Electricity and Cost Savings from Utilization of

Highly Energy Efficient Air Conditioners in Malaysia

Siti Fatihah Salleh1, Mohd Eqwan Mohd Roslan2, Aishah Mohd Isa3, Tuan Ab Rashid Tuan Abdullah1
1
Institute of Energy Policy and Research (IEPRe),
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering,
3
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, College of Engineering,
Universiti Tenaga Nasional

Siti.Fatihah@uniten.edu.my/sitifatihah.salleh@gmail.com, Eqwan@uniten.edu.my, Aishah@uniten.edu.my,

TRashid@uniten.edu.my

Abstract—Air conditioner is one of the major electricity regulate the maximum amount of energy that an electronic
consuming appliances used daily in Malaysian households. device can consume in order to perform a particular task. Other
Utilizing energy efficient air conditioner is crucial to save than air conditioners, refrigerators, fans, televisions and
electricity and thus reduce consumer bills. This work presents the lighting fixtures must also comply with MEPS before they can
total electricity and cost savings gained from the adoption of
be sold in Malaysia [3]. Next in line are washing machines,
energy efficient air conditioners, in compliance with Minimum
Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). Based on our data which will be effective in September 2018.
analysis, an inverter type air conditioners consumes 33% less
electricity on average than the non-inverter type air conditioners.
Meanwhile, the potential life cycle cost savings by adopting a 5-
star inverter type air conditioner as opposed to 2-star non-inverter
type is significantly huge amounted to RM 3,907. In conclusion,
choosing highly energy efficient air conditioners is a smart
decision to accrue greater savings over time.

Keywords— energy efficiency; minimum energy performance

standards (MEPS); air conditioner; inverter.

I. INTRODUCTION Fig 1. Comparison of temperature control system between

inverter and non-inverter split air conditioners. Adapted from
The household air conditioners commercially available in
[4].
Malaysian market today are the split air conditioners and built-
in air conditioners. The former type is extensively used in
homes and small offices as it is portable, cheaper, more flexible Energy performance testing of appliances may be done
and easier to install compared to the latter. As the name locally at Standard and Industrial Research Institute of
suggests, split air conditioner is an air conditioning system Malaysia (SIRIM) or abroad at test laboratories recognized by
comprised of 2 units; one or more indoor air conditioner unit the Department of Standards Malaysia. For air conditioners,
that are mounted on the walls inside the house, and an outdoor star rating will be assigned to the product model in accordance
compressor unit. Some of the units are equipped with an to its energy efficiency ratio (EER) which is essentially the
innovative technology known as the inverter, which has the measure the ratio of the cooling capacity and the power
ability to adjust the motor speed and compressor output, consumed when measured at full load. The MEPS star rating as
tailoring the power demand in accordance to the cooling described in the national standards, Minimum Energy
requirement of the room [1]. On the other hand, regular air Performance Standards (MEPS) for Air Conditioner MS
conditioners will have to run at the peak power requirement 2597:2014 are tabulated in Table 1. Among the five household
every time the compressor is running. Besides that, the inverter appliances, air conditioner is likely to be the major electricity
type has a better feedback control strategies [2]; allowing it to consuming appliance used daily [1]. Therefore, utilizing a
reach the temperature set-point faster with smaller temperature highly energy efficient air conditioner will increase electricity
fluctuation as compared to the regular type, as shown in Fig 1. saving and at the same time reduce the cost of electricity bill
Air conditioner’s energy performance is regulated by the significantly. This work was dedicated to investigate the total
Energy Commission under the Minimum Energy Performance savings gained from the adoption of MEPS-compliant air
Standard (MEPS) Regulation since 2013. MEPS functions to conditioners in Malaysia. To that end, the authors built a

978-1-5386-9175-5/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

2018 IEEE 16th Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD), Bangi, Malaysia (26-28 Nov 2018)

comprehensive database consisting of consolidated information total annual electricity consumption of air conditioners
on air conditioners’ model specifications and sales from year determined previously was multiplied by the number of models
2013-2015. sold in that year.

, = × ,
TABLE I. MEPS star rating for air conditioners. (4)
Where , [kWh] is the total electricity consumed
by MEPS-compliant air conditioners in a particular year while
[kWh] is the annual electricity consumption for each
model , is the number of units sold for a model in
that same year.

