike Copper coils aluminium coils cannot be repaired). I do not know whether Sharp uses some sort of coating ( silicon based or something else) to take care of the problem Even if it did coatings have a tendency to non uniform and subject to wearing out and re-coating coils is next to impossible. For those of you who are scientifically inclined, I can provide an article link- *www.electrochemsci.org/papers/vol7/7097877.pdf. If you need more, please do ask ( need to hunt out old textbooks.

Not withstanding the above, this is an excellent review and thanks

S

waiting for rishiguru's reply...

any one replyyy

surya_sapui said:
waiting for rishiguru's reply...

any one replyyy

kolkata isn't seaside, their ain't much chlorine, if u ask for ur purpose.

and aluminum is the lighter metal, therefore oxide layer has higher chance to get washed out under heavy rainfall after loosing metallic integrity, i think. *l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/39.gif

S

where is rishiguru ?? waiting for him..

A

icebags said:
kolkata isn't seaside, their ain't much chlorine, if u ask for ur purpose.

and aluminum is the lighter metal, therefore has higher chance to get washed out under heavy rainfall after loosing metallic integrity, i think. *l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/39.gif

No...no. !! Aluminium is a wonderful metal...excellent strength to cost ratio. Mr. Guru in his article is absolutely correct when he says that mono-metal contraptions are better than bi-metal ones. There is no galvanic corrosion. But in addition to galvanic corrosion, there are also other routes of corrosion and various metals behave differently to these factors.

I mentioned Florida only to simulate weather conditions prevailing in India. Trane AC's with aluminium coils and fins last along long time in places like Nevada or NEw Mexico where humidity and atmospheric salt ( chlorine content) is low.

It will not get washed out during heavy rainfall. All metals have their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, there is nothing called the ideal metal. And none of them will lose their mechanical integrity overnight. It all is a variable of atmospheric conditions and composition.

" Kolkata isn't seaside "...neither is Delhi, but Aluminium corrosion is very high in Delhi owing to organo-chlorines from diesel smoke !! Furthermore Delhi has 2000 times the permissible levels of Bromine and Iodine, which are equally hazardous to Aluminium !!

Mother nature will ruin your life if you take her lightly !!!!

thanks for all those wonderful info, i don't think calcutta environment is such corrosive to damage either of copper/aluminum very soon.

save copper usage, save humanity, copper salts are poisonous.

S

ajith262matrix said:
No...no. !! Aluminium is a wonderful metal...excellent strength to cost ratio. Mr. Guru in his article is absolutely correct when he says that mono-metal contraptions are better than bi-metal ones. There is no galvanic corrosion. But in addition to galvanic corrosion, there are also other routes of corrosion and various metals behave differently to these factors.

I mentioned Florida only to simulate weather conditions prevailing in India. Trane AC's with aluminium coils and fins last along long time in places like Nevada or NEw Mexico where humidity and atmospheric salt ( chlorine content) is low.

It will not get washed out during heavy rainfall. All metals have their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, there is nothing called the ideal metal. And none of them will lose their mechanical integrity overnight. It all is a variable of atmospheric conditions and composition.

" Kolkata isn't seaside "...neither is Delhi, but Aluminium corrosion is very high in Delhi owing to organo-chlorines from diesel smoke !! Furthermore Delhi has 2000 times the permissible levels of Bromine and Iodine, which are equally hazardous to Aluminium !!

Mother nature will ruin your life if you take her lightly !!!!

The main reason not to use it is because aluminum is really hard to fix when there is a leak. It is possible to repair but the odds of having to replace the coil instead of brazing it, is high.
The aluminum coil is not the key to fixing all of our heating and air conditioning problems but it looks like it is a step in the right direction.

You guys are worrying too much about corrosion. It happens for all metal. Aluminum is used to make car engines so the metal aint a joke. The leak happens only at at places where aluminum and copper tubing joins.Now previously the technique of adding nickel to the joints werent present hence lot of leaks were reported.But now its a thing of the past. Vacuuming the pipes is a must too since oxygen and R 410a dosnt go good together can react and cause leaks.

Thats it..... Im using an all aluminum Trane in Jeddah a seaside city goes 45C and some more...wheres the leak?

S

The Incinerator said:
You guys are worrying too much about corrosion. It happens for all metal. Aluminum is used to make car engines so the metal aint a joke. The leak happens only at at places where aluminum and copper tubing joins.Now previously the technique of adding nickel to the joints werent present hence lot of leaks were reported.But now its a thing of the past. Vacuuming the pipes is a must too since oxygen and R 410a dosnt go good together can react and cause leaks.

Thats it..... Im using an all aluminum Trane in Jeddah a seaside city goes 45C and some more...wheres the leak?

thanks for reply but can u pls tell us how many years do you use the sharp ac ???

Its gonna be 9 months of more than 12 hrs a day usage...somedays its non stop 24 hrs!

S

The Incinerator said:
Its gonna be 9 months of more than 12 hrs a day usage...somedays its non stop 24 hrs!

guys i contact with for price

Kolkata - 700064

AA-34 Salt lake City, Near PNB Sector-I

Ph : 033-40194926, 033- 40194900 / 20

Mobile : 9831249945

Fax : 033-40194904

they said Sharp AH-XP18MV is around 50k. i don't believe this, is the price correct or where should i contact for best price ???

Had to share this.

