Senseible

Is my older 5 star split air conditioner (AC) as efficient as a new 1 star one under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) tables?

Not always. The Ministry of Power release's table prints a 2012 or 2013 5 star split unit at 3.3, the same figure as a 1 star unit under the July 2022 table. But the pre-2018 figures use a different measure (Energy Efficiency Ratio, EER), so treat the match as a rough guide. Compare metered kilowatt hours, not stars.

The 5 star row, period by period

What that says about an old unit

Reading the release's own table side by side: a 5 star split AC from 2012 or 2013 shows the same figure as a 1 star unit today (3.3), and one from 2014 to 2017 shows the same figure as a 2 star unit today (3.5). A 5 star from 2009 to 2011 shows 3.1, which is below today's 1 star. The comparison is my reading of the table, not a statement in the release.

The release puts the 1 star step at 2.3 in 2009 and 3.3 in July 2022, an improvement of 43 percent as the release prints it (3.3 / 2.3 = 1.435). At 5 star it is 3.1 to 5.0, which the release prints as 61 percent (5.0 / 3.1 = 1.613).

A caution on comparing across 2018

The release says BEE's efficiency measure before 2018 was the EER, the cooling output in watts divided by the power input in watts at standard rating conditions. In 2018 BEE adopted the Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER), which factors in temperature variation across India's climatic zones and operating hours. The release still prints all years in one table, but treat pre-2018 versus post-2018 comparisons as a guide, and a unit's real consumption as the only proof. Age, servicing and dirt change a working unit further.

Pre-2018 values are EER and cannot go into the seasonal formula, which divides a seasonal cooling load by ISEER only. So this page gives no kilowatt hour or carbon saving for an old unit. Compare the kilowatt hours on your bills before and after the change. The arithmetic is valid only for units from 2018 onward that show an ISEER on the label.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the kilowatt hours on your bills before and after a change sit in one place.

Sources: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Power: star labelling results for split and window air conditioners (10 May 2023)

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. The band table and the 43 and 61 percent figures are from the Press Information Bureau release of 10 May 2023. The side-by-side reading across periods is mine and is flagged as such. The release's EER versus ISEER note is why cross-2018 comparisons are only a guide, and why no kilowatt hour example is given.