Sunday

16


April , 2017
Smart refrigerators
00:00 am

Anustup Roy Barman


 


The refrigerator market in India is growing and is expected to grow in the near future. Latest refrigerators offer us fast cooling solutions and smart storage options.

Refrigerator market in India

Rising household income, improved living standards, rapid urbanisation, increasing number of nuclear families, a large untapped market, and environmental changes are the major growth drivers for the refrigerator industry. The major players are slashing  their prices and launching new models with advanced features and better designs. According to the “India Refrigerator Market Outlook 2021”, the refrigerator market, broadly divided into two categories (direct cool and frost free), would continue to grow. The frost-free refrigerator market of India is gaining massive popularity and momentum over the traditional refrigerator models. There is a rising preference for double door refrigerators. The demand for refrigerators in India is mainly concentrated in urban spaces and it accounts for 75% share. Available features, energy star rating, warranty, quality, space, price, ease of cleaning, functionality and styling are currently the major influential factors while purchasing a refrigerator.

Both LG and Samsung, multinational companies from South Korea, have managed to capture a combined 50% market share in the country’s refrigeration industry. While LG has two refrigerator manufacturing units in India, Samsung has none and relies on imports to maintain its market share in India. Domestic manufacturers like Godrej and Videocon are also working on increasing their market presence. The penetration rate of refrigerators in India is low as compared to other emerging market or developed countries.

How to select a refrigerator

There are certain points which should be kept in mind while choosing a refrigerator. One needs to have a clear understanding regarding the needed capacity. A refrigerator of 250 to 300 litres might be ideal for a family of four. It is always preferable to choose a brand with high market share.

A new rating has been initiated by the Bureau of Energy  Efficiency (BEE), which rates different brands/products from Star 1 to Star 5 ratings based on their energy efficiency. The efficiency of a refrigerator is always dependent on the compressor it uses. Nowadays, inverter compressors are gaining popularity. It helps to reduce electricity bill and provides great cooling. While choosing a refrigerator one should always be aware of its technology. For example, cool pad technology keeps food/water refrigerated for ten hours. This helps greatly during power-cuts.

Double door, of course, has bigger space, more flexibility, and also a heftier price tag. If budget is a constraint and there is not too much to store, single door refrigerators can give great value for money.

Latest technologies

Star rating system: Nowadays, we come across star ratings when we purchase air conditioners, refrigerators or any other electronic appliances. We all know that a star rated electronic appliance is good at saving power. But most of us do not know how this star impacts our power consumption and electricity bill. As per the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, India, power consumption for different star rating is different.

Details

1 star - 977 units (12% savings)

2 star - 782 units (29% savings)

3 star - 626 units (44% savings)

4 star - 501 units (55% savings)

5 star - 400 units (64% savings)

Auto defrosting technique: Old refrigerators had frost formed around the coil that cooled the freezer. The defrosting technique was long and tiring. But thanks to technological innovations, we now have frost-free refrigerators. A frost free freezer has three parts of functioning namely a timer, a heating coil and a temperature sensor.   Every six hours or so, the timer turns on the heating coil. The heating coil is wrapped among the freezer coils. The heater melts the ice. When all of the ice is gone, the temperature sensor senses the temperature rising above 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) and turns off the heater.

Other technologies: LG’s fridge powered by Amazon’s Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant. By including Alexa, users are able to automatically adjust the fridge’s power settings, play music or even order groceries with their voice. In addition to being a personal assistant, the fridge has also been fitted with touchscreen display and contains all the capabilities of the company’s web OS operating
system. The fridge also has a panoramic camera built into its interior which when synced with an app, enables users to view the inside of the refrigerator while at work.

The Family Hub 2.0 refrigerators offer slight improvements from their predecessors, with the internet-connected devices offering some new features. Samsung’s view inside cameras has been designed to detect when food items inside the refrigerator need to be replenished.

There is also the added ability to purchase groceries via MasterCard. The new smart platform also allows for customisations, with members of the household able to create individual profiles — each person able to design their own profile picture/avatar. The 21.5-inch display also doubles as digital bulletin board, where users can hand write notes or shopping lists seamlessly.

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