PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
LAHORE: With the onset of summer, people across different cities of Punjab have braced themselves for scorching temperatures and been taking various measures to beat the heat. While the wealthy have air conditioners installed in their homes, a vast majority of the population has started investing in locally-manufactured air coolers – a cheaper yet effective alternative.
As a result, the manufacturing and selling of air coolers – mostly working on 12 volts – has increased in the market.
Zain Khan, a 15-year-old worker in an air-cooler manufacturing shop near Gulberg’s main market, told The Express Tribune that he has been setting up air coolers for the past three years, adding that he sets up four to five coolers in a day.
“In the past, the entire cooler used to be manufactured in a single shop but the trend has changed over time,” he explained. “Nowadays, we procure the body of air coolers in various sizes from Lahore’s Lunda Bazar.”
Once the body is obtained, makers purchase different brands of fans from Gujranwala, whereas Chinese pumps required to make the machine work are bought from Lahore.
“Once all the components of the air cooler – the body, the fan and the pump – are assembled, fitting them together and setting up the cooler only takes two to three hours,” Zain explained.
He said many people prefer air coolers over air conditioners because of their skyrocketing electricity bills. Besides, air coolers have certain advantages that make it a preferred choice.
“[People purchase air coolers because] they are mobile, therefore, they can be easily moved from one place to other,” Zain said. “They are also very handy because if there is no electricity, they can be easily operated through motorbike batteries.”
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Since they’re portable, people not only buy them for their homes but rickshaw drivers also install these coolers in their vehicles to combat soaring temperatures. Shop keepers also use them in their stores so as to keep themselves cool while saving the cost of electricity.
Talking to The Express Tribune, shopkeeper Asif Khan shared that he has been associated with the business of selling air coolers for a long time.
“The making of air coolers has become quite commonplace and they are becoming increasingly popular among middle-class families because of its cost-effectiveness,” Asif said. He also explained that according to an estimate, there are nearly 100 shops in Lahore that deal with the manufacturing and selling of these air coolers.
“On average, a shopkeeper sells 25,000 to 30,000 coolers per season, which lasts from May to July,” he said. “And these figures are only for Lahore, which means the sales are much higher if other cities of Punjab are taken into consideration.”
Expounding on the prices, Asif said that a 20-inch cooler with a silver-wire motor costs Rs5,000, while the one that comes with a copper-wire motor cooler is sold at Rs 6,500. Likewise, a 24-inch air cooler with silver-wire costs Rs8,500, while the one with copper wire is sold at Rs9,500.
Akin to Asif, another air-cooler manufacturing worker Muhammad Zubair told The Express Tribune that a silver-wire motor fan uses as much electricity as an air-conditioner, while a fan with a copper-wire motor consumed 50% less electricity, which makes it costlier.
“The designs of coolers with plastic bodies are beautiful but those with an iron body offer more cooling besides being cheaper and more efficient,” Zubair said.
Muhammad Qasim, a customer who had come to purchase an air cooler at one of the shops, revealed that he is the owner of an auto-repair shop which gets very hot during summer.
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“I am unable to afford an air conditioner for my shop because it is expensive and also consumes a lot of electricity, hence, an air cooler is the best choice,” he opined. “These coolers work for longer hours and there is neither a need to change their gas nor there are any problems related to their cleaning.”
Qasim said that he can clean the cooler within a few minutes, adding that replacing a pump is much cheaper than getting an air conditioner repaired and the motor of the cooler is also long-lasting.
Like Qasim, another customer named Muhammad Asghar said that he prefers plastic-body coolers over iron ones because he has little kids in the house.
“When it comes to the iron-body coolers, the fear of short-circuit or electrocution keeps bothering me, so I decided to opt for a plastic-body one.”
Despite the increasing sales of the air coolers, shopkeepers lament that many people have now started investing in DC-inverter air-conditioners which have led to a decline in the overall sales of air coolers.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2019.
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