February 28, 2022 / RefrigeratorPro Team
A compressor is the heart of an AC. In fact, a dead compressor means a dead AC. And these days almost all the ACs are inverter ACs. This means that these ACs can control the rate of flow of gas/refrigerant.
Inverter is one of the most important inventions that has revolutionized the air conditioning industry. As time has gone by, different types of inverter ACs have come up in the market. One such AC is dual inverter AC.
In this post, we will share key features of dual inverter AC and the difference between inverter AC and dual inverter AC so that you can make an informed buying decision.
Table of Contents
Inverter AC vs Dual Inverter AC: Quick Comparison
| Inverter AC | Dual Inverter AC |
|---|---|
| One rotor compressor | Two rotor compressors |
| Consumes medium amount of energy | Consumes lesser power |
| Decent lifespan | Slightly longer lifespan |
| Slower cooling | Faster cooling |
| More noise and vibrations | Lesser noise and vibrations |
| Lower tonnage variability | Higher tonnage variability |
Evolution of AC Technology
Till only about a few years back regular ACs were quite common. However, now the market is flooded with inverter ACs of different types. In order to understand this change let us see the brief evolution of inverter technology in AC.
- Main difference between different types of ACs is the motor-compressor. Earlier ACs used to have reciprocatory compressors. These compressors are powerful but they have a limitation- their speed cannot be regulated. Hence, they consume high amount of energy. Hence they are not suitable for home use.
- This led to home AC manufacturers using rotary compressors because the speed of these compressors can be regulated with the help of an inverter device. Hence the name inverter AC. Most of the inverter ACs in the market use rotary compressor because they consume lower energy and are more long lasting. Residential Inverter AC was invented by Toshiba.
- To improve upon it further, Toshiba invented Twin Inverter Compressor. This compressor has 2 rotors which are opposite to each other. Due to this, they divide the load, hence it gives better cooling even when running at lower speed. This twin inverter compressor is also called dual inverter compressor depending upon AC brands.
- Samsung has now come up with triple inverter which, according to Samsung is better than dual inverter motor in reducing torque fluctuations
What is Inverter AC?
These days majority of ACs in the market are inverter ACs. These ACs have different type of compressor which is regulated by an inverter chip. Basically, the inverter chip regulates the speed of compressor as per the load.
This is different from regular ACs that are also called fixed-speed ACs because the compressor only runs at single speed. This means that these ACs cannot regulate the speed of the compressor and hence the compressor always runs at maximum speed. This results in higher energy consumption.
Inverter AC is able to achieve much more energy-saving as it has a more advanced compressor- rotary compressor. Rotary compressors are simpler, more long-lasting and more energy-efficient compressors as compared to regular (reciprocatory/piston) compressors.
Single Inverter compressors are equipped with a single rotor. Although these are fully compatible with DC and can change the speed according to the load single inverter ACs are not as efficient as Dual Inverter ACs.
What is Dual Inverter AC?
Dual Inverter AC’s are better than single inverter AC. These ACs comes with dual inverter compressors which are rotary compressors with two rotors instead of one.
These two rotary compressors operate with a phase difference of 180° which results in much more stable operation. This improves the rotational balance and improves the compression torque. This allows the compressor to operate at a wide range of speed. Hence, dual inverter ACs are used in many tonnage adjustable ACs.
For example, a 1.5 ton adjustable AC can run at a slower speed to work as a 1-ton capacity AC when the required load is less.
Also, dual rotor compressor adjusts the compression load better as compared to a single inverter compressor because both the rotors divide the load. This also increases the cooling efficiency and decrease vibrations/noise.
This results in lower electricity consumption as compared to single inverter ACs.
Why Dual Inverter AC Produces Less Noise (Practical Example)?
Single inverter compressor operates with only cylinders that rotates on top of a shaft. Now imagine a fan running with only one blade. Will this fan be stable when the speed is slow? Maybe. But as the speed increase, the stability of the fan will reduce and it will start to wobble. Something similar happens with conventional inverter compressor.
Dual inverter compressor is like the fan in your home, which is stable even at higher speed because multiple blades increase the stability. Similarly, dual cylinders/rotors on the shaft in the compressor improve the stability of the compressor when it runs at a high speed.
