Friday, March 29, 2024

Ten Five-Star Brands Tested Ceiling Fans: All Energy-Efficient But Air Delivery Mostly Below Par

ALL 5* rated fans fail in the crucial test of "air delivery", except 1 brand -- Article by Consumer VOICE (www.consumer-voice.org)

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Test results for ceiling fans performance

Air Delivery
Air delivery essentially defines the amount of air a fan delivers – a crucial parameter since it translates into how comfortable you feel sitting under a running fan. As per Indian standard air delivery of a 1,200 mm ceiling fan should be minimum 200 m3/min; however, for a BEE star-rated fan, air delivery should not be less than 210 m3/min.

  • All the tested brands met the requirement of Indian Standards.
  • Only Lazer met the requirement for a BEE star-rated fan.

Service Value

‘Service value’ denotes the air delivery in metre cube/min, divided by electrical power input to the fan in watts (W) at test voltage and at full speed. In simpler terms, service value means the amount of air delivered per minute per wattage of electricity. As per Indian Standard, the service value of 1,200 mm fans should be minimum 4.0 m3/min/W.

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  • All brands met the requirement of Indian Standards.
  • Again, Lazer scored highest followed by Usha. V-Guard, Crompton and Orient had the minimum score.

Power Input

The power input defines the energy consumption of a fan. Maximum power input for fans of 1,200 mm size shall be a 50 watts as per Indian Standards.

  • All the tested brands met the requirement of Indian Standard. They all were found to be energy-efficient, consuming between 48.88 watts and 51.25 watts.
  • Usha scored highest on this parameter and Havells the lowest.

Starting and Running

The fan shall be capable of starting from rest when 85 per cent of test voltage or lower limit of voltage range is applied with regulator at lowest speed step.
The performance of all brands was satisfactory on this count.

Speed

Fan speed shall not exceed the +_ 10% of marked value.

  • All brands passed in this test. Lazer scored highest on this parameter.

Power Factor

In AC circuits, the power factor is the ratio of the real power that is used to do work and the apparent power that is supplied to the circuit. The power factor can get values in the range of 0 to 1. It shall not be less than 0.90 for ceiling fans.

  • All the tested brands met the requirement of Indian Standard.

Ceiling fans performance scoreSafety and general guidelines

Temperature Rise | Suspension System | Mass of Fan | Workmanship and Finish | Design and Construction | Earthing Connections | Creepage Distance and Clearance | High Voltage | Insulation Resistance | Leakage Current

  • All the tested brands cleared these tests as per the requirements set by Indian Standard.
  • The ‘suspension system’ test is to see if the ceiling fan breaks and drops to the ground when subjected to a tensile load of 1,000 kg and torsion load of 500 kg cm.
  • Orient was the heaviest fan at 3.586 kg; V-Guard weighed only 2.936 kg.

[stextbox id=”info” caption=”Design and General Construction”]Indian Standards require that the design and general construction of a fan be such that the blades are securely fixed, the material used in fan and regulator are heat- and corrosion-resistant, and there is protection against direct contact with live parts, among other things. All the fans met the requirements for design and general construction.[/stextbox]

safety and general performance scores

General qualities

Marking/Labelling

The container of ceiling fan shall be marked with the following particulars:

a) Manufacturer’s name, trade name (if any) and number
b) Rated voltage(s)/voltage range
c) Type of fan, AC or DC
d) Frequency/frequency range of power supply
e) Air delivery
f) Size of fan
g) Country of manufacture

Other important information to be provided by the Manufacturer covers MRP (in Rs), manufacturing/packing date, standard mark (if any), and warrantee/guarantee. The package shall also include an instruction manual and a warrantee/guarantee card.

  • All ceiling-fan brands provided complete marking information.
  • Khaitan, Marc, Crompton Greaves and Orient did not have instruction manual.

Packaging

As per Indian Standards, ceiling fans should be packed in strong cardboard box to avoid damage during transportation.

  • All ceiling fans were packed in hard carton boxes with thermocol/cardboard supports.

ceiling fans brand score

[stextbox id=”info” caption=”CV’s Recommendations”]

1) Indian manufacturers need to put in extra efforts to improve air delivery and service value in order to enable consumers to realise optimal energy savings. Overall, only one brand, Lazer, qualified for BEE’ five-star rating. The remaining nine were found lower on air delivery.

2) There is scope for making ‘super efficient’ fans by bringing down input power by 5 per cent to 10 per cent.

3) A regulator should be capable of reducing the speed of fan to at least 50 per cent. However, none of the 10 brands provided a standard speed regulator compatible with the fan, often leading to usage of sub-standard regulators by users and thereby possibly affecting the fan’s performance.

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Manufacturers’ Comments

As a matter of policy, before publication the test results of the brands tested are shared with their respective manufacturers/marketers inviting their views/comments. We reproduce here the reactions:

manufacturer comments


Dear readers: We are open to hearing your suggestions on products and services that you believe should be reviewed/tested by Team Consumer Voice. You may write to [email protected]

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