Choosing an AC for Offices, Shops, Restaurants, Gyms and Clinics

Home sizing assumes two people and ordinary lighting. A shop, office or restaurant adds heat from every source: each seated person gives off roughly 600 BTU/h, computers and monitors several hundred more each, commercial lighting more again, a glass shopfront a large solar load, and a door opening every few minutes lets the cool air out. The same 200 sq ft that is a 1.5 ton bedroom can be a 2.5 ton shop.

The BEE label assumes 1,600 hours a year. An office or shop open 10-12 hours a day, six days a week runs 3,000 hours or more — double the label. At that level, the running-cost gap between a 3-star and a 5-star 1.5 ton unit roughly doubles, and a ₹10,000-₹15,000 premium typically repays in three to five years rather than eight to ten.

• Up to about two rooms or 400 sq ft: wall-mounted inverter splits sized per room work well.
• Large open offices, showrooms and restaurants: several splits blow unevenly; ceiling cassette units spread air better.
• Multi-room offices: ductable or VRF systems can serve many rooms from fewer outdoor units.
• Gyms and restaurants: get a heat-load calculation from a qualified HVAC installer before buying anything.

Ask the brand or dealer for their response time for a breakdown at your address, in writing, and consider an annual maintenance contract before summer. Voltas and Blue Star, whose core business is cooling, run the widest commercial and residential service networks.