February 28, 2022 / RefrigeratorPro Team
Air conditioning is one of the most important inventions in the last century. It is said that air conditioning was one of the biggest inventions to enable building of skyscrapers. Without air conditioning, the temperature in these buildings would not be sustainable. Air conditioning was invented in the United States where it has reached a penetration of more than 80%. Thus, it is no longer a luxury in most developed countries.
Since its invention in 1902, AC has been a status symbol in large parts of the world. Good news is, that for past couple of decades the technology has become more affordable and much more silent, thus it has made its way into almost every modern household.
This transformation has been possible because of number of top AC manufacturers who have innovated constantly to improve every aspect of air conditioning. When you go through the list, you will realize that Japan has considerably dominated the AC industry. Japanese brands such as Daikin, Hitachi, Panasonic have significant market share in AC industry all over the world. Second is the US, where the AC was invented. To see the entire list, you can go through this article, where we have covered top 10 best AC brands in the world.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Best AC Brands in the World 2021
1. Daikin
Daikin is one of the largest AC brands in the world. Unsurprisingly, Daikin is a reputed Japanese brand that was established in the year 1924. In fact, it was the first company to sell AC systems in Japan. And now it’s present in 150 countries.
Daikin’s technology is one of the best out there. For example, Australia’s National Asthma Council has approved Daikin’s Split Systems due to its effective air purifying filters that filter common allergens such as dust mites and mold. Moreover, Daikin inverter ACs are known for exceptional durability requiring lesser maintenance than its counterparts.
It’s one of the most successful AC brands in North America as well. And as far as India is concerned, it as one of the fastest growing AC brands in the country.
As far as inverter ACs are concerned, Daikin is among AC brands that manufacture their own inverter compressors. This gives them better control over quality and integration with other components. Also, it is the only AC brand that invests in R&D and manufacturing of its own refrigerants.
Check Daikin ACs in India (Amazon) | Top Rated Daikin AC in US (Amazon)
Related: Daikin AC Review
2. Hitachi (JCH)
Hitachi is another Japanese AC brand that is known for excellent technology. It is the market leader in AC industry in many parts of the world. In 2015, Hitachi’s AC completed a JV with Johnson Controls of US. This joint entity Johnson Control-Hitachi Air Conditioning (JCH) is one of the largest AC manufacturers in the world and one of the top AC brands in North America along with Daikin. Due to Hitachi’s energy saving technology, it has made a name for itself in sustainability space as well. Hitachi has helped reduce greenhouse effect in many parts of the world. One testament of this is an award received by JCH- Environment Minister’s Award for Global Warming Prevention Activities. JCH was given this award because it employed new technologies to enhance energy saving capabilities of AC unit.
As far as quality is concerned, Hitachi gives maximum importance to testing before it is released into the market. Different types of tests such as rain and wind test, earth resistance test, sound and vibration test, refrigerant leakage test totalling 43 in number are made to ensure best quality is delivered.
Check Hitachi ACs on Amazon here
3. LG
LG is South Korean appliance brand that offers variety of ACs for residential as well as commercial customers.
LG’s AC business goes back more than 50 years. Since then, LG has sold one of the largest numbers of AC units in the world. By 2008, LG had sold 100 million AC units, which made it the first AC brand to sell this many AC equipment globally.
As far as North America is concerned, it is among top 10 AC brands overall and among top 5 window AC brands in the US. One of the leading new AC technologies is the Multi V VRF. This technology connects several indoor AC units to a single outdoor unit. This results in better control and energy-saving capabilities.
LG’s inverter technology is claimed to be one of the most advanced in the world and it saves up to 70% energy in electrical appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners apart from air conditioners. Many LG ACs come with top technologies such as plasma filtration, jet cooling system and so on.
Check LG ACs on Amazon here | Best-Selling LG Window AC in US (Amazon)
4. Carrier
Carrier is one of the largest brands of ACs in North America along with Daikin. In fact, it is a common belief in North America that you can’t go wrong with Daikin and Carrier.
It is also a 100+ years old company. And, Bill Carrier, the founder of Carrier is credited as inventor of air conditioning systems. Carrier has been known for taking leadership role and introducing new industry standards in the air conditioning space.
In North America, Carrier is known for producing high quality and long-lasting window ACs. Carrier ACs are known for low maintenance ACs, however, their ACs are usually priced more than the competitors.
Check Carrier ACs on Amazon here
5. Panasonic
Panasonic is another AC brand from Japan. It is also a 100+ years old company that is known for its advanced technology. It is touted as the number one AC brand in Japan. Its nanoe range of air purification is one of the best out there. These filters can remove even cigarette smell from the room in short time. In fact, in 2021, Panasonic launched technology to kill coronavirus by 99.99%. This technology works by producing hydroxyl radicals that inhibit the growth of coronavirus (Covid-19 virus).