Recently there was an inauguration of a small air conditioning shop in one of my friend’s locality. He insisted me to join him as he was out to buy a 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner. He was settled to go with my 1.5 Ton Sharp Inverter air conditioners after experiencing their phenomenal cooling performance at offer in my home, but still I firmly insisted him to have a look at other brands as well. One fine weekend we arrived at the shop and found it a brand shop who sells household air conditioners for only one brand, that of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

As all may well know Mitsubishi Heavy Industries make some of the best household and industrial air conditioners in the world and are one of the best there is. They also supply components to other brands. Their air conditioners are cutting edge in terms of design and technology used. Also they are said to be very reliable having premium quality and comes fully imported.

Firstly I want to say what set this shop apart from others is in their display section having not only the indoor units but most importantly also the outdoor units. They sell only split air conditioners in India. You can touch them in display section and feel the quality of engineering and build quality that went into it. I am even fascinated by the quality of the fan grill of their Inverter outdoor units. Extremely high build quality standards to say the least.

Secondly there is also a separate display section, where each component of the air conditioner is displayed. You can find their own compressors, condensers, expansion valves, the electronic control modules etc. A rare sight.

Thirdly their small shop is cooled by one of their own 1 Ton Inverter air conditioners, but the beauty is there is special meter installed in the shop just by its side which is constantly monitoring and computing the amount of current, voltage and watts consumed by the Inverter air conditioner in real time. It gives their customer a glimpse of the Inverter technology employed in air conditioners, and the amount of electricity this technology saves during partial throttling mode.

Finally I had to talk about the only person present there who attended us. He had a genuine knowledge about their products and talks deep in the technical level, the technology used in each of their sub components like compressors, condensers, pulse linear expansion valves and electronic modules and their distinct advantages over their competitors. No wonder why my Sharp Inverter's uses their DC compressor. I liked his genuine professional approach and through knowledge. He was not an average salesman whose knowledge is limited to the number of brands, tonnage and price.

In the end I will say Mitsubishi Heavy Industries air conditioners happen to be one of the top tier products, in my eyes the best there is. Unfortunately this type of cutting edge technology and product quality comes at a price and no doubt their products are prohibitively expensive. Their 1 Ton inverter will cost INR 39K while there 1.5 Ton inverter will take you north of INR 59K. If you had the money, buy these as quality of engineering just oozes from their products.

Though my Sharp AH-XP18MV, 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner at INR 41K may be the best VFM there is in 1.5 Ton Inverter category, these mitshu’s seems to be even better performance wise. I insisted by friend to buy them but as always the buffer seemed to be the steep INR 59K asking price. Moreover my friend being less of an engineer and more of an accountant is more concerned about performance per rupee and Sharp's are still a champion on this aspect in Inverter segment. Still I hope he changes his mind and go with the mitshu’s. If I had that kind of money I would have definitely gone that way.

Even their non inverter 1.5 ton 4 stars are very high quality with high efficiency. I almost bought one had I not come across the Sharp and Mitsubishi Heavys bad bad after sales support.Last year they had no brandshop and the after sales was supported by dealers,who just loves to forget you after you have bought it. Their legendry bad after sales is all over the net. I hope things have improved now.The bad after sales support is a reason why the Mitsubishi Electric acs does better over Mitsubishi Heavy acs.

@RishiGuru @The Incinerator

I would like to know how good are the Panasonic Inverter ACs compared to Sharp.They have a sensor which senses the sunlight and also the amount of people in the room and adjusts the cooling automatically to save power.
DOes the Sharp Inverter ACs have these feature sof sensing people's presence or absence?

Those are features that are absolutely rubbish. All inverter acs check ambience and cools accordingly,nothing special in that.For eg I have experimented and found out that if your Sharps ODU is out in the sun it consumes atleast .2/.3 Kw more ,but if its under a shade it consumes less. Even when on a hot day if you spray water over its condenser it will immediately consume less Kw. So in that way Sharp senses everything from Sun to Rain!

The Incinerator said:
Those are features that are absolutely rubbish. All inverter acs check ambience and cools accordingly,nothing special in that.For eg I have experimented and found out that if your Sharps ODU is out in the sun it consumes atleast .2/.3 Kw more ,but if its under a shade it consumes less. Even when on a hot day if you spray water over its condenser it will immediately consume less Kw. So in that way Sharp senses everything from Sun to Rain!

This spraying of water applies to only inverter based units or normal split AC?

I havnt checked with normal ACs,I checked only the Sharp since it has power consumption display on the indoor unit,which showed lesser value as soon as the condenser was sprayed with water.Thats for experiment only to check the responsiveness of the inverter mainboard and its fuzzy logic towards variations in outdoor temps, its not something you should do to bring down power consumption,not advisable at all.

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I dont think normal acs will react at all since its principles are different.

A

thanks a lot...
after reading ur so detailed review..
i have also bought sharp 1.1 ton inverter a.c for my room

My question is what about after sales support and ac servicing?

ashar said:
thanks a lot...
after reading ur so detailed review..
i have also bought sharp 1.1 ton inverter a.c for my room

How do you find the cooling?

A

RishiGuru said:
Had to share this.

Though my Sharp AH-XP18MV, 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner at INR 41K may be the best VFM there is in 1.5 Ton Inverter category, these Mits’s seems to be even better performance wise. I insisted by friend to buy them but as always the buffer seemed to be the steep INR 59K asking price. Moreover my friend being less of an engineer and more of an accountant is more concerned about performance per rupee and Sharp's are still a champion on this aspect in Inverter segment. Still I hope he changes his mind and go with the Mits. If I had that kind of money I would have definitely gone that way.

