‘Desi AC’: Jhansi school student built budget air conditioner for ₹1,800, can drop room temperature by 5°C

With winter approaching in a few weeks across regions in India, the demand for air conditioners is expected to go down. Earlier this month, air conditioner prices witnessed an increase of 5% to 8%, marking the industry's third major price hike of the year amid soaring raw material costs, currency fluctuations, geopolitical shipping disruptions, and regulatory norms.

When schoool student invented desi AC for ₹1,800

In 2017, a 16-year-old student from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, once built a low-cost air conditioner for just ₹1,800. Meet Kalyani Shrivastava, a Class 12 student who invented her ‘Desi AC’. A student of Lokamanya Tilak Inter College at the time, Kalyani reportedly built the device for just ₹1,800.

Kalyani's innovation was aimed at resolving the problem of many families in India's Bundelkhand region, where summers made life difficult. Instead of attempting to replicate a conventional AC, the student wanted to explore whether a basic or affordable setup could provide some relief to those with a limited budget,

“For the people of Bundelkhand, it is not possible that everyone can afford an AC, and the heat is unbearable, so I got this idea and transformed it into a reality which is being appreciated a lot,” she had told Paisa Wapas magazine.How does the ₹1,800 AC work?According to multiple reports, Kalyani's device was made using a thermocol icebox and a 12-volt DC fan. The invention allowed air to pass through a cooling chamber before being directed out through an elbow-shaped outlet. The device could reportedly reduce the room temperature by around 4-5°C after an hour.The cooling system was also described as solar-powered, allowing it to run without electricity. Its simple construction and low reported cost made the creation notable, grabbing headlines.The device was different to a conventional air conditioner. Unlike a conventional AC, which uses a refrigeration cycle to maintain a temperature, the student's set-up relied on ice and moving air to provide localised cooling. Its performance depended on ambient temperature, humidity, ventilation and the availability of ice.Harsh Goenka reactsHowever, it was truly remarkable and even bagged appreciation from Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises. Goenka had shared on X, “Kalyani Srivastava, a 16 year girl from Jhansi has emerged as a saviour for heat stricken rural people. She has invented an eco-friendly air conditioner costing just Rs.1800, the cheapest in the world. Let’s encourage such talent!”Reportedly, Kalyani's creation was selected for a national-level model competition associated with IIT Delhi.