Energy-saving air-conditioners and compactflourescent lights have become more and more popular in the HCM City market, experts have said.

At the beginning of the year, local and international producers, including Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung and Hitachi, launched inverter-technology products that save up to 20-60 percent of electricity consumption.

From January to August, 546,654 air conditioners with a capacity of up to 15,000BTU have been sold in HCM City. Of those, 35-50 percent used inverter technology, according to figures compiled from electronic-goods shops.

At the HCM City-based Wonder Buy electronic-goods centre, 35 percent of all air conditioners sold were of the inverter type, while at Best Carings 60 percent of air-conditioner sales had inverter technology.

Like energy-savings air conditioners, compact-fluorescent lights that can help save power are also popular in the market.

Compact-fluorescent light bulbs, which can cut energy use from 40W to 38W, are widely on sale.

Customers are now becoming familiar with the use of compact-flourescent lights instead of the more common incandescent bulbs.

Five years ago, Dutch-based Philips Vietnam introduced compact-flourescent lights to the market. Most of them can save at least 10 percent of electricity consumption.

Recently, the Dien Quang Company has also focused on making compact lights that can help save power.

Nguyen Thanh Toan of HCM City Power Saving Centre said total energy savings would depend on the customers' use and other factors.

Toan said that, for instance, an air conditioner works of 9,000BTU capacity and power consumption of 750W per hour could save up to 30 percent of electricity consumption.

Toan also said that some air conditioners could save up to 60 percent of electricity consumption.

The owner of the Cong Danh air-conditioner shop in Go Vap District said the price of an air conditioner with converter technology is about 2 million VND – 3 million VND (100 USD) higher than other air-conditioners.

But savings over the long run would compensate for the higher initial price, he added.

The price of compact fluorescent lights is not expensive, but it has high quality and is popular with customers, according to the owner of Huynh Nga electronic shop in the city's Thu Duc district./.