To calculate this, you need to consider several variables, starting from the air conditioner’s energy class to the cost of electricity, which for summer 2023 was around 24 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, taxes included.
How much does it cost to keep the air conditioner on? And how much does it affect your electricity bill? With the record-breaking heat these summer days, many people are wondering how much their air conditioner consumes and how to limit the cost of this relief, especially if they use it for multiple hours daily.
To avoid unpleasant surprises on the bill, like those of 2022 when energy prices soared, it is important to be aware of a series of parameters, starting with the energy class of your unit and, of course, the cost of electricity, which for summer 2023 (July–September) was around 24 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, including taxes.
How much does one hour of air conditioning consume?
When talking about electricity consumption, to estimate the cooling cost, you must first consider the energy class of the air conditioner. Higher energy class devices draw less current than lower-class models because they have greater energy efficiency — meaning a better ratio between cooling capacity and electricity consumption under certain air temperature and humidity conditions.
The nominal power, on the other hand, refers to the unit’s consumption when running at maximum power. However, as the air conditioner runs and approaches the set temperature, its nominal consumption decreases, as the unit may turn on and off to maintain a constant temperature or, depending on its technology (inverter), regulate the absorbed power according to the indoor temperature, while remaining always on.
Therefore, calculating the exact consumption of the air conditioner based solely on its operating time is not simple, since you must also consider the instantaneous power used. Generally speaking, however, the most efficient air conditioners, like those with an A+++ rating, have lower consumption, while those rated A++, A+, A, B, C, and D progressively consume more.
The air conditioner’s energy label
This information is found on the energy label, mandatory in the European Union for all household appliances placed on the market since 2013. It is divided into three sections:
- Section 1 identifies the appliance, showing the manufacturer’s name or brand, model name, and a pictogram indicating cooling mode.
- Section 2 shows the energy efficiency class of the appliance, with a series of arrows of increasing length and different colors (from green to red) associated with letters of the alphabet.
- Section 3 reports technical and energy data for the specific model, such as the nominal power in kW, the EER value (nominal energy efficiency ratio in cooling mode), the noise level emitted indoors (in decibels), and the consumption for 60 minutes of operation in the indicated mode, expressed in kWh. This last figure can therefore provide an estimate of average hourly consumption.
Clearly, other variables must also be considered for cooling, such as the size and exposure of the room, for which BTU/h (British Thermal Unit per hour) plays a central role, identifying the capacity of a system to cool an environment in one hour. A useful formula to calculate the required BTUs is square meters x K, where square meters is the room’s surface area, and K is a fixed coefficient equal to 340.
In a properly exposed room, you therefore need 340 BTU/h per square meter, so to cool a 15 square meter room, you would need an air conditioner of at least 5,100 BTU/h.
Consumption and energy cost
To find out the average consumption of your air conditioner, you can refer to the information on its energy label (section 3) and then calculate how much it costs to keep it on for shorter or longer periods. For example, if your device consumes 1 kWh for 60 minutes, to know the cost of one hour of air conditioning, you just multiply this figure by the price per kWh applied by your electricity supplier.
For the third quarter of 2023 (July–September), the price of the energy component was 11.84 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, which, when added to transportation costs, meter management, system charges, and taxes (VAT and excise), brings the reference price of electricity to 23.85 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, taxes included (regulated market).
Therefore, keeping the air conditioner on for an hour costs around 24 euro cents, which in a month, with an average daily use of four hours, amounts to just under 30 euros on your bill.
The discussion may change for those who have chosen the free energy market, where depending on the type of contract, they might have a fixed energy price, or — even in the regulated market — two-tier tariffs, where the energy price varies according to the time of day. In this second case, the most convenient time slot is F23, while the most expensive is F1.
source: Fanpage
