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Australians tend to set their air conditioners somewhere in the low-mid 20s for the summer and call it good. But picking the right temperature can make a big difference to how much energy your air conditioner chews through and therefore, how much money you spend.
According to Finder's air conditioning calculator, running your aircon all summer for four hours a day, seven days a week, at 20°C, will cost you around $250. This is equivalent to consuming 833kWh of energy with an electricity usage rate of $0.30/kWh.
Let's see what happens to your bill if you:
Increasing your aircon's thermostat from 20°C to 22°C for the duration of the summer will cut your energy usage by about 20%. This saves you around 167kWh of energy, and drops your bill by 20% as well, down to $200.
Another approach would be to not use your aircon at all on certain days, say two days during the week where you're out of the house or can forego it. Dropping from seven days to five days a week is a 29% reduction, saving you around 242kWh of energy. This will reduce your bill to $178.50.
Shrinking the number of hours per day that your aircon runs from four to three hours would also have an appreciable impact on your bill. That's a 25% reduction in energy usage, saving you 208kWh of energy. It's also a 25% cut to your bill, reducing it to $187.50.
Here are a few tips for saving energy with your air conditioning unit:
How to save on your energy bill
The ideal aircon setting is usually between 25°C and 27°C in summer and 18°C and 20°C in winter, assuming you live somewhere with moderate weather. Australia is a large country, though, so here are some recommendations based on a few regions/climates:
Region | Climate | Target aircon temperature |
---|---|---|
North coast, Northern Territory, Central Australia | Tropical | 21-23°C |
South-east Queensland, northern NSW | Subtropical | 25°C |
South Australia, south-west Western Australia | Mediterranean | 24-25°C |
Tasmania | Mild temperate | 28°C |
ACT and the surrounding parts of NSW and Victoria | Oceanic | 26-27°C |
Southern Victoria | Moderate oceanic | 24°C |
Air conditioners work by sucking the heat out of the air in your house and shifting it outside. The bigger the difference between the ambient temperature and your target temperature, the longer your air conditioner has to work extracting the heat, and the more energy you consume.
The table below shows how your choice of temperature affects the aircon's hourly running cost:
Aircon power | 21°C | 22°C | 23°C | 24°C | 25°C |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2.5kW | $0.16 | $0.15 | $0.13 | $0.12 | $0.11 |
5.0kW | $0.43 | $0.39 | $0.34 | $0.32 | $0.29 |
Assuming energy usage rates of 30c/kWh using this calculator.
As you can see, setting the right target temperature matters even more for larger aircon units.
No, unless you have a specialised multi-coil air conditioning unit. Your aircon will cool down the room at a constant rate, regardless of how low you've set the thermostat. Lowering it further does not speed up this process.
The larger your room, the more powerful an air conditioning unit you'll need. It's important not to buy too powerful a unit for the space that you're cooling, since this will consume more energy than necessary. Here's a rough guide:
Room size (m2) | Common room types | Air conditioner unit power |
---|---|---|
10-25m2 | Bedroom, study, small office | 2.6kW |
25-35m2 | Bedroom + ensuite, office, small lounge room, small kitchen | 3.5kW |
35-60m2 | Master bedroom, medium lounge room, kitchen | 5-6kW |
60-80m2 | Large lounge room, big open plan areas, small shops | 7-8kW |
Figures based on this room sizing guide.
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