Dear Rishi, The price at which you have bought i.e. @Rs.41k is now more than an year old. Moreover, the model which you have bought is no longer available at least in Mumbai markets. The replacement model for the same, I was told is AH-XP18PMT which has an MRP of approx. Rs.55K but can be bought for Rs. 51K. Therefore the price variance is only Rs.8K and if the Mits have the quality which you specified, then it makes sense to go with the same.

Also wanted to tell you that as per the reviews and endorsement which you, Incinerator and the others had posted, I bought the AHXP 13 LV in February. There were only a couple of pieces remaining of this model and I bought one for Rs. 32K. One month down the line, the performance is great and the electricity bill increased by around Rs. 250 per month for an 8 hour usage per day- not bad, I should think !! But service is tardy and sometimes plain incompetent. I had experienced pilferage in my free kit ( there was no drainage pipe, white insulation tape and power cord) and I had to buy this on my own. Complaints to senior executives came to naught, and they " recorded my complaints and promised me that such incidences will not happen in the future" !!. In Mumbai at least, Sharp has outsourced service to their distributors. The one that provided me service ( by the way, you cannot chose the service centre and it is allocated to you on intimation of purchase by the retailer) from one Siddhi services which left a lot to be desired. I like Rishi, I thought of using the services of an excellent electrician I know, but was told that if I used non-Sharp sevices, my 1 year Warranty will be voided. So there is no chance here. So I went ahead with the services of Siddhi. The installation was quite crude and a few fins were bent ( I was told that this would not affect performance). I had earlier used a Daikin AC ( non-Inverter) in my other house and Daikin's installation was picture perfect. The pad both sides of the ODU with thermocol during installation to ensure that the fins are not bent and then after installation remove it. Anyway keeping my fingers crossed.

Another issue with Sharp is the huge fluctuation in price from retailer to retailer. When I went for checking the prices of the above model, I could get quotes ranging from Rs.29,500 to Rs.40,000, in other words 36% variation. Remembers me of products made in USA ( Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association). My contention is that even the dealer who sells at Rs.29,500 maintains a margin ( might be small), so what would be the margin which Sharp gives a retailer. Other Companies, like Panasonic, LG etc, my enquiry with executives there, give margins maxing out at 25%. Sharp, to penetrate the market, I was told, gives huge margins upto 45%, which brings out significant disparity in prices in the market. While a certain degree of variation is acceptable ( dealer parting with a percentage of his margin), such huge variations makes the customer to doubt the brand. Imagine someone buying the product to later find that his friend bought the same at 30% less.Sharp executives, to whom I talked, too have accepted that this is creating a havoc for them. I bought my machine for Rs. 32,000 ( since I saw this figure being mentioned in this forum) from Vijay Sales, Kandivili because I did not want to travel 55 kilometres to get the same at Rs.29,500 quoted by a retailer there.

So experience was kind of mixed, though as far the unit goes the performance so far has been very good.

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gohan89 said:
@RishiGuru @The Incinerator

I would like to know how good are the Panasonic Inverter ACs compared to Sharp.They have a sensor which senses the sunlight and also the amount of people in the room and adjusts the cooling automatically to save power.
DOes the Sharp Inverter ACs have these feature sof sensing people's presence or absence?

I agree with Incinerator. All companies bring out feature differentials in their models. For e.g. LG now has inverter machines that drive away mosquitoes !! All these features come at a price and offer an insignificant benefit not commensurate with the price difference. Like how Rishsi did, look at the core specifications and features and if they are good and the price is right go for it. An example of a catchy feature is Panasonics motion sensor which follows you around. Unless you have a habit of sleep walking or play hide seek at night ( as shown by KAtrina Kaif in their ad) these features are of no use. And even if you move around remember that the cool air directed at you does not remain there and dissipates to surrounding hot areas in the room. My advice, prepare a list of Must Have and Good to have features. As long as your Must Have features are met and a few Good to Have features thrown in at no extra cost go for the model, whichever it is.

abraham said:
Dear Rishi, The price at which you have bought i.e. @Rs.41k is now more than an year old. Moreover, the model which you have bought is no longer available at least in Mumbai markets. The replacement model for the same, I was told is AH-XP18PMT which has an MRP of approx. Rs.55K but can be bought for Rs. 51K.

Well recently I have gone through quite a many shots of AH-XP18PMT (Made in India) which one of the FMs in another forum had for INR 45K with installation & stabilizer.

Considering it takes INR 2K for installation and ODU brackets and another INR 2K for a good stabilizer, I find the prices for their 1.5 Ton still remains INR 41K. But maybe in Mumbai, the price is higher.

abraham said:
Also wanted to tell you that as per the reviews and endorsement which you, Incinerator and the others had posted, I bought the AHXP 13 LV in February. There were only a couple of pieces remaining of this model and I bought one for Rs. 32K.

