South Korean consumer electronics giant, LG Electronics, is planning to manufacture ACs for the cost of air coolers. LG had earlier sparked a demand for low-cost ACs in India. LG is targeting the middle and lower-middle classes, which mainly use water-based air coolers to beat the heat.

Yunju Song, the marketing strategist with LG, said the company was studying the market for air coolers in India. The numbers of users are more in the north because of the tropical weather conditions. India’s main markets for air coolers, Rajasthan and Delhi, sell around a million units a year.  

A cooler is priced at around Rs 3000. This is about one-third the price of the cheapest AC in the country. The price would be lower, if a compromise is made on the quality. 

It may not be possible to bring the prices of ACs down to the levels held by air coolers. The company plans to make ACs affordable enough to make the buyers of coolers upgrade to ACs. 

But there are two major challenges that LG will have to contend with to make its low-cost ACs catch on.
But there are some challenges on LG’s way. An air cooler of 15-litre capacity would cost around 30% less than a one-tonne AC. An AC is among the largest consumers of electricity, among home appliances. Thus, the operational costs for coolers are less. 

But LG is banking on the fact that coolers are not very healthy. They cause humidity and microbes thrive in it. Keeping this aspect in mind, LG is planning to introduce some of the health features in the low-cost ACs that are already prevalent in the more expensive ones.