Aussies will spend $500 million more running their aircon this summer compared to last year
After 3 consecutive years of wet and rainy La Niña conditions, Aussies are now settling in for a scorcher and will be spending an extra $500 million nationally.
The additional cost is mainly a result of higher energy prices, which has brought the national spending on air conditioning to $2.9 billion from $2.4 billion during the 2022 summer.
For individual households, this means an average spend of $309 over the summer, up from $255 (21%) last year.
The average electricity price across Australia was $0.23 per kilowatt hour when we ran these calculations last year. Prices in 2023 are now 37% higher, bringing the national average to around $0.31 per kilowatt hour.
This could be one of the drivers behind a sustained decrease in energy used for space cooling and heating by households.
The estimated amount of energy used by households to heat or cool their spaces has decreased by about 11% from last year, according to Energy Rating data analysed by Finder. However, this wasn't enough to offset soaring energy prices.
Finder's data tells us a whopping 79% of Australians – equivalent to 7.3 million households – will be taking some form of action to save money on their energy bill this summer.
Cutting down on using their air conditioner is the second most popular habit they'll be adopting, coming only behind switching off the lights more frequently.
Around 83% of aircon users, the equivalent of 3.6 million households, will be reducing the use of their units.
According to energy.gov.au, heating and/or cooling can account for 20–50% of energy used in Australian homes, depending on the climate zone.
Nationally, 68% of households use air conditioning.
Households in Western Australia are the most reliant where over three-quarters have air conditioning. New South Wales and Queensland were the least reliant, with 63% and 62% of households owning an air conditioner, respectively.
We've run calculations on how much it's costing you to keep cool this summer, based on where you live and your aircon type. Read our guide to find out.
Skipping out on a few savvy practices can see you forking out a lot more cold hard cash to stay cool this summer. Cleaning the air filters regularly and checking the coils and fins are unobstructed will help your unit work more efficiently.
Mariam Gabaji
Utilities editor
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