Its another exciting technology is the Econavi. This comes with multiple sensors that detect human presence, movement, sunlight intensity etc. to give optimum cooling along with saving energy.
Check Panasonic ACs on Amazon here
6. Samsung
Samsung is another South Korean brand that is one of the most well-known AC manufacturers all over the world. Samsung’s annual revenue tops $200 billion. Not many know that it is one of the largest semi-conductor chip and electronic components manufacturers in the world. Samsung electronic division was merged with AC division few years back.
Samsung has used its capabilities in building electronic components in their ACs to make them smarter. For example, Samsung’s wind-free ACs go into energy-saving mode when they detect absence of humans for some time.
Also, high-end Samsung ACs come with convertible feature to run the ACs in variable capacities. Its powerful 8-pole inverter is world’s first inverter technology of its kind. It’s a modification of 4-pole inverter that gives decent power output and produces less noise.
Check Samsung ACs on Amazon here
7. Whirlpool
Whirlpool is more than 100 years old company headquartered in the United States. It entered the air conditioning space in the year 1955 and has not looked back ever since.
Even though, more than 50% of Whirlpool’s revenue comes from North America, Whirlpool is quite popular in Europe and the Indian subcontinent.
Whirlpool’s 6th sense technology is one of its most advanced technologies used in air conditioning units. It comes with chip embedded inside the air conditioner. This technology correctly senses ambient humidity and then connects with the outdoor unit to give energy-efficient performance. For example, in case of high humidity, it lowers down the fan speed and increases the speed of condensation process for faster cooling.
Check Whirlpool AC models on Amazon here
8. Haier
Haier was founded in the year 1984 in China. Within a span of few decades, it has become the largest manufacturer of large home appliances in the world with a market share of whopping 10% in terms of sales. In fact, Haier made news back in 2016 when it was already worlds largest selling home appliance brand and it acquired one of the most well-known home appliance brands of US- GE Appliances. This further helped Haier bolster its air conditioning capabilities.
Haier products are known for decent quality ACs that come at affordable pricing. All the companies that we have mentioned here are curated on the basis of the market capitalization, product durability, satisfaction level check and customer reviews along with their features and popularity in the global market.
Check Haier AC models on Amazon here
9. Midea
Midea is the largest AC brand in China and one of the leading AC brands in the world. It has collaborated with Carrier in several countries such as Brazil, Egypt, Argentina, Chile, India, China and the United States to increase Midea’s reach, while using Carrier’s strong distribution network. Thanks to its expertise in manufacturing at cost-effective rates, it has seen huge growth in revenue over last many years. In fact, it has become number one AC brand in many countries. Further, this brand has invested heavily in the design aspect and has hence gained several design awards such as the Red Dot design award of Germany.
Check Midea AC models on Amazon here
10. Trane Corporation
Trane Technologies is a multinational from Ireland. It is part of Ingersoll Rand that was founded in 1859. With more than 150 years of history, it is the oldest major AC brand in the world. It has more than 99 manufacturing units all over the world. However, one of its biggest markets is in North America.
Trane has been named America’s Most Trusted Air Conditioning brand for seven consecutive years. Air Conditioners from Trane are known for quality and dependability. The competition is not only in the residential AC segment where it sells portable ACs, window ACs and split ACs, but also in commercial air conditioning space.
Commercial Trane ACs have long lifespan and are easier to maintain as compared to some of the other top AC brands.
FAQs
Which are the top 3 AC Brands in the World?
Daikin, JCH and LG are the top 3 AC brands in the World.
Which are the top Japanese AC Brands?
Daikin, JCH, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu General and Toshiba are top Japanese AC Brands.
Is Fujitsu General (O General) one of the largest AC brand?
No. Fujitsu General revenue is less when compared to top 10 AC brands in the world.
Is Goodman AC brand owned by Daikin?
Yes, Goodman AC brand is owned by Daikin
Conclusion
Best air conditioners are produced by the brands that are into air conditioning business for many decades. These AC manufacturers are not only selling residential air conditioning units, but also commercial ACs. Competition in the residential air conditioning is very high, thus sustaining in this space is requires constant innovation. There is no doubt that Japan and US rule this competitive industry. However, apart from these top brands, you can also choose a reputed AC brand of your country. This is because such brands usually have wider reach of service centers apart from local manufacturing, which reduces import dependencies, ensuring decent consumer experience.
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