Air coolers on display outside a store in Jayanagar.
Credit: DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
Bengaluru has taken in a big way to renting air conditioners (ACs) and room coolers.
The rising summer heat is driving people to seek affordable and temporary cooling solutions. Some rental services have already exhausted their stocks, as enquiries began as early as February.
Young professionals, students, techies on short stints, and small businesses prefer leasing over purchasing. Besides being cost-effective, it spares them the hassle of reselling the appliances when they move out, say the vendors.
Where buying an air cooler costs upwards of Rs 5,000, monthly rents range from Rs 790 to Rs 1,200. The price of a new 1 tonne-AC starts from Rs 25,000 whereas these vendors are renting ACs cutting across models and sizes in the range of Rs 800 to Rs 3,000 and more per month. In a few cases, these costs are inclusive of installation and servicing. In others, one-time installation charges are applied. Some also levy a refundable deposit.
Most vendors say the period of renting is increasing year after year as Bengaluru gets hotter. According to Rentit4me, a rental marketplace with Bengaluru operations, customers would earlier hire ACs for three months and then seek an extension, but now they are directly opting for six months. The rates decrease for longer tenures.
Banking professional Anusha Murthy rented a portable 1-tonne AC for her 1 BHK apartment in BTM Layout. Having moved from Mumbai last August, she is waiting for her family to join her. “For my situation, renting was convenient. In Bengaluru, the need for AC is anyway limited,” she says.
Uptick in orders
RentX in Dodda Banaswadi has dispatched over 100 units of ACs and coolers, to locations as varied as Koramangala and Peenya, and is now nearly out of stock. “Students in PGs opt for smaller coolers (30-35L), while working professionals choose larger models (40-70L),” says a representative.
S N S Cool System in R T Nagar has fulfilled 15 AC rental orders (split and portable) and is planning to restock its inventory. “The calls started mid-February, mostly from IT workers in Marathahalli and Electronics City. We are getting about 10 enquiries daily and redirecting them to other vendors as we are out of stock,” says co-partner in the business, Md Hussain.
Rentomojo’s J P Nagar store has exhausted its cooler supply and has only a few AC units left. “Our new stock arrives Wednesday. We will then call back customers on the waiting list. Coolers are more popular as both their rents and deposits are half of those of ACs,” a representative says. Schools and people living in apartments are among their clients.
Rentit4me has seen a 40% surge in demand for cooling equipment in Bengaluru since last year. Though some of their vendors are out of stock, they are able to fulfil about 100 orders daily by optimising their vendor network, a representative told Metrolife over email. On this marketplace, smaller units (personal coolers, 1-tonne ACs) are popular among students and bachelors, while families go in for larger options (1.5-tonne split ACs, desert coolers). Offices, shops, and schools typically request 1.5 to 2-tonne ACs and bulk coolers.
Rentzy, R T Nagar, is receiving about 150 enquiries a day but is declining short-term requests as the agency is in the business of long-term rentals.
Boosting inventory
Abdul Qadar of TS & Co, Indiranagar, expects demand to peak in April, like in previous years. Last month, the company leased 45-50 ACs (tower, cassette, split) and, in a first, they even got an enquiry from Mysuru for 10-15 units.
Anticipating further demand, Rent All You Need, Banaswadi, is procuring and refurbishing unsold ACs. They are only dealing in inverter models this summer. “Last year, customers raised concerns about incurring high power bills,” reasons founder Antony Sailesh. The company has already rented out 40 units this season, mostly portable models, “as many tenants face landlord restriction on installing anything on the wall”.
Rent reckoner
Cooler: Rs 790 – Rs 1,600 per month
Window AC: Rs 800 – Rs 1,400 per month
Split AC: Starts from Rs 1,399 per month
(*On Renti4me. Rental prices vary across service providers, and on the basis of brands, models, size, and whether the units are new and old.)