Congratulations for the purchase. Excellent price for an AH-XP13LV.

abraham said:
But service is tardy and sometimes plain incompetent. I had experienced pilferage in my free kit ( there was no drainage pipe, white insulation tape and power cord) and I had to buy this on my own. Complaints to senior executives came to naught, and they " recorded my complaints and promised me that such incidences will not happen in the future" !!. In Mumbai at least, Sharp has outsourced service to their distributors. The one that provided me service ( by the way, you cannot chose the service centre and it is allocated to you on intimation of purchase by the retailer) from one Siddhi services which left a lot to be desired. I like Rishi, I thought of using the services of an excellent electrician I know, but was told that if I used non-Sharp sevices, my 1 year Warranty will be voided. So there is no chance here. So I went ahead with the services of Siddhi. The installation was quite crude and a few fins were bent ( I was told that this would not affect performance).

Sorry to know about your experiences. Earlier too I have come across posts complaining about the ill operated installation and ASS in Mumbai. It is a pity. Fortunately down in Calcutta there is no such issue, and their ASS team here is very professional and co-operative.

abraham said:
Another issue with Sharp is the huge fluctuation in price from retailer to retailer. When I went for checking the prices of the above model, I could get quotes ranging from Rs.29,500 to Rs.40,000, in other words 36% variation. Remembers me of products made in USA ( Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association). My contention is that even the dealer who sells at Rs.29,500 maintains a margin ( might be small), so what would be the margin which Sharp gives a retailer. Other Companies, like Panasonic, LG etc, my enquiry with executives there, give margins maxing out at 25%. Sharp, to penetrate the market, I was told, gives huge margins upto 45%, which brings out significant disparity in prices in the market. While a certain degree of variation is acceptable ( dealer parting with a percentage of his margin), such huge variations makes the customer to doubt the brand. Imagine someone buying the product to later find that his friend bought the same at 30% less.Sharp executives, to whom I talked, too have accepted that this is creating a havoc for them.

Quite a discovery!!!

It shows why the AH-XP18PMT is INR 51K in Mumbai, where as elsewhere you can have it at INR 41K. Once a buyer knows the real price of their ACs, then he can bargain and the retailer will reduce the price.

abraham said:
So experience was kind of mixed, though as far the unit goes the performance so far has been very good.

The AH-XP13LV is a performance king in the 1.1 Ton Inverter category and for the price you quoted makes it a total VFM and you a total winner.

I have seen the AH-XP18MV (Made in Thailand) to contain some additional goodies like real time power consumption meter and a premium silver finish in IDU units which sadly are missing in their recent AH-XP18PMT (Made in India). Also the 18MV’s were better built ODU's than the 18PMT’s.

Recently one fine Saturday I thought of cleaning one of own AH-XP18MV’s ODU unit. The ODU unit pictured below is situated on my verandah, so it was easy. Though the primary reason was to clean the ODU internals, I was quite excited to have a sneak peek inside it and discover something yet unknown.

After opening the ODU fan grill (held together with four clamps and two screws) the first thing that came to my mind is how big the all-aluminum micro-channel condenser actually is. It is of more or less same height of the ODU and takes up the entire back portion and then curves to the left of the ODU where it ends. I used a new paint brush to gently brush out the dust accumulated in the condenser and it took me few minutes.

ODU Unit with Fan Grill removed

*s10.postimg.org/scaqjj705/Zn5_3570.jpg

The next thing I noticed is the unique fan blade. Sharp uses different type of fan blades for their 1.5 ton & 2.0 ton Inverter category as the 18MV & 24MV are having micro-channel condensers which requires a different design in their fan bade. It has only three fins (I have seen many with four) but these three blades are huge, having huge surface area and seems to contain flawlessly smoothened curves at its edges. Sharp claims these fan blades are made with design consideration as perfected by NASA which I initially doubted, but after a closer look it seems to be very scientifically & aerodynamically designed to provide high flow velocity with minimal torque required by the motor. The fan blade seems to be made from some kind of all-weather hard plastic while being feather light which also put’s less strain on the motor and saves energy.

The entire fan blade and motor assembly is mounted to an aluminum ladder type frame

*s10.postimg.org/o5pw477ed/Zn5_3576.jpg

Unquie desgn of the Fan Blades

*s10.postimg.org/gjcxfbak5/Zn5_3580.jpg

The fan motor seems to be made in Japan. At least the initials on the DC motor seem to be Japanese but I could be wrong as they may be Chinese too. Please correct me if I am wrong!!! The shell of the DC motor is all-plastic and seems small for a fan blade of this size. The entire fan blade and motor assembly is mounted to an aluminum ladder type frame and mounted centrally in front of the condenser.

ODU Fan DC Motor

*s10.postimg.org/gogoozhv9/IMG_20140406_092532272.jpg

Japanese encryption it seems!!!

*s10.postimg.org/k877sj9yt/IMG_20140406_092557312.jpg

*s10.postimg.org/nwsbe9ulx/Photo0373.jpg

Next thing to discover was the Digital Micro-computer Module i.e the brain of the Inverter AC which is situated on the upper right corner of the ODU and above the compressor chamber. Though the circuit boards and its components are sealed inside a box to avoid dust, one can see the protruding heatsink fins (all six of them) having different height to get maximum air flow from the fan relative to its position. Quite a clever heatsink fin design. There are many heat sensors on different locations of the condenser that I can visually locate which constantly monitors and sends the information to the micro-computer.

The heatsink of the Micro-Computer Module

*s10.postimg.org/3yh1pmzat/Zn5_3571.jpg

The entire compressor chamber is much smaller than what I thought it to be for a 1.5 tonner. It is completely insulated with an acoustic jacket to eliminate noise. No wonder why my 18MV’s are so quit. Unfortunately with the tightly packaged compressor section and its complete insulation stopped me to have a look at the compressor itself and its make. Though I am informed the 18MV’s have MHI compressor which are the best there is.