Difference Between Inverter vs Dual Inverter AC
Let’s quickly see the difference between Inverter AC with Dual inverter AC:
1. Compressors
While single inverter compressor comes with single rotor, dual inverter compressor has two rotors. This makes dual inverter compressor slightly more complicated device. Also, compared to the single inverter AC, dual inverter AC comes with an advanced BLDC motor with a wider range of frequency This helps in maintaining the desired temperature with very less fluctuations.
2. Energy Efficiency
A compressor compresses the gas/refrigerant. And the speed of cooling depends upon the speed of compression of the refrigerant.
Single rotor compressor uses decent amount of energy to compress this gas. However, dual inverter with its two rotors, need only 15 – 20% the speed to compress the same amount of gas as compared to single rotor compressor. Since the speed is lower, the energy consumption in dual inverters is also lower. Hence dual inverter AC is more energy efficient than inverter AC.
3. Cooling Speed
As discussed, dual rotors can run at lesser speed and perform similar cooling as compared to single rotary compressors. Since it compresses more amount of refrigerant, it also cools faster than single inverter AC.
Hence, cooling capacity of dual inverter compressor is better than inverter compressor.
4. Noise/Vibration
Single rotor in conventional inverter compressor rotates at a much higher RPM to compress the refrigerant. Because of this, it produces more noise and vibration.
But in dual inverter compressors dual rotors that can provide good performance with at low RPM. So dual inverter ACs provide much silent operation than normal inverter ACs.
5. Life Span
Lifespan of single inverter AC is quite good. However, dual inverter AC have slightly longer lifespan. This is because the compression is achieved at lower speeds, which result in better durability. However, please note that there is no conclusive practical evidence whether dual inverter AC has longer lifespan than single inverter AC.
6. Price
Price of dual inverter ACs is more than inverter ACs. In fact, dual inverter ACs can cost at least 1000 rupees more than inverter ACs.
Which Brands Offer Dual Inverter AC?
Dual inverter ACs have become very popular recently. This is the reason why many reputed AC brands now offer dual inverter AC. However, different brands have different names for their dual inverter technology.
LG and Sanyo call it dual inverter, Blue Star market as dual inverter rotary compressor, while Toshiba and O’General brand it as twin inverter.
Other companies that offer dual inverter AC are: Daikin, Voltas, Whirlpool, Carrier, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Hitachi.
FAQs: Inverter AC vs Dual Inverter AC
Does dual inverter really save electricity?
Dual inverter technology is more energy-efficient as compared to inverter technology. However, the best way to find out ACs that consume low energy is by viewing the star rating and annual energy consumption information. Even a 5-star inverter AC can consume lesser energy than dual inverter AC. Hence, star rating is a more important criteria.
What are the disadvantages of dual inverter AC?
Dual Inverter ACs have two main disadvantages:
1. Dual Inverter ACs are costlier than a inverter ACs.
2. Maintenance/repair cost of dual inverter AC can be higher than single inverter AC.
Inverter AC or Dual Inverter AC- Which is more reliable?
Dual inverter compressor is much more stable than inverter compressor. This results in lower noise/vibrations. We have seen that motor with lower vibrations last longer as compared to motors with more vibrations. Hence in theory, dual inverter AC are more reliable than inverter AC.
Inverter AC vs Dual Inverter AC- Which types of ACs are more expensive?
Dual Inverter AC is more expensive than a single inverter AC.
Is dual Inverter AC worth buying?
There is not much difference in pricing of inverter AC and dual inverter AC and on top of this, there are several benefits associated with dual inverter technology. Hence, most of the top AC brands now offer dual inverter AC. Hence, if you are getting a dual inverter AC at a price point similar to inverter AC, then you should definitely go for dual inverter AC.
Should I buy dual or triple inverter AC?
Triple inverter AC was launched in the Indian market in the year 2019 by Samsung. Since then triple inverter AC has not shown much growth when compared to dual inverter AC, hence we will advise you to wait for few more years before there is more data into the reliability of triple inverter AC.
Conclusion: Difference between dual inverter AC and inverter AC
In this post, I have discussed all the key features of dual inverter AC as well as comparison of Inverter vs Dual Inverter AC.
If you have any doubts or any questions concerning this post, you can ask us in the comment section. We will be happy to respond.
By the way, thanks for visiting.
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