The Hidden Costs of Staying Cool at Home with the Air Conditioner

Pinguino, split but how much does it cost me? Staying at home in the cool is a priceless pleasure. Actually no, there is a price and it can be very high. In fact this summer for an intense use, day and night, of the air conditioning system you can spend over 400 euros. In any case, the air conditioner is not a luxury but a necessity when elderly people at risk of heat stroke live in the house while for the younger ones it is the only possibility to be able to sleep with a certain coolness, so it is inevitable to keep it on for almost the entire 24 hours. The coolness is there but the electricity bill soars and according to calculations by Altroconsumo, Istat data and energy sources, the sole use of the air conditioner between June and August can increase the electricity bill by up to 400 euros more than in the winter months. A heavy increase that is felt, especially in a context of generalized increases.

In other words, considering an average cost of electricity of around 0.35 euro/kWh, including taxes and system charges, the weight on the bill of the air conditioner alone can be traced back to three orders of magnitude, which depend precisely on the use that is made of it. Those who own a small air conditioner of 9,000 Btu/h and use it for a couple of hours a day this summer will spend 52 euros more. With a more powerful unit, of 12 thousand Btu/h kept on for 8 hours a day the bill increases by 280 euros while with a multisplit system used for ten hours a day it easily exceeds 400 euros.

We start from the electrical consumption of a standard air conditioner that varies between 750 and 1,100 watts per hour, but consumption can increase if the appliance is old, poorly positioned or forced to work in very hot environments such as, for example, when it is exposed to the south. In three months, you can go from a low consumption of about 150 kWh, for those who turn it on only a couple of hours a day up to 800 or even 1,200 kWh for multi-split or centralized systems used intensively.

There is also some good news because compared to 2024, this summer the average cost of electricity has remained almost unchanged, a year ago it was around 0.31 euros/kWh against the current 0.32 euros/kWh; and even if the heat seems to have arrived a little earlier, the average temperatures are roughly in line with those of last year.

This appliance must be chosen carefully and requires a good level of maintenance. An air conditioner that is oversized compared to the internal environment will consume more unnecessarily, while an undersized one will be inefficient. For this reason, it is important to carefully evaluate the power in BTU/h in relation to the square meters to be cooled, but also the energy class, the silence and the smart functions that help to optimize consumption.