The entire compressor and its ancillaries tightly packaged in an acoustic chamber

*s10.postimg.org/g5g6tgfud/Zn5_3581.jpg

Finally I find the entire ODU to be very well built, no rough edges where every component is rightly placed to its allocated position to perform its job. It even have fine touches like a thick plastic cover to protect the copper valves where the pipes get connected to the ODU (sadly absent on the India made ODU’s), In other words a very well engineered product.

After Cleaning

*s10.postimg.org/3t8p282lx/Photo0378.jpg

Hope my AH-XP18MV’s last for ages.

G

Good review man.

Even i washed today my AC outdoor unit with water splash and removed dust.

Looks like heat exchange efficiency increased.

S

from where should i buy this AC in kolkata for reasonable price.

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dear rishi waiting for reply

S

Hi Everyone

I was going to buy LG AC but which ever shop I go is suggesting me samsung ac, not even sharp.

Is samsung AC good especially this inverter AR12HV5DAWK.

I was planning to go for this one but they say compressor gets damaged because of hot and cold technology

*www.lg.com/in/split-ac/lg-AS-W126B1U1

second choice was this

*www.lg.com/in/split-ac/lg-BS-Q126B8R8

Please suggest which one should I go for and if Sharp then which model?

regards

Sunny

E

RishiGuru said:
Had to share this.

Recently there was an inauguration of a small air conditioning shop in one of my friend’s locality. He insisted me to join him as he was out to buy a 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner. He was settled to go with my 1.5 Ton Sharp Inverter air conditioners after experiencing their phenomenal cooling performance at offer in my home, but still I firmly insisted him to have a look at other brands as well. One fine weekend we arrived at the shop and found it a brand shop who sells household air conditioners for only one brand, that of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

As all may well know Mitsubishi Heavy Industries make some of the best household and industrial air conditioners in the world and are one of the best there is. They also supply components to other brands. Their air conditioners are cutting edge in terms of design and technology used. Also they are said to be very reliable having premium quality and comes fully imported.

Firstly I want to say what set this shop apart from others is in their display section having not only the indoor units but most importantly also the outdoor units. They sell only split air conditioners in India. You can touch them in display section and feel the quality of engineering and build quality that went into it. I am even fascinated by the quality of the fan grill of their Inverter outdoor units. Extremely high build quality standards to say the least.

Secondly there is also a separate display section, where each component of the air conditioner is displayed. You can find their own compressors, condensers, expansion valves, the electronic control modules etc. A rare sight.

Thirdly their small shop is cooled by one of their own 1 Ton Inverter air conditioners, but the beauty is there is special meter installed in the shop just by its side which is constantly monitoring and computing the amount of current, voltage and watts consumed by the Inverter air conditioner in real time. It gives their customer a glimpse of the Inverter technology employed in air conditioners, and the amount of electricity this technology saves during partial throttling mode.

Finally I had to talk about the only person present there who attended us. He had a genuine knowledge about their products and talks deep in the technical level, the technology used in each of their sub components like compressors, condensers, pulse linear expansion valves and electronic modules and their distinct advantages over their competitors. No wonder why my Sharp Inverter's uses their DC compressor. I liked his genuine professional approach and through knowledge. He was not an average salesman whose knowledge is limited to the number of brands, tonnage and price.

In the end I will say Mitsubishi Heavy Industries air conditioners happen to be one of the top tier products, in my eyes the best there is. Unfortunately this type of cutting edge technology and product quality comes at a price and no doubt their products are prohibitively expensive. Their 1 Ton inverter will cost INR 39K while there 1.5 Ton inverter will take you north of INR 59K. If you had the money, buy these as quality of engineering just oozes from their products.

Though my Sharp AH-XP18MV, 1.5 Ton Inverter air conditioner at INR 41K may be the best VFM there is in 1.5 Ton Inverter category, these mitshu’s seems to be even better performance wise. I insisted by friend to buy them but as always the buffer seemed to be the steep INR 59K asking price. Moreover my friend being less of an engineer and more of an accountant is more concerned about performance per rupee and Sharp's are still a champion on this aspect in Inverter segment. Still I hope he changes his mind and go with the mitshu’s. If I had that kind of money I would have definitely gone that way.

Hi Rishi,

Ekram here from Kolkata. I have been scouting for a inverter AC. About the Mitsubishi AC, I found out that Mitsubishi ac's are available in two brand names - 1. Mistubishi Heavy and 2. Mitsubishi Electric.

Surprisingly I found the Mitsubishi Heavy at retail stores but I could not find any showroom that had Mitsubishi Electric ACs on display. I called up a number of dealers listed on the Mitsubishi Electric website - for Ballygunge, Esplanade and Bhawanipur but none of them had a showroom.

Could you please tell me where the showroom you saw is located?

Also, should I buy Mitsubishi Heavy unit or Mitsubishi Electric one?

The first one is available for Rs. 52,000 here and the second one is available for Rs. 55,000.

Also SHARP is available for Rs. 45,000.

Which one do you suggest?