Sales data of MEPS-compliant air conditioners were C. Annual Electricity Saving (AES)
collected from major manufacturers and distributors that hold The maximum potential electricity saving was estimated by
Certificate of Approval (COA) by the Energy Commission.,
comparing the calculated annual electricity consumption with
with data set coverage of 95% (1,150 of the 1, 215 COAs issued
the annual consumption of the lowest 2-star rating model of the
by 2015).
same equipment type, a similar approach applied by Energy
II. METHODOLOGY Commission in the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan
(NEEAP) [5]. By using the tested cooling capacity and EER as
A. Market Share (MS) reference, the electricity consumption per year for the lowest 2-
The market share of MEPS-compliant air conditioners was stars rating model measured (kWh) can be calculated by using
calculated based on the star rating and appliance category as Equation 5 and 6 below.
shown by following equation:
, ,
i) For cooling capacity of ≤ 4.5kW, EERLowest 2-star model = 2.80,
, = ∑
× 100
,
( )
(1) = 365 × 8 × (5)
.

Where [%] is the market share by air conditioner type ii) For cooling capacity of 4.5kW ≤ cooling capacity ≤ 7.1kW ,
,
of a particular star rating, is the number of units EERLowest 2-star model = 2.35,
, ,
sold for that particular air conditioner type and star rating in a ( )
year, and is the total number of units sold for that = 365 × 8 × (6)
, .
particular conditioner type and year.
Where B [kWh] is the annual electricity consumption for
B. Annual Electricity Consumption (AEC) each air conditioner model in reference to 2-stars rating model.
To calculate annual electricity consumption for each air
conditioners model, the following equations are used as The amount of energy savings compared to the lowest 2-
recommended by SIRIM for both air conditioner types stars rating model was then calculated using equation 7 given
assuming 8 hours running time per day; below;

For non-inverter type, Energy savings per model = - (7)

× × ( )
= (2) Thus, the total annual energy saving, gained for both air
conditioners types can be estimated using equation 8 given
below;
For inverter type,
= = × (8)
, ,
× × (( . × , )
( . × , ))
(3)
Where , [kWh] is the total electricity saving by
MEPS-compliant air conditioners in a particular year while
Where [kWh] is the annual electricity consumption for [kWh] is the annual electricity saving for each model
each air conditioner model. The power input half-load and the and is the number of units sold of a model in that
,
tested cooling capacity (Btu/hr) are reported in SIRIM’s test
same year.
report. To calculate total annual electricity consumption, the
2018 IEEE 16th Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD), Bangi, Malaysia (26-28 Nov 2018)

D. Annual Electricity Cost Saving (AECS) Based on our collected database, most of the 4-star and 5-
The annual electricity cost savings, AECS can be obtained star air conditioners are inverter type air conditioners. As shown
by multiplying the calculated annual electricity savings the in Fig 3, the share of inverters - although significantly lower
electricity tariff. than the non-inverters, gradually improves each year by 4.5%
of yearly average reaching 21% in 2015. In contrast, the sales
= × (9) of non-inverters declines from 88% in 2013 to 79% in 2015.
, ,
83% of the non-inverter type air conditioner sold are 3-star and
below. On the other hand, 97% of the inverter type air
Where , [MYR] is the total cost savings in a year conditioner sold are highly efficient 5-star products.
while [MYR/kWh] is the average electricity tariff Consumers’ inclination to buy non-inverter type air-conditioner
for residential sector. The residential sector value was used is most likely driven by the cheap price tag. For an example,
since MEPS in Malaysia is specifically targeted for the based on our survey at several local electrical appliance retailers
residential sector. The actual value for was extracted (unpublished data), the retail price of a typical non-inverter type
from an Energy Commission report during the electricity tariff air conditioners is normally half the price of 5-star inverter type
review whereby it was found that the average domestic tariff is air conditioners of the same horsepower. The twofold increase
MYR 0.3166/kWh [6]. of the purchase cost would have influenced customers to favor
non-inverter type air conditioners to save money.
E. Life Cycle Cost Saving (LCCS)
100%
The life cycle cost of an air conditioner model was 12% 16% 21%
calculated based on the purchase cost and lifetime electricity 80%
cost, assuming that it will run for 12.5 years [7], as shown in 60%
Inverter
equation 10; 40% 88% 84% 79%
Non-Inverter
20%
= ℎ + (10)
0%
Maintenance cost was excluded from the calculation. Two 2013 2014 2015
models of a company were selected from our database to Fig 3. Sales of air conditioners based on type.
represent a typical 5-star and 2-star 1 h.p. inverter type air
conditioners.
B. Annual Electricity and Cost Saving
The total annual electricity and cost savings after MEPS
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
implementation on air conditioners are shown in Table 2.
A. Market Share Assuming that all the associated savings will carry over
Fig 2 shows the market share of 5-star (highest efficiency) annually after the purchase of the said air conditioners, the total
and 2-star (lowest efficiency) air conditioners available in cumulative amount of electricity saving due to MEPS
Malaysian market from 2013 to 2015. The share of 2-star air implementation by 2015 is 1,764 GWh while the cumulative
conditioners declines dramatically from 50% in 2013 to 35% in electricity cost saving is RM 558 million.
2014 and further down to 33% in 2015. Meanwhile, the share
of 5-star AC reduces slightly from 20% in 2013 to 19% in 2014 TABLE II. Annual electricity and cost savings.
before it jumps to 24% in 2015. It is highly anticipated the share
Year 2013 2014 2015
of 5-star air conditioners will continue to rise in the following
years, eventually intercept and take over the share of 2-star air Annual Electricity Saving (GWh) 404 598 762
conditioners. Annual Cost Savings (RM million) 128 189 241
Fig 4 shows the average annual electricity consumption and
60
saving of air conditioners per each unit sold. The inverter types
Market share (%)

