Feasibility study to substitute the EER with the SEER - Case Study Chiang Mai, Thailand

Abstract

© 2012 Newswood Limited. All rights reserved. The objectives of this project are to find out whether the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) is more suitable for Thailand than the EER and to compare the energy saving between a fixed speed and an inverter air conditioners. First, both kinds of air conditioners are tested under the Japan Standard (JIS C 9612:2005) and installed in two virtual houses which are identical for data collection (i.e. electric energy consumption and etc). Air conditioners are operated during 8:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. and 13:00-17:00 P.M. While the ENERGYPLUS program is used for simulation, both results are verified. Using Chiang Mai weather data, the EnergyPlus program is used to analyze a virtual house with the design cooling load of 3,500 Watt at 35C outdoor temperature. The result shows that the air conditioner will start operate at 22C outdoor temperature and the electric energy consumption is close to the result from the Bin method, used in JIS C 9612:2005. For simplicity, the authors would recommend to use the Bin method for calculating the SEER. For an inverter air conditioner, the SEER value is 13.96 with the EER of 11.38. For a fixed speed air conditioner, the SEER is 11.84 with the EER of 11.59. This study shows that an inverter air conditioner saves 15.38% more energy consumption than a fixed speed air conditioner for Chiang Mai, Thailand.