What Is The Quick Cool or Power Chill Mode On Your Air Conditioner?

The quick cool or power chill function on your air conditioner is designed to cool a specific room or area as quickly as possible. It is ideally suited to quick cooling when the air conditioner has been turned off for an extended period of time and the indoor ambient air temperature is warm or hot.

Air temperature will begin to warm up the moment that the aircon is turned off. Warm air from the outside flows in and replaces or warms up the air indoors. It can take just a few minutes to an hour for room temperature to become equivalent to the outdoor temperature. The warmer the outdoor temperature the faster this is likely to happen.

How Does The Quick Cool/Power Chill Mode On Your Air Conditioner Work?

When you start your air conditioner in quick cool or power chill mode, it starts at the coolest temperature possible for that make or model aircon. Usually this is between 16 and 18 degrees Centigrade (Celsius). The air conditioner works hardest in this mode to cool the air and a difference in temperature should be felt instantly with a drop in total ambient temperature occurring within just a few minutes.

The speed at which the aircon is able to quickly cool the area depends on the size of the room as well as the capabilities of the aircon. Top of the range aircons that are suitable for the size of the area that requires cooling will work faster and better in this function than aircons that are too small or not suited to a specific size room.

Most commonly, the quick cool feature will turn off automatically after a set period of time and the aircon will resume operation at a higher temperature setting – ususally between 20 and 25 degrees. Not all aircons will do this automatically and may only resume normal operation after a specific air temperature has been reached or when the quick cool mode is manually turned off on the aircon remote.

It is recommended to turn quick cool mode off as soon as the room temperature has dropped rather than wait for the aircon to do so automatically. There are a couple of reasons why this is important.

Why Should You Turn Quick Cool Mode On Your Air Conditioner Off?

In order to cool a room as quickly as possible and work at maximum output and lowest temperature, your aircon is using far more power or energy than normal. It needs to draw more energy or electricity in order to work harder and produce cold air faster. If you use this function often and then suddenly stop, you will notice a big reduction on your monthly power bill.

Most often, it is not recommended to use the quick cool function at all because it draws so much more energy. However, turning the quick cool mode off when the temperature has dropped sufficiently but before it reaches the lowest temperature or the automatic turnoff time, will also save power and therefore money. It is advisable to only run the air conditioner in quick cool mode for a few minutes before resuming regular operation at a more moderate temperature setting on your air conditioner.

Another reason why you shouldn’t use the quick cool mode too often or for too long is because your aircon is working harder which means greater wear and tear. If you use this function often, you may notice that your aircon needs to be serviced more often than the recommended 3 month period.

It is also more likely to breakdown and be in need of repairs sooner or may not operate optimally in regular mode. To avoid unwanted repairs and increased servicing costs while preserving the longevity of your aircon, it is recommended to use the quick cool or power chill mode sparingly.

What If Your Air Conditioner Doesn’t Have a Quick Cool Or Power Chill Mode?

Your aircon doesn’t need a quick cool or power chill feature in order to cool the ambient temperature indoors quickly. This feature is simply a convenience on newer, more modern aircons. Simply running your aircon at the lowest temperature setting and maximum output will have exactly the same results as the quick cool mode.

However, you aircon will not automatically resume normal functioning after a predetermined period of time has elapsed or the air temperature has cooled sufficiently. You will have to turn the temperature setting higher manually as needed.

It is not recommended to run your aircon in this way for more than a few minutes for the same reasons that it is recommended to turn off quick cool mode when the room has cooled sufficiently. An aircon running at the lowest temperature and maximum output (fan speed) is drawing much more electricity and the wear and tear on the parts is going to be far greater.

Should You Buy An Air Conditioner With This Mode?

As mentioned briefly above, there is no difference between an aircon with quick cool or power chill mode and one without. The only real difference is that quick cool mode will turn off automatically whereas you will need to change the settings on your aircon if you are using the lowest temperature setting and highest fan speed to cool a room quickly after a set time.

The feature, while convenient, is not necessary. Aircons that do come with this feature should also not be much more expensive than those that don’t. It is therefore not necessary to choose an aircon that comes with a quick cool or power chill feature.

However, if you find that you forget to change the settings after quickly cooling a room with a regular aircon, then it may be recommended to invest in a model with a quick cool feature.

Other features on the aircon such as sleep mode, dry mode and automatic temperature changes may be of greater benefit and provide more convenience than aircons with just a quick cool or power chill feature. Find out more on other aircon modes here.

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