are greatly more efficient in terms of energy use and brought in

40 2-star significant electricity saving compared to the conventional non-
5 star inverters. The average electricity consumption of inverters in
20 2015 is 2,266 kWh, 33% less than that of non-inverters which
is 3,365 kWh. When it comes to electricity saving, the inverters
0 offers triple more advantage compared to the non-inverters.
2013 2014 2015
Fig 2. Market share of air conditioners.
2018 IEEE 16th Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD), Bangi, Malaysia (26-28 Nov 2018)

IV. CONCLUSION
This paper assessed the benefits of adopting highly efficient,
inverter-type air conditioners from energy and economic
perspectives. It also estimated the possible life cycle cost saving
from the adoption of highly efficient, best in store inverter type
air conditioner as opposed to the least efficient non-inverter
type. The expensive price of highly efficient air conditioners
would have influence consumers to favor buying the less
efficient ones in order to save cost. However, the life cycle cost
Fig 4. Average electricity consumption and saving per unit air analysis has proved that the high purchase cost would be
conditioners sold. recompensed through savings gained from reduced operational
cost over the equipment’s lifetime. Therefore, it is hoped that
this study will raise consumer’s awareness on the significant
C. Life Cycle Cost Saving Potential benefits of utilizing energy efficient air conditioners.
Table 3 and Fig 5 show the comparison of life cycle cost
between the inefficient 2-star non-inverter type air conditioner ACKNOWLEDGMENT
and highly efficient 5-star inverter type air conditioner. The This work was supported by the Energy Commission through
potential life cycle cost saving considering the purchase cost the Chair in Energy Economics of Energy Commission at
and electricity cost to run an air conditioner unit over its lifetime IEPRe UNITEN research fund [grant number
of 12.5 years is RM 3,907. This means for every RM 1 spent KETST2016002]. We would like to express our heartfelt
more to purchase the 5-star inverter type air conditioner, RM gratitude to representatives from Malaysian Air-Conditioning
8.24 will be saved to run it over its lifetime. & Refrigeration Association (MACRA), Malaysian Electrical
Appliances Distributions Association (MEADA) as well the
TABLE III. Comparison of electricity consumption and cost workshop participants and survey respondents for their
between inverter and non-inverter air conditioners. supportive cooperation.
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1 h.p. Air Conditioner Non- Inverter Difference [5] Energy Commission (Malaysia), “National Energy Efficiency Action
inverter Plan,” 2016.
Star Rating 2 5 (3)
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Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) 2.7 3.7 (1) Peninsular Malaysia under the Incentive-based Regulation
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Efficiency (%) 81 96 (15)

Annual Electricity Consumption 2,701 1,594 1,107
(kWh)
Lifetime Electricity 33,763 19,925 13,838
Consumption (kWh)
Lifetime Electricity Cost (RM) 10,689 6,308 4,381

Total Life Cycle Cost (RM) 11,346 7,439 3,907