How much does an air conditioner cost to run?

Figures on this page are calculated from typical appliance wattages and the price per kWh you enter, not looked up from a bill. See how we calculate this.

What an air conditioner costs to run: typical 1200 W, about $78 a year. Adjust the figures to your own usage and electricity price.

Wattage and running cost

It only runs part of the year, so the last row is the whole season (~90 days) rather than twelve months, and "per month" means a month in season. Cost at $0.18/kWh, the US average.

Air conditioning is often the single biggest driver of a summer electricity bill, because it combines high power with long daily hours during a heatwave. Power draw depends on the unit's cooling capacity: a small portable or window unit might draw 500–900 W, a typical room split around 1,000–1,500 W, and a large or multi-room system considerably more. This page uses an hours-per-day approach across the cooling season; enter your unit's power, realistic daily hours and your price to see what a summer of cooling really costs.

The biggest lever is the thermostat. Each degree cooler makes the compressor run longer, so setting a sensible target and letting fans move the air makes you feel cooler for far less energy. Inverter units, which vary compressor speed instead of switching fully on and off, use less on average once a room reaches temperature. Good insulation, closed blinds during the day and clean filters all cut the hours the compressor has to run — which is exactly what shows up in the yearly total.

It also helps to think about where and when you cool. Cooling a single occupied room with the door shut is far cheaper than trying to chill a whole open-plan home, and pre-cooling earlier in the day, before the heat peaks, can be gentler on both comfort and the compressor than a sudden blast in the afternoon. Because air conditioning stacks high power on top of long summer hours, these habits move the yearly number more than almost anything else you can adjust.

What an air conditioner costs in other countries

The figures above assume $0.18/kWh, the US average. An air conditioner does not change when it crosses a border — the price of the electricity it drinks does. Here is what its 432 kWh a season cost in the 14 countries with a page here, dearest first.

Each figure is in that country's own currency at its average all-taxes-included price; the dollar column is there so they can be set against each other. Ireland to Canada is a factor of 3.8 — same appliance, same hours, 3.8 times the bill. Follow a country for its real retailer tariffs and what makes up that price, or see the full electricity price comparison by country.

How to cut air conditioner running costs

• Set the thermostat a couple of degrees higher and use fans to feel cooler for less.
• Close blinds and curtains during the hottest hours to keep heat out.
• Clean or replace filters regularly so airflow stays strong and the unit works less.
• Cool only the rooms you use, and shut doors to keep the cold in.
• Choose an inverter model if buying — it varies its power instead of cycling fully on and off.

Frequently asked questions