New Delhi: While the national capital reels from a heatwave alert, a Union minister's announcement of forthcoming rules to regulate air conditioner temperatures has led to a range of reactions online.

Union Minister for Power, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar, said a day ago (June 10) that the Union government will introduce new regulations to standardise air conditioner temperature settings nationwide, placing limits on how low or high they can be set.

Khattar said that ACs will not be allowed to cool below 20°C or go above 28°C.

"Regarding air conditioning standards, a new provision is being implemented soon. The temperature standardisation for ACs will be set between 20°C to 28°C, meaning we won't be able to cool below 20°C or warm above 28°C. This is a first-of-its-kind experiment, aiming to standardise temperature settings," Khattar stated, adding, “This is a first-of-its-kind experiment, aiming to standardise temperature settings.”

Khattar said that the decision will "bring uniformity to air conditioning use and help reduce excessive power consumption due to extremely low cooling settings."

While reports have said that residential air cooling is expected to contribute to global carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 through increasing electricity demand, many argue that in severely hot countries like India, the air conditioner should be branded a right.

In 2023, only 8% to 10% of the country’s 300 million households had an AC, but that number was expected to hit close to 50% by 2037, according to government projections.

Opposition MP from Trinamool Congress Mahua Maitra was not impressed:

Some noted that the decision was unfriendly to citizens.

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