78% of AC complaints in Delhi linked to unnecessary refilling: Study

Around half of all air conditioners in Delhi are refilled with refrigerants each year, with 78 per cent of service complaints linked to unnecessary refilling, according to a new survey by the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST).

The survey, which covered 3,100 households across seven major cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad and Jaipur — highlighted increasing AC ownership, high levels of refrigerant leakage, sub-optimal servicing practices and regulatory gaps.

The findings underscore an urgent need for lifecycle refrigerant management rules to curb climate-warming emissions from cooling appliances.

In Delhi, most households own just one air conditioner, with 94 per cent reporting a single unit and only 6 per cent owning more than two. Approximately 94 per cent of these units are rated at 1.5 tons of refrigeration (TR) or lower, while only 6 per cent exceed 2 TR.

Temperature settings vary modestly, with 51 per cent of households keeping their ACs at 23-24°C, while 31 per cent set theirs at 22°C or lower. Energy-efficient models are widely adopted, with 97 per cent of households using air conditioners rated 3-star or higher. Among them, 68 per cent use 3-star models — the highest proportion among the surveyed cities.

On average, daily AC usage in Delhi stands at 3.9 hours per household, in line with the national average.

Nationally, around 40 per cent of air conditioners are refilled each year, costing Indian consumers an estimated Rs 7,000 crore and releasing 52 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2024 alone, the survey found.

“The sale of room ACs has been growing exponentially since 2020. In the next ten years, the number of ACs will triple to 245 million. But are we operating and maintaining our ACs to reduce their environmental impacts?” asked Chandra Bhushan, CEO of iFOREST.

He noted while Indian consumers are increasingly conscious of energy efficiency, awareness about refrigerants and their environmental consequences remains low. Furthermore, there is a lack of regulations and systems to monitor and prevent refrigerant leakage.

The survey also revealed ideally, an AC should be refilled once every five years. In reality, however, most are refilled every two to three years — far more frequently than recommended.

“Total emissions from air conditioners are projected to rise from 156 million tonnes in 2024 — equivalent to all passenger cars — to 329 million tonnes by 2035, making ACs the top greenhouse gas-emitting appliance by 2030,” the survey stated.