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In this post, we will discuss the process of designing and manufacturing a customized air handling unit in India"

TheSmartHVAC with its in-house team of mechanical design engineers and manufacturing staff designs and manufactures robust and long-lasting AHU’s for the Indian market. One such inquiry for the 10 numbers of customized air handling systems came from the British High Commission in New Delhi. This was a prestigious client and therefore, TheSmartHVAC’s best design engineers visited the site and understood the requirements carefully. Requirements such as static pressure in mm WG, Airflow in CFM, 3 modes of operations (high speed, medium speed, low speed), provision for the return air, mixing box in order to mix the fresh air with the return air, number of AHU Coils rows needed to achieve desired cooling, filter requirements, type of double-skin casing, and the selection of the high-quality blower / impeller with energy-efficient motor. 

After understanding the requirements in detail, the design team prepared the comprehensive drawing for the Air Handling Unit including the parameters for different components such as the AHU Coils, Impeller, filter, motor, impeller / blower curves, and double-skin casing. The 8-row AHU Coils were selected with a tube diameter of 9.54 mm or 3/8 inches. Kruger’s direct-drive forward-curved impeller with in-built motor with a power rating of 550 watt 4 pole and low noise was selected. The impeller diameter was 443 mm. The impeller also offered the 3 different modes of operations (high / medium / low). The 0.8 mm Galvanized Steel (GI Sheet) was chosen to prepare the double-skin casing for robustness and long-life. Hollow-extruded Aluminum profile with a thickness of 40mm was provided in order to maintain robustness and long-life of the casing. The panels were injected with CFC Free PUF with a thickness of 45mm and a density of 40 Kilogram per Cubic Meter. 25 mm thick box-type pre-filter was chosen.

The proposal was submitted to the client and since all the parameters were in line with the client’s requirements, therefore, the order to produce 10 numbers of customized air handling systems was awarded to TheSmartHVAC. The commercial terms were agreed upon and the contract was signed.

The next step in this whole process was to manufacture the AHU unit as per the submitted proposal. TheSmartHAVC’s in-house team of manufacturing engineers studied the drawing in great-depth. Additionally, the manufacturing engineers further visited the site in order to double check all the dimensions including the mouth sizes for impellers, return air, and fresh air. After freezing in the dimensions, the process to manufacture the air handler was started. 

The first step in the manufacturing process of these AHU’s was to prepare the double-skin casing along with hollow-extruded aluminum profile. The GI sheets were cut in a hydraulic power press in order to make the double-skin casing. Thereafter, hollow-extruded aluminum profiles were installed and then the complete panel was injected with CFC free PUFF. Once the body or the casing of the AHU system was ready, then, pre-filter and AHU Coils were installed as per the approved drawings. Thereafter, the impeller with an in-built motor was installed. The mouths for impeller, return air, and fresh air were cut as per the drawing. Special attention was paid to the direction of the AHU Coils headers and drain outlet. The overall goal was to ensure that these AHU’s were installed in a straightforward manner at the client site without any changes in the existing copper pipework, ductwork, and drainwork.

This was one such example of delivering high-quality robust customized AHU’s. TheSmartHVAC with its team of designers and production specialists is fully equipped to take on any small or large AHU Unit orders. TheSmartHVAC has its own state-of-the-art factory in New Delhi and the Air Handling Unit Systems are delivered across India.

In this post, we will discuss the cost of a ‘central air conditioning system for home’ in India:

