Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar recently announced that India will soon launch a pilot project to standardise temperature settings in air conditioners (AC). This, he said, was in a bid “to help reduce excessive power consumption due to extremely low cooling settings”.
Under the proposed regulation, the temperature range will be capped between 20°C and 28°C.
While the move is seen as a step toward energy efficiency, experts argue that limiting AC temperature alone won't significantly curb energy use. They stress the need for improved building design, stricter enforcement, and a stronger scientific basis to achieve meaningful results.
The announcement comes as the India Meteorological Department continues to issue heatwave alerts across several states, with much of the country enduring an intense and prolonged hot spell.
In this context, BOOM spoke to energy and climate experts to understand the science behind thermal comfort and why better building design must complement any temperature control measures.
How Does The Proposed Plan Affect You?
Once the new rule is implemented, all newly manufactured AC units in India will be hardcoded to operate only within the 20°C to 28°C range. This means air conditioners that currently allow settings as low as 16°C or 18°C will no longer offer those options. Instead, 20°C will be the lowest setting for cooling and 28°C the highest for heating.
The restriction is expected to impact both residential and commercial usage, and authorities plan to monitor compliance and assess its impact post-implementation.
This proposed shift builds on earlier efforts to improve energy efficiency in cooling practices. In 2018, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)—which operates under the Power Ministry—introduced voluntary guidelines for large commercial spaces such as airports, hotels, malls, and government buildings, recommending optimal temperature settings to reduce electricity use. A survey was planned to evaluate the results of that advisory.
Two years later, in 2020, the government made it mandatory for all new ACs sold in India to come with a default temperature setting of 24°C. However, users retained the ability to manually change the setting.
The current proposal goes a step further by eliminating user override options altogether and fixing the temperature range, with the goal of promoting more energy-conscious cooling habits.
Does The Temperature Range Make Sense?
Sort of.
Sugeet Grover, programme manager at the Centre for Science and Environment, explained that raising the set temperature of an AC by just 1°C can save about 6% in electricity, according to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). "It’s a rough estimate, but it shows how small changes can have a big impact," he said.
Grover backed the idea of setting a minimum temperature for ACs because people often set them too low. “In cabs, the AC is usually at the coldest setting. Hotels often default to 18°C, which is much colder than needed,” he said.
However, he questioned how the government determined the specific temperature range of 20°C to 28°C. He speculated that 28°C may have been chosen to avoid overheating in colder climates or to reduce emissions in places that use heating. “We’ve been given no real scientific basis for this number,” he noted.
Grover also pointed out how hard it is to cool a room to 18°C when it’s 45°C outside. “That puts a huge strain on the AC. If you set it to 26°C and use a fan, you’ll still feel comfortable,” he said.
This ties into the idea of adaptive comfort——our bodies’ ability to adjust to ambient conditions over time. “If you’ve been living in 40°C weather for weeks, you’ll feel okay in a room with the air-conditioner set at 27°C,” he explained. This idea, he noted, is already recognised in India’s National Building Code.
Professor Per Becker from Lund University raised similar concerns about the 20°C to 28°C band, calling it “scientifically unsubstantiated”. Research shows people work best in temperatures between 21°C and 25°C, with the ideal range being 22°C to 24°C. “Below that, you’re just wasting energy unless the setting is for physical labour,” he said.
He agreed that fans can help improve comfort at slightly higher temperatures. “Even 26°C can work with proper circulation. But beyond that, especially around 28°C, cognitive and physical productivity tends to drop.” While Becker acknowledged that human bodies do adapt to heat over time, he argued that 28°C is too warm for most indoor work environments.
“A single national range ignores local weather differences,” he added. “Cooling a space to 24°C when it’s 45°C outside takes far more energy than doing the same when it’s 30°C. A fixed band doesn’t reflect that complexity.”
Are Temperature Limits Alone Enough?
Not at all. Experts warn that simply capping AC temperatures won’t solve the bigger problem of rising energy use.
Professor Becker pointed out that the real issue lies in the way buildings are designed. “We’re not talking enough about the buildings themselves,” he said. Traditional Indian architecture—with features like roofs which shade the walls, high ceilings, and cross-ventilation—was much better suited to India’s climate.
“Modern buildings, especially in urban areas, copy Western designs—flat concrete roofs, sealed windows—and trap heat,” he said. The professor explained that this results in a heavy dependence on air conditioning.
Grover agreed, highlighting that India already has strong energy-efficiency guidelines, but they’re not well enforced. He referred to the Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code (ECSBC), which builds on BEE’s Energy Conservation Building Code by adding sustainability goals. It encourages passive design features like ventilation, natural lighting, and energy-efficient materials to reduce the need for cooling.
What’s missing, Grover argued, is a clear and enforceable rule for setting indoor temperatures. “You can’t regulate every home, but you can monitor large spaces like government buildings, malls, and airports,” he said. “These are the places where ACs are often set to 18°C for no reason.”
Grover believes that setting temperature limits is a good first step, but it won’t lead to real change unless it’s backed by policies on how existing buildings use cooling. “At the very least, we need mandatory temperature guidelines for large public and commercial buildings,” he said.
Both Grover and Becker stressed that India needs a more balanced and science-based approach—one that takes into account how people adapt to heat and how buildings can be designed to stay cool naturally. Without addressing these core issues, they said, temperature caps alone won’t significantly cut energy use while also providing sufficient thermal comfort for maintained productivity.