Air conditioning in your apartment. Are you afraid of electricity bills? We count
The cost of an air conditioner for a small apartment starts at around PLN 3,000, plus installation. And how much does the electricity needed to power the device cost and is this a significant burden in the context of rising energy prices?
Just ten years ago, there was a belief that air conditioning in the home was a convenience only for the wealthiest, but today anyone can afford it. There are various models on sale, and the cheapest start at PLN 2,800 (plus installation, the prices of which start at PLN 1,000 and increase with the level of complexity of the installation). It may not be a small amount, but the air conditioner will serve for a dozen or so years.
Air conditioning in an apartment up to 40 sq m
The higher the cooling capacity, the higher the price. At the same time, devices with higher capacity are more efficient, energy-saving and comfortable in everyday use. Air conditioners equipped with functions such as remote control, self-cleaning or air ionization are also more expensive.
The cost of purchase and installation is one thing, but what about daily use? In the context of rising electricity prices, using air conditioning can be a cause for concern – especially since recent years have been very hot. Air conditioning with a cooling capacity of 3.5 kW, which is most often installed in apartments up to 40 sq m, draws about 1.1 kW per hour when operating at full power. In practice, air conditioning rarely operates at maximum load. To estimate energy consumption, multiply the average electricity consumption by the number of hours the device operates in a month.
An air conditioner that works an average of 40 to 60 hours per month will use 12 to 48 kWh per month. Considering current energy prices (approx. PLN 0.6 per 1 kWh), the cost will not exceed PLN 30. If the air conditioning works for 4 hours per day, or 120 hours per month, the cost will be PLN 120. The amounts spent on electricity can also increase in the hot summer months, when the temperature difference is higher, which forces the device to consume more energy.
The larger the area of the apartment, the greater the power of the device and, consequently, the more expensive it is to operate.
Air Conditioning Costs in an Apartment. What Affects Them?
The place of installation also affects energy consumption. The air conditioner should be able to freely distribute air in the room, and any obstacles are a serious limitation, because of which the device must work with greater power. It is assumed that the power consumption of the air conditioner is about one third of its cooling power. For example, for a 3 kW device, it will be 1 kWh.
The latest inverter air conditioners continuously adjust their efficiency to the prevailing conditions in the room. Energy consumption is therefore variable and should be around 0.8 kWh.
Of course, in an office or a shop, the air conditioner will probably work longer – about 8 hours a day. Similarly, the costs of electricity consumption will double. However, the above calculation still confirms that the operation of the air conditioner does not have to be associated with high electricity costs.