Thanks for your help,

Regards
Ekram

C

Hello Rishi,

Last year (May-2013) after reading your detailed review, I purchased AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton for my bedroom. Undoubtedly It's very silent and power efficient. But this year, cooling is not as good as it was in last year. Also last year the Tonnage was easily reached to 2+ kw initially but this year it's hardly go above than 1.5kw. when I complained it to dealer, they sent one sharp technician and he refilled the GAS. He said that there is a leak and hence my AC was not able to cooling well. However he haven't checked the leakage. When I insisted, he said that there is no need and the issue will be fixed. Even he refilled the GAS, the tonnage is not going beyond 1.5kw. cooling is quite improved but still as good as it was in last year.

I sent an email to Sharp about this and raised my concerned that the GAS will be blow out in next 6 months as your technician didn't check the leakage. I took a 3 three follow up but I haven't heard back from Sharp.

Sharp has very pathetic customer service in Gujarat. I talked to their agent and explained the same concern at least for 10 times. their agent is giving me assurance but not any concrete action is being taken from Sharp. Surprisingly they closed my ticket. This is really disgusting.

Again I met my dealer and explain the case, he sent the same guy and as expected he didn't check anything again. He told me that he will talk to their superior and they will resolve the issue. When I haven't heard anything since two days, I called dealer and he informed me that inverter AC has different kind of GAS and it will arrived in two days. once it is arrived they again refilled it and then my issue will be fixed.

Rishi, can you please help and guide me here. Are they trying to fool me? or inverter ACs has different kind of GAS? Should I talked to their branch office or consumer forum?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Put a sheet of news paper at the back of condenser or at the back of the ODU of the AC for 2 minutes and check if it rises upwards of 1.5Kw. Before doing this test remember,the ac should be on and running at 18C with full fan speed fir at aleast 30 mins. The sheet of newspaper should cover the entire back of the ODU of the AC , the radiator/condenser part. Do not keep it for more than 2 to 3 minutes.After putting the sheet of newspaper come and check the readings in IDU.

C

The Incinerator said:
Put a sheet of news paper at the back of condenser or at the back of the ODU of the AC for 2 minutes and check if it rises upwards of 1.5Kw. Before doing this test remember,the ac should be on and running at 18C with full fan speed fir at aleast 30 mins. The sheet of newspaper should cover the entire back of the ODU of the AC , the radiator/condenser part. Do not keep it for more than 2 to 3 minutes.After putting the sheet of newspaper come and check the readings in IDU.

Thanks The Incinerator

I will do it tomorrow and share the result with you...

Edit:

Hi, my ODU is placed on second floor, so it wasn't easy for me to cover it with paper. When I tried to place the paper, the ODU sucked it and I couldn't cover the entire ODU. Then I used thermochemical sheet to cover it. As soon as I placed it at back side of ODU, the tonnage went up and reached to 1.8kw from 1.5kw.

Before I did this, I have noticed that the cooling is also somewhat improved today by itself. this is really surprising.

Remove the thermocol immediately after the two minute test.

C

The Incinerator said:
Remove the thermocol immediately after the two minute test.

I removed it after 2-3 minutes. but why it increased the tonnage? I mean what should I interpret this? Is my AC working fine or has any problem?

Your ac is is working fine. Its relating to changes. Its perfectly fine.

G

Very nice detailed information about advantages of inverter ac. And nice review as well. People generally don't research before buying AC.

C

The Incinerator said:
Your ac is is working fine. Its relating to changes. Its perfectly fine.

Thanks Incinerator!

one more question. How much tonnage is your AC using at 16 degree Celsius and at fastest fan speed at the start ? or you could tell share the data of any standard temperature you are keeping when you start your AC. i.e. if you keep 24 C with medium fan speed, then what's the initial tonnage.

Regarding GAS, as per their brochure, they are using R410A refrigerant for this model. They claim it's an environment friendly refrigerant.

Itr all depends on the size of the room , temperatures outside and humidity levels and the Temperature I set along with the fan speed. It varies from .2Kw to 1.9Kw. The best is to run it at 26C with 2 fan speed or auto fan after cooling the room in 20 or 18C in auto fan for 1 hour and 15 minutes of turbo cooling.

The truth is no gas is environment friendly. Its just better than the previous poison released!

S

The Incinerator & Rishi i want to inform Sharp AH-XP18MV is not available in kolkata market, i recently contact many sharp dealer also sharp but they said 2013 model are not available, instead of this model they suggest me AH-XP18PHT & AH-XP18PMT , as per sharp both model is equivalent of xp18MV.

Can you pls tell me what should i do now ?????
[h=2][/h]

You can get them no problem.

S

ok, thanks but which model is best ? these two latest model same as good as AH-xp18MV.

PMT is more feature rich ,technically they are same inside.

S

Between PHT ,PMT ,PET as you say PMT is best.ok i will buy it.

Can u pls share whats the difference between them ... why the PMT is good in above three model.

Go to Sharp website and compare , and you will know the differences in features.

S

that's ok, between above model then which model you specially you refer

A

Dear Rishi
I am also in Kolkata And would like to buy one Sharp Inverter AC. Where from did you get such a good deal? Also please provide the details of the installer

G

Really having a great experience of using it.

Pardon my ignorance,but never heard of this brand before.
Have finalised on Ogeneral 1 tonner but this sharp brand seems to have garnered quite a lot of faith of digitians....
Is this brand better than Ogeneral ?? What are the USP's of this brand?? Also suggest a 1 tonner from this Sharp Brand.