In a tropical country like India, the cooling solutions, especially the central AC systems are always in demand. A centralized air conditioning system is installed in homes as well as in commercial properties of any type and size. While the cost of installing a central AC system for commercial properties depends on a range of factors, the ‘centralized AC for home price in India’ depends on one single factor and that is the ‘heating load’. Therefore, it is important to estimate the heating load before installing the Central AC for home. This is where the design for a centralized AC for home becomes paramount. Over estimating the heating load will result in higher upfront costs as well as higher recurring operating expenditure (monthly electricity bill). And underestimating the heating load will result in a bad cooling experience inside the home. Therefore, the heating load calculations should be carried out by the HVAC professionals. These calculations are carried out keeping in mind the size of the home, ceiling height, exposure to sun, window pattern, numbers of floors, ground floor or middle floor or top floor, etc. Therefore, the homeowners should ideally provide the layout or map to the HVAC professionals in order to get the accurate costing for the centralized AC for home. At the same time, the heating load calculations also depend on the usage pattern. Not all places in a given home will need to be cooled at the same time, therefore, a homeowner should ideally brief the HVAC professionals about the usage pattern as well. Based on all of the above inputs, the HVAC professionals calculate the heating load and accordingly the equipment and machinery selection is carried out and then the final cost is estimated.

However, here is a rough estimation of the centralized AC for home price in India. The GST is added extra to this cost. 

It is evident from the chart above that as the heating load (in tons) increases, the cost per ton for a centralized air conditioning system falls. This is the most important message from this central AC cost calculator in India. The total cost includes the equipment cost such as an outdoor machine, indoor machines, joints, remote controls, raw material costs such as copper piping work, drain piping work, wiring work, MS frames, Grills, Canvas, and installation testing and commissioning. 

An Important point to be noted is that this cost per ton is a rough assessment. And the cost per ton may vary because of the following factors:

Date: This cost for central AC for home is arrived at in August 2022. In the future, the cost of equipment and machinery and raw material may rise or fall, and therefore, the cost per ton will change accordingly. 

Copper work: Copper work constitutes a fair proportion of the cost of centralized AC. And based on the home layout, the required quantity of copper pipe may increase or decrease and consequently the overall cost per ton will change.

Numbers of Indoor machines: Based on the home layout, the numbers of indoor machines may increase or decrease for the same outdoor unit. And therefore, the cost per ton will vary. 

Types of Indoor machines: With a central AC system, a homeowner has the luxury to choose the type of indoor machines. Some of these indoor machines are hi-wall units, ceiling type units, cassette units. Some types of indoor machines cost more than the others. Therefore, selection of those special kinds of indoor machines will increase the cost per ton for a central AC system.

Joints and controls: Higher the number of places in a given home that need to be cooled, the higher the number of joints and controls that are needed. And therefore the overall cost for joints and controls increase. And that significantly impacts the cost per ton for a central Air conditioner system for home.

Now, having this information about the central air conditioning system for home, let us compare it with the conventional split or windows AC.

It is evident at first glance, the cost per ton for a central AC seems high. However, if we scratch the surface, then, we begin to see the whole story.

Most of the time, the conventional split and windows air conditioners are ‘cooling type’ only. Whereas the central AC system comes with both the options of ‘cooling in summers’ and ‘heating in winters’. If one were to buy ‘cooling in summers’ and ‘heating in winters’ split AC, then, one would have to pay a high price for those split units as well.

If there are 4 places in a given home that need to be cooled, then, in the case of the split ACs, one needs to install 4 outdoor units. Whereas, in the case of the central AC system, only 1 outdoor unit is needed. That adds to the aesthetics of the home.

The Higher the number of outdoor units, the higher the maintenance cost. And therefore, maintenance cost is high in the case of split ACs. Whereas in the case of central AC systems, since there is only one outdoor unit, therefore, the maintenance cost is less.

Which Brand of Central AC system to choose?

There are several brands in the marketplace that offer the central AC for home solutions. Some of these brands are Hitachi, Daikin, Carrier, Blue Star, Mitsubishi, O General, and many others. All of these are reputed multinational companies and all of them offer high-quality products. However, as a homeowner, one should place important emphasis on the after-sales-service. Besides the better pricing, whoever provides faster and better after-sales-service should be chosen. 

Central AC for homes are generally also known as VRF VRV systems. VRV is a Daikin Product, whereas VRF system is sold by other brands such as Hitachi, Carrier, Blue Star, etc.. VRV stands for Variable Refrigerant Volume and VRF stands for Variable Refrigerant Flow. VRF VRV systems are developed using the latest inverter technology. And therefore, these systems are highly energy efficient.