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What will it cost
to run?

Unit size, daily hours, your tariff, your summer aircon bill, on the spot.

Unit size
Hours per day in summer

Your running cost

Pick a size and daily hours, costs appear here.

Where the money actually goes

Aircon running cost is set by four things: cooling load (unit size as a proxy), hours, your tariff, and efficiency. You control hours and the thermostat directly. Efficiency you buy once, at install time, the gap between a cheap unit and an efficient one is often bigger over ten summers than the price difference between them on day one. It's the strongest argument for comparing quotes on the unit spec, not just the install price.

Running cost questions

Why is the real draw lower than the unit's rated kW?
The rated kW is cooling output, not electrical input. Modern inverter units deliver roughly 3.5kW of cooling per 1kW of electricity, and once the room reaches temperature the inverter throttles right back, which is why we model a duty cycle rather than flat-out draw.
What temperature setting is cheapest?
Every degree lower costs roughly 10% more energy. 24–25°C is the sweet spot for most Australian summers, 21°C feels barely different after ten minutes but shows up clearly on the bill.
Does an old unit cost more to run?
Substantially. A 15-year-old non-inverter unit can use double the electricity of a current inverter split for the same cooling. If your unit predates 2010, the running-cost saving alone can fund a big chunk of the replacement.

Quotes with efficiency on the table

Ask installers for the energy rating and seasonal efficiency of what they quote, we prompt them for it.

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