Thursday, September 15, 2011

Product Review - Tecco Solar Air Conditioner

Last July, I've installed a Tecco Solar Air Conditioner in my living area and I've decided to write a small review to better evaluate it's performance and eventually help others determine if this is the right AC unit for them.



Product Details.
The product details below have been copied over from Teeco's specification sheet...

Company: Teeco Group
Website: http://www.teccogroup.com/tecco/
AC Type: Teeco Solar Assisted AC
Model: TACW-60 (20,000btu Cooling, 22,000btu Heating)
EER: 3.88 W/W or 13.24 btu/h/W
Cooling Power Input: 1350W~1560W / 6.14A~7.09A
Price Paid (Including installation): Euro 1050

 I did my own measurements using both a digital clamp meter and a watt hour meter, using the 'Energenie Appliance Power Meter'.

Conditions:
Area of the room: 28 m2
Volume of room: 84 m3
Voltage: 230.1v AC 50HZ
Duration of observations: 1 hour (17:30 --> 18:30) - Sun was almost down and therefore the AC Solar collector was not being heated by the sun during the test duration.
Temperature thermostat setting: 16°C (Didn't want the compressor to switch off/on during the test!)

Starting room temperature: 28.1°C
Temperature (outside monitored room): 30.9°C
Heat Index (outside monitored room): 34.3°C

Results:
Power Factor: 0.93
Cooling Power Input: Ranged between 1420W ~ 1550W.
Maximum Power (Compressor switching on): 1700W.
Standby Power consumption: 1.7W
Cumulative power consumed: 1.1KWh
Carbon Dioxide generated: 0.9Kg

Final Room temperature: 24.4°C
Temperature (outside monitored room): 29.7°C
Heat Index (outside monitored room): 32.5°C
Temperature Room Difference: 3.7°C

Conclusion:
Looking at the results, I can conclude that specifications are pretty accurate and reflect the actual unit performance.

9 comments:

  1. I was looking for reviews on solar assisted aircons and managed to stumble on your blog. It's very technical and such so I don't really understand that. What I wanted to know is if it's worth to buy these type of airconditioners?

    Is it worth the higher price than conventional a/c units? Do they really save you money off your electricity bill?

    I would appreciate if you can reply.

    Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cliff
      The answer to 'Do they really save you money off your electricity bill' is Yes definitely. These AC are more efficient than the conventional AC units and therefore will cost less to operate them.
      By conventional I’m not referring to the ‘Inverter’ type AC units since these are also more efficient (and expensive), in fact I would say at-par with the Solar Assisted. Here in Malta, the price of a SAC was almost the same as an ‘inverter’ type AC both of which are almost double the price of a ‘normal’ AC.
      When shopping around for an AC, always check and compare the EER & COP, the higher the better, since it means the AC is more efficient.
      Is it worth buying these ACs? Well I would love to help you but I cannot simply because it’s too early to make the maths. I bought the AC last year and although it’s backed up by a five year guarantee, it has to last longer > 8 years without problems for the investment to have been worth it! I only use the AC in summer for a maximum of 4 months a year and therefore if you use it also for heating then your payback period will be shorter.

      Regards
      Brian

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    2. Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated.

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the review, my air conditioner broke so I've been researching what the best replacement would be. After reading blogs and looking at Carrier air conditioning units I'm undecided as to if i want to go with a rental fro the time being or purchase a smaller air conditioner while I look for a more permanent solution. Would this be a good replacement for my central air unit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi James

      I'm sorry for the break down of your AC.... I'm assuming that you had a central AC unit installed. Well it's not easy to decide what will be the replacement unit especially when we're talking about spending a large amount of money. In my case, I opted for a number of smaller units instead of a central unit, the main reasons being;

      a) The central unit required a three phase supply which I don't have at home.
      b) I din't have any plave were to install the ducts.
      c) In case of failure, it's only one unit/room which will fail and therefore I'll reallocate to another room
      d) Better control my cooling costs since I will only cool the room/s which I'm using.

      Having said all this, I'm afraid that if I have to install a mini-split AC in each and every room, then I'll be spending much more than to install a central unit.

      Hope it heps!

      Regards
      Brian

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  6. Great Post, loved it will be waiting for your future posts, the internet would be a much better place. Please keep it up!
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    ReplyDelete