How to select air-conditioner wisely

It is obvious that the world's temperature has been rising over the years, and nowadays most family has installed air-cond in their house. I learnt about the following when I planned for the air-conds in my house before I moved in.

Disregard the brand and additional features, when selecting an air-cond which main function is to cool down the room, there are 3 major ratings to look for, beside the Horse Power (HP).


BTU/hour - measurement on cooling capacity:

This is the actual cooling capacity unit of the air-cond and must match with the room size to be cooled. The room won’t cool efficiently and cost effectively if the BTU/hr rating is too low or too high for the size of the room.

BTU/hr is proportional to the Horse Power of the air-cond, but there is no fixed conversion formula between them, and varies from different models and brands of air-cond. Among air-conds with the same HP capacity, the higher the BTU/hr the better.

In general:

• 1 HP air-cond has BTU capacity ranging between 9000-10,000.
• 1.5 HP air-cond has BTU capacity ranging between 11,000-13,000.
• 2 HP air-cond has BTU capacity ranging between 15,000-25,000.
• 2.5 HP air-cond has BTU capacity above 20,000.

An effective rule of thumb to determine the BTU capacity required to cool a room effectively is to multiply the square feet of the room by 25; add 1,000 for every window and 400 for each occupant in the room. If the window is facing west directly shined by the sunlight, add 10% to the calculated result for cooling during daytime.

For example, if your bedroom is 12' x 12' with 2 windows, 2 people will be sleeping there at night, the suitable BTU capacity for the air-cond in the bedroom will be:

(12x12) x 25 + 2 x 1000 + 2 x 400 = 3600 + 2000 + 800 = 6400

Therefore, a 1 HP air-cond should be enough for this bedroom.


EER - measurement on efficiency in electricity consumption:

The Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) is calculated by dividing the BTU capacity by the number of watts. The higher the EER number the more efficient the air-cond unit should be. The EER rating generally ranges from 8-11.5, and should not be lower than 5.


Airflow - measurement on cooling speed:

The cooling speed of air-cond is determined by the ability of airflow travelling in cubic feet per minute (CFM). In normal words, CFM is the volume of air moved by the air-cond blower per minute.

For 1 HP air-conds, airflow generally varies between 210CFM-300CFM. Higher airflow provides faster cooling as well as better air circulation.


Related article: Increasing the efficiency of your air-cond

The EPF / KWSP online service

I believe many have been aware that they can use the online service of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) also known as Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) here:

http://www.kwsp.gov.my/

In case you haven't make use of this service, here are the steps to create a user account in this online system.

1. Go to the EPF website, and click on "Pendaftaran Baru".
2. Click on "Daftar sebagai Ahli".
3. Submit the registration form online.
4. Go to your nearest EPF office within the registration timeframe.
5. Get the activation code using the Kiosk Pintar or from the counter. Beware that this code has a limited lifetime.
6. Go to the EPF website, and click on "Login Kali Pertama".
7. Accept the terms and conditions.
8. Activate your online account with the activation code.
9. Create your username and password to use the system.
10. You can now login the system with the account you just created.

The EPF online service enables you to:

• Change your personal profile.
• Inform EPF about your latest contact address.
• Review your updated statement of account.
• Review your fund withdrawal details, including the withdrawal application status and history.

Tracking your electricity usage records online

You can actually check the details of your electricity account with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) , including the history of billing, meter reading, and payment made, with this URL:

https://e-services.tnb.com.my/


Here is how one of its screen looks like:



If you have an existing Maybank2u account, you can also pay your electricity bills with its online payment facility. Other than that, you can also make use of the website to send e-Request for Change of Tenancy.