TV & Home Appliances

TVs: size by distance, then panel

A common guideline is that the screen should fill about 30 to 40 degrees of your view. In practice, that puts your seat at roughly 1.2 to 1.6 times the screen diagonal away: about 5.5 to 7.5 feet for a 55-inch TV, and 6.5 to 9 feet for a 65-inch. With 4K, sitting at the closer end does not make the picture look soft.

LED (LCD) TVs come in VA panels, which show deeper blacks for dark-room viewing, and IPS panels, which hold colour better from the side for wide seating. Mini-LED adds many small dimming zones for brighter HDR. OLED lights each pixel on its own for true blacks and wide viewing angles, and suits darker rooms. For gaming, look for HDMI 2.1 and a 120 Hz panel.

ACs: tonnage, star rating and inverter

As a starting point, manufacturers suggest about 1 ton for rooms up to around 120 to 150 sq ft, 1.5 ton for about 150 to 200 sq ft, and 2 ton for about 200 to 250 sq ft. Go a step up for a top-floor room, west-facing windows, a high ceiling or many people. An undersized AC runs continuously without cooling the room properly.

The BEE star label rates efficiency using ISEER, which is based on Indian temperatures; more stars mean lower running cost for the same tonnage. BEE tightens the thresholds periodically (most recently from January 2026), so compare models using the label's validity period and the annual energy figure, not only the star count. An inverter AC adjusts compressor speed instead of switching on and off, which keeps the temperature steadier and usually uses less power over long running hours.

Refrigerators and washing machines

Frost-free refrigerators defrost automatically and suit most families; direct-cool models are simpler and need manual defrosting. Check the BEE label, whether the compressor is inverter type, and that the fridge fits your space with the gap the manual asks for at the back and sides.

Front-load washing machines generally use less water and are gentler on clothes but need a steady water supply and take longer per cycle. Top-load fully automatic machines are easier to load and quicker. Semi-automatic machines need you to move clothes to the dryer tub but tolerate irregular water supply. Choose capacity by how many clothes you wash in one go.

A working TV or AC can be exchanged at SwapMyTech when you buy a new one, with verification at your door in Bengaluru.