S

Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton -Inverter+ plusmacluster Air Conditioner

I want to purchase Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton -Inverter + plusmacluster Air Conditioner please help me

shibendra nath mallick 92316 77908

S

Re: Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton -Inverter+ plusmacluster Air Conditioner

SHIBEN said:
I want to purchase Sharp AH-XP18MV 1.5Ton -Inverter + plusmacluster Air Conditioner please help me

shibendra nath mallick 92316 77908

this model totally out of stock because sharp discontinued 2013 models.You can only buy AH-XP18PET.

AH-XP18PHT, AH-XP18PMT available in only some shop or dealer.both model already out os stock.God knows why...

swiftshashi said:
Pardon my ignorance,but never heard of this brand before. Have finalised on Ogeneral 1 tonner but this sharp brand seems to have garnered quite a lot of faith of digitians.... Is this brand better than Ogeneral ?? What are the USP's of this brand??

I too didn't knew much about the existence of this brand in AC segment before I bought my Sharp Inverter ACs way back in 2012. Only when I did an extensive market/ technology research did I stumble upon this brand and found them to be the best VFM air conditioners all around in India. Back then they were slowly penetrating the Indian AC market with their Inverter ACs when people knew nothing about Inverter technology in ACs. Their Inverter ACs provided astounding value to me, as they were certainly providing equal or better quality imported Inverter ACs from Thailand having much advanced and superior technology than competitor's 5 star non-Inverters of Hitachi/ Daikin/ General at equal or less cost!!!

So I dumped these so called 'epic' brands in India and ventured into unknown with Sharp. Since then I have not looked back and am extremely satisfied with their performance, quality & durability of their products. Their Inverter AC drive since 2011 was a big success in India, today they command 45% market share of all Inverter ACs sold in India. With this success they have also opened air-conditioner manufacturing facility in Pune, put up at an investment of around Rs 250 crore, to manufacture inverter air-conditioners. This facility has an installed capacity of 5 lakh units a year.

To know further read the below quote from "The Hindu" newspaper:

*s26.postimg.org/4bph4psn9/Sunil_K_Sinha_with_Sharp_Inverter_ACs.jpg

Sunil K. Sinha, Chief Executive Officer and Regional Head of Sharp India. — Bijoy Ghosh

CHENNAI, JAN. 8:
Sharp India Ltd will phase out its ‘value-for-money’ range of products and focus only on high-end models across product categories.

“We will focus only on products such as inverter air-conditioners, LED TVs above 32 inches, and frost-free refrigerators, in order to rationalise our product portfolio,” said Sunil K. Sinha, Chief Executive Officer and Regional Head of Sharp India.

For Sharp India, TV and air-conditioner verticals contribute over 70 per cent of the top line. Sinha said the company wants to consolidate its presence in these two segments in the next couple of years.

The company recently launched its air-conditioner manufacturing facility in Pune, put up at an investment of around Rs 250 crore, to manufacture inverter air-conditioners. This facility has an installed capacity of 5 lakh units a year.

With less than 4 per cent share of the 3.4-million-unit room air-conditioner market, Sharp currently lags behind many other brands. However, “if you consider only the inverter air-conditioners market, which is around 6 per cent (a little over two lakh units) of the overall market, we command over 45 per cent share,” said Sinha. In the current year, it expects to garner at least 7-8 per cent share of the overall room air-conditioner market, which is expected to cross 4 million units.

In the 4.5-million-unit LED TV market, Sharp commands 3 per cent share. It hopes to cross 5 per cent in 2014.

Besides the listed entity of Sharp India, the parent company Sharp Corporation of Japan has two wholly-owned companies — Sharp Business System (sales and marketing company) and its captive research and development unit Sharp Software Development.

To prove the company’s commitment to after-sales service, Sinha has given his direct telephone number in the product guarantee cards and advertisements for customers. “It’s a good initiative for consumer connect,” he said.

ravikumar.r@thehindu.co.in

(This article was published on January 8, 2014)

Link: *www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/sharp-to-focus-on-highend-models/article5554240.ece

G

Dear Rishi, I am in chandigarh.

The model AH-XP 18 MV is available with one of the dealers at a total price of Rs 50,000. This includes Installationcharges, the cost of 4KVA V-Guard Stabilzer and a Wall bracket for OD unit.

Another dealer says that this model is now outdated and offers 2 new models as detailed below.
AH-X18 PET: for Rs 48,500/- (all inclusive)
AH-X18 PMT: for Rs 52,500/- (All Inclusive).

I have found that PET model does not have 'Plasmacluster ion technology, while the PMT model has this feature as is available in MV.
Please guide as to which model should I purchase out of these three?

G

Rishi dear, Should I go for
MV model available for Rs 49900/-
or
PMT available for Rs 52500/- ?
(Inclusive of installation charges, stabilizer modiguard 4 kva and Wall mounted bracket for OD Unit.)

Gupta said:
The model AH-XP 18 MV is available with one of the dealers at a total price of Rs 50,000. This includes Installationcharges, the cost of 4KVA V-Guard Stabilzer and a Wall bracket for OD unit.

INR 50K is the MRP of AH-XP18MV. As a consumer you have the right to bargain (which you must) with the dealer and have them at around INR 44 ~ 45K.

The AH-XP18MV also comes with free installation kit. Read my review on the first post of this thread to know what was included in it. But as you say the dealer is including the stabilizer, installation charges and ODU bracket with his final quoted price, the deal seems good. Press the dealer for the free installation kit also.

