Running AC and air purifier together: A smart pair or an unnecessary expense?
Follow UsAC cools the room, while an air purifier keeps the air clean.
Using both together adds a small extra electricity cost.
An air purifier is more useful when air pollution is high.
With increased pollution in many cities, there are increased numbers of families using their AC and air purifiers simultaneously for cooling and clean air. As they want to stay cool and breathe cleaner air. However, people have different opinions about this. Some believe using both devices together gives the best comfort and cleaner air. Others think it only increases electricity use and leads to higher power bills. So, is it really useful to run both machines together, or are you spending extra money on something your air conditioner can partly do? Here is a simple explanation to help you decide.
SurveyWhat happens when you run AC and air purifier together?
Most AC units are designed to cool a room, but they are not capable of cleaning the air. Most ACs only filter out dust in the air, but that too is to protect their own internal parts. On the other hand, an air purifier is built to trap fine particles, smoke, allergens and odours that an AC simply lets pass through. So when you run both devices together, they handle two different tasks as one machine keeps the temperature in check while the other ensures that the air quality near you is pure.
Also read: Air purifiers in monsoon: How they can help improve indoor air quality
Electricity consumption while running AC and air purifier together
If you’re using a 1.5 ton AC, it typically consumes 1.5 units of power in an hour. When the price of electricity is between Rs 8 and Rs 10 per unit, the cost of running an AC is somewhere between Rs 12 and Rs 15 per hour. With the daily consumption of 6 to 8 hours of AC per day, the total bill could go up to about Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500.
Air purifiers consume considerably lower amounts of electricity. Domestic air purifiers mostly consume only 30 to 60 watts, which are priced somewhere between Rs 1 and Rs 2 per hour. Using it for 8 hours daily adds about Rs 250 to Rs 450 to your electricity bills every month. In such a case, the total bill will amount to somewhere between Rs 2,750 and Rs 3,950.
Purchase and maintenance costs
A decent air purifier for a bedroom-sized space can cost anywhere between Rs 8,000 and Rs 20,000, while larger or premium models can go up to Rs 30,000 or more. The main ongoing cost is filter replacement, usually needed every 6 to 12 months, priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 4,000 depending on the brand.
On the other hand, an AC cost can vary between Rs 20,000 and over Rs 75,000 depending on the model and the features. Furthermore, ACs need annual servicing, which costs around Rs 500 to Rs 1,500, along with occasional gas refilling that can add another Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 if required.
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Should you run them together?
If you live in an area with high pollution or dust, running an AC and air purifier together can genuinely improve indoor comfort and health. For people who live in cleaner environments, it might not even be necessary on a daily basis. So, in my opinion, it would only make sense to use the air purifier whenever there’s bad air quality and leave the air conditioning to do its thing as always.
