Air Conditioners and Purifiers: Buying Guide

Air Conditioners: guide to choosing the best unit

An air conditioner is a machine that regulates temperature and humidity in an enclosed space, making it more comfortable, especially during periods of intense heat. In addition to cooling, it also offers heating, ventilation, and dehumidification functions. It works through a circuit with refrigerant gas that absorbs heat from inside and expels it outside, thus lowering the room temperature.

Types of Air Conditioners

Air conditioners can be divided into portable and fixed units.

Portable Air Conditioners

• Monoblock:
  a single device containing compressor, evaporator, and condenser. Easy to move, requires no installation: humidity is recovered through a tank and hot air exits through an exhaust hose. Ideal for cooling small, temporary spaces. General use.
• Spotcool:
  designed for faster, more targeted cooling compared to monoblock units, the spotcool air conditioner contains all components internally (compressor, evaporator, condenser). Typically a compact unit with wheels, easy to move between rooms without complicated installation. Like monoblocks, Spotcool expels hot air through a flexible hose. Recommended for server rooms, small offices, production areas with machinery requiring temperature control.

Fixed Air Conditioners

• Split:
  a fixed air conditioner with a single indoor unit connected to an outdoor unit, ideal for cooling or heating a single room.
• Multisplit:
  a fixed air conditioner with a single outdoor unit connected to multiple indoor units, allowing air conditioning in multiple rooms. Ideal for large spaces, homes or offices with multiple areas.

Performance and Technologies

Before purchasing an air conditioner, it's essential to analyze some technical characteristics that determine comfort, efficiency, and energy savings of the desired unit. Consider:

• Cooling power (BTU/h or kW)
  Power indicates the air conditioner's capacity to cool a space. A higher value means greater effectiveness, but isn't always the best choice: an oversized system may consume more and create uncomfortable temperature fluctuations. Therefore, it's important to carefully evaluate room volume and consult a qualified installer.
• Quietness
  Evaluate the noise level directly, especially if purchasing for bedrooms or workspaces. Sound power is measured in decibels dB, allowing objective comparison between models. The quietest units go below 20 dB. Particular attention should be paid to condominium regulations on noise pollution.
• Consumption and energy class
  The energy label provides useful information on consumption and performance. Models in class A++ or A+++ guarantee high performance and lower utility bills. Therefore, it's important not to base the choice solely on aesthetics and price, but consider the overall efficiency of the appliance.
• Smart Features:
  among smart features to evaluate that guarantee greater efficiency are scheduling options, WiFi, app control, compatibility with voice assistants like Alexa, Google or Siri, allowing remote climate management, consumption monitoring, and automation of on/off functions to always return to an ideally tempered environment. Latest generation models may also include presence sensors, air quality sensors, remote diagnostics (usually via app), and consumption monitoring.

Guide to Choosing the Most Suitable Air Conditioner

Choosing the ideal air conditioner doesn't just mean considering room size, but evaluating a set of factors that directly influence efficiency and comfort. If you're wondering how to choose an air conditioner, here are the key elements to analyze before purchase.

Installation Context

As mentioned earlier, an air conditioner's power is measured in BTU/h or Watts, and depends on the volume of the space to be cooled. To get a complete picture of the installation context, also consider:

• The number of appliances in the room (TV, PC, refrigerator) that generate heat and consume energy.
• The number of people typically present: more people means greater thermal load.
• Sun exposure: south-facing rooms require more cooling power.
• The presence and quality of fixtures, windows, and doors.
• The level of thermal insulation of the building (e.g., presence of thermal coating or insulated windows).

Calculating Required Air Conditioner Power

For an initial indicative calculation of required power, you can use this formula:

P = K × L1 × L2 × h

where:

• K is a coefficient between 25-30 W/m² for cooling (increase in case of poor insulation);
• L1 and L2 are room dimensions;
• h is ceiling height

Example: Open Space Office 120 m², with 2.7 m height.
Formula: 25 x 120 x 2.7 = 8,100 W

Considering the conversion formula 1 Watt = 3.412 BTU/h, the air conditioner chosen to cool the space should have a power of about 28,000 BTU/h.

Here's an indicative table showing the relationship between m² and BTU/h:

• Up to 25 m² -> 5,000 BTU/h
• 20-40 m² -> 7,000 BTU/h
• 25-50 m² -> 9,000 BTU/h
• 35-70 m² -> 12,000 BTU/h
• Over 50 m² -> 18,000 BTU/h

Air Purifier: guide to choosing the best purifier

Poor air quality directly affects the health of people occupying a home, office, or any environment. Air can be polluted by various substances, such as deposited smog, fine dust, pathogens like viruses and bacteria, or even chemical substances dispersed in the air like paints or detergents. An air purifier is an excellent purchase to reduce exposure to pollutants and potentially carcinogenic substances. In this brief overview, we'll provide the information needed to carefully choose the air purifier that best suits your needs.

How It Works

An air purifier works simply: an internal turbine draws in air from the environment and pushes it through a series of specialized filters. These filters, though different from each other, work in synergy to remove impurities like dust, allergens, odors, harmful gases, and microbes.

After passing through the filtration system, the now-cleaned air is returned to the environment through an output grill, usually on the top or front of the unit. This continuous airflow ensures constant exchange, bringing healthier, more breathable air into rooms.

The purifier's effectiveness depends on filter quality and their maintenance over time.

Benefits of Using a Purifier

• Reduces allergy symptoms by eliminating pollen, dust mites, mold spores, and pet dander
• Reduces dust accumulation
• Neutralizes persistent odors like smoke, food, pets, or chemicals
• Effectively filters smoke, gases, and harmful volatile substances

Filtration Systems

• Pre-filter: captures larger particles like dust or hair. Should be cleaned periodically to maintain the entire system's effectiveness.
• HEPA filter: traps up to 99.97% of microscopic particles, excellent against allergens and pathogens.
• Activated carbon filter: eliminates unpleasant odors and volatile chemicals (like smoke, solvents, cooking fumes).
• Ionizer: releases negative ions that bind to and drop impurities in the air.
• Cold catalyst: useful for decomposing formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene and other toxic gases, often present in new or renovated environments.

How to Choose a Purifier

During the selection phase of a purifier to purchase, it's recommended to analyze and evaluate these factors:

• Surface area of the environment to purify: check m² and CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) value, usually indicated in the machine's manual;
• Type of filtration needed based on usage environment
• Noise level: operation under <30 db="" is="" excellent="" for="" nighttime="" use="" average="" noise="" 30-50="" dba="" li="">
• Energy consumption: typically 30-70 W with presence of eco or standby modes
• Smart functions like connectivity, app control, sensors, child lock etc.
• Disassembly, filter replacement and components, and cost/difficulty of routine maintenance