Gupta said:
Another dealer says that this model is now outdated and offers 2 new models as detailed below.
AH-X18 PET: for Rs 48,500/- (all inclusive)
AH-X18 PMT: for Rs 52,500/- (All Inclusive).
I have found that PET model does not have 'Plasmacluster ion technology, while the PMT model has this feature as is available in MV.

The AH-XP18MV is not outdated; on the contrary the AH-XP18PMT is derived from the same. 18MV is an international model where as 18PMT is India specific. The 18MVs were imported from Thailand before Sharp built their own manufacturing plant in India where the 18PMT/PET are now assembled.

Gupta said:
Please guide as to which model should I purchase out of these three?
….. Should I go for
MV model available for Rs 49900/-
or
PMT available for Rs 52500/-

There are no performance benefits 18PMT rejoices over 18MV. Both have identical performance and consumes equal amount of energy to chill a room.

The 18PMT has one additional feature; it has automatic horizontal swing where as for 18MV it is manual. On the other hand 18MV being built in Thailand has better built quality than 18PMT. For me built quality and component quality are of primary importance, so I will definitely vouch for 18MV with one less feature (which I will rarely use).

S

I also want to buy sharp inverter ac 105 to 18PMT/ 18PHT. My question is what would be the perfect tonnage for my room.
Length - 16ft
width - 10 ft
Hight -12 ft .

I want to buy the ac by this week only .I am residing in kolkata only where there is lot of price difference.I have got 44 k +2.5k installation .

Need urgent reply .

A

Hello!
I needed some info. I have a 440sq ft room. Any idea if a 2 ton Inverter AC could do the job? This is on the ground floor in Chandigarh. I am not looking to freeze my bones, just something that will keep my room comfortable enough and not kill me with the bill.

A

I needed a bit of advice considering the discussion going on. I have a 450 Sq Ft room, ground floor in Chandigarh(its humid only for 2 months, hot for about the same) so I was thinking, would a 2TR inverter AC do the job? some dealers are recommending 2x 1.5TR acs, some say an inverter AC will be waste of money here, some say inverters are the bomb. Help!

N

Thanks for the extensive review. Had a dilemma between 1 Ton Carrier Superia Plus K+ and 1.1 Ton Sharp AH-XP13PHT. Finally ordered 1.1 Ton Sharp AH-XP13PHT for 38,700 K price at Girias,Chennai.

Get an Inverter AC no matter what. A 450 sqft room will do better with two 1.5 tonners than a single two ton ac.

G

Hi nrk_jegan,

Can you please let me know how is the performance of the unit.

I am in search for the a ~1 ton inverter AC and not able to decide between few brands including Sharp. I also had visited Girias, Chennai and the price they quoted me for the same model was ~40k with some freebees.

I am worried about the Sharp customer service at Chennai. How did they handled the installation?

Thank you,

G

Now goes my complete question to everyone at this forum.

Hello everyone,

I am planning to buy 1 Ton Inverter AC with R410a refrigerant.

I heard R32 refrigerant is inflammable so can someone please comment about it's use.

I have zeroed in on few brands but not able to decide which one to go.

– Sharp 1.1 Ton with Plasmacluster.

Very Good online reviews but not sure of the after sales service.

– Panasonic with Econavi, with Bluefin condenser

– Bluestar, with Bluefin condenser

– Daikin but the local shops have R22 models only.

I live in Chennai.

Please help me out.

Thank you,

G

Hi Rishi,

How r u? First of all Thank You for such a great thread with information regarding the Imported SHARP AH-XP18MV Air Conditioner.

Actually I am planning to buy the same AC for my home here in CHENNAI and Would thus like to ask to please let me know as to from where i can purchase the same IMPORTED SHARP AH-XP18MV Air Conditioner and get it delivered to my CHENNAI Address.

Kindly do let me know at the earliest so that i may purchase the same and benefit from its technology & quality .

Thanking you once again for ur time & effort in putting it up here and would also like to hear from you ASAP.

Regards- Manu

goelmanu15 said:
Hi Rishi,

How r u? First of all Thank You for such a great thread with information regarding the Imported SHARP AH-XP18MV Air Conditioner.

Actually I am planning to buy the same AC for my home here in CHENNAI and Would thus like to ask to please let me know as to from where i can purchase the same IMPORTED SHARP AH-XP18MV Air Conditioner and get it delivered to my CHENNAI Address.

Kindly do let me know at the earliest so that i may purchase the same and benefit from its technology & quality .

Thanking you once again for ur time & effort in putting it up here and would also like to hear from you ASAP.

Regards- Manu

If you live in India, you cannot have them anymore. Sharp India had stopped importing these units after local manufacturing of their ACs. AH-XP18MV's had exemplary product quality & performance to boot and I am lucky to own two of them.

This aluminium condensers are totally useless. This OP just misled us with his limited knowledge and now everyone I know is having trouble with these condensers.

Can you elaborate on the issues you are facing with aluminum condensers?

Me and 3 of my friends are having leaked aluminium condensers. The refrigerant leaks and the cooling stops. Any ac mechanic you ask and the problem is same with aluminium condensers. Mine lasted for 5 years and I'm the luckiest of the lot others were not so lucky and had problems from 3 years or less.

Yes, any problem with Aluminum Condensers means replacement.
It can't be repaired like Copper ones.