The government is attempting to promote energy-efficient cooling and create sustainable urban infrastructure amid rising energy demand
Aimed at promoting energy-efficient cooling, the Centre is set to standardise the operating temperature range of air conditioners across India. The new regulation will restrict air conditioners from cooling below 20 degrees Celsius or heating beyond 28 degrees Celsius, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar said on Tuesday.
“This is a first-of-its-kind experiment, aiming to standardise temperature settings,” Khattar said at a press briefing in New Delhi. The initiative, he added, would help rationalise electricity usage while making users more conscious of their energy consumption patterns.
The proposed change is part of the Centre’s broader effort to create sustainable urban infrastructure amid rising energy demand, especially in peak summer months. Air conditioners are among the highest power-consuming appliances in residential and commercial spaces.
The new rule, expected to be formalised shortly, will introduce a fixed temperature band – 20°C as the lower limit and 28°C as the upper threshold – for all new air conditioners sold in the Indian market.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under the Ministry of Power, is working on the operational framework of this standardisation. In March, BEE invited public feedback to design efficient cooling policies, including the idea of setting default minimum temperatures for AC remotes.
The agency has long advocated for default settings around 24°C, citing global best practices and potential annual energy savings of up to 20 billion units if adopted nationwide.
