Cheap air-conditioners could deliver big returns in India

Instead of air-conditioners (ACs), most buildings here had ceiling fans at best before the 1970s. The heat and humidity wore one down. The stench of sweat engulfed factories. As ACs were installed in buildings over the next few decades, productivity improved. Today, even with temperatures soaring to nearly 40 degrees Centigrade, universal air-conditioning is keeping all of us comfortable indoors.

It took a few decades for ACs to take off, though. In 1948, about 74,000 ACs were sold in the US. Only six years later, more than a million ACs flew off the shelves. Today, more than 95% of Singapore homes have ACs, which is four times the level in 1990.

Now, companies such as Samsung and Whirlpool have launched micro ACs priced at less than US$100 ($137) each. Another innovation is the rise of energy-efficient ACs such as the inverter, which reduces energy consumption by a third.

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