How much does a hot and cold air conditioner consume

How much does a hot and cold air conditioner consume? This is certainly the question that many consumers have asked themselves, considering how this appliance is increasingly popular in Italian homes.

The air conditioner is in fact becoming an indispensable tool in estatewhen the increasingly high temperatures of the season force the use of different air cooling systems.

And it is also increasingly used in wintersince appliances equipped with a heat pump are now widespread on the market. Yet understanding energy consumption is not easy: what elements should we take into consideration to calculate the consumption of this appliance?

As already mentioned, the air conditioner is an increasingly widespread appliance in Italian homes. Unfortunately it is also one of the more energy-intensive appliances and, for this reason, with a great impact on the bill. Below are all the useful tips.

Hot and cold air conditioner: how it works

When you think of the air conditioner, the image of the household appliance that is now essential in the summer comes to mind, that device – wall-mounted or portable – capable of cooling the air on the hottest days.

Yet not everyone knows that most of the air conditioners on the market, also called air conditionersI am capable of producing warmth for the colder season. But how do these devices work?

Il operation of an air conditioner it is not very different from that of a common refrigerator, although with the necessary differences, given the equally different applications. As a rule, the air conditioner is divided into two appliances: a wall dispensersaid splita motor to be installed on the external walls of the house.

These two components are connected to each other by a series of pipes and coils, usually made of copper, where a particular gas flows: R32. The external engine also has a compressor which, depending on needs, exchanges heat with the outside and modifies the state of this gas, making it liquid or gaseous.

Going into more detail.

• Cold air conditioner: the gas is pushed inside the engine into the aforementioned compressor. At this point, through a forced path inside serpentine tubes, the gas is decompressed, releases heat and passes from the gaseous state to the free state. By doing so, the heat produced is expelled outside the engine, while the now cooled liquid returns to the split mounted at home. Here, through a forced passage again in coils and fans, it cools the ambient air;
• Hot air conditioner: the operation is completely similar to that previously described, only with opposite effects. The liquefied gas is pushed into the engine’s compressor, where it overheats and releases water vapor. It then returns to the split with very high temperatures and then exchanges heat with the ambient air, heating it.

How much does an air conditioner consume

Having explained the basic functioning of an air conditioner, the time comes to analyze its consumption. Before getting into the heart of theenergy absorbed and the effective weight on the billyou first need to take a few factors into consideration.

The consumption of an air conditioner is in fact always variable, because some environmental elements and the characteristics of the appliance itself can significantly modify its energy demands:

• Dimensions of the room to be air conditioned: the larger the environment to be cooled or heated, the greater the energy impact;
• Split and motor dimensions: similarly, the system must be sized to the environment in which it will be inserted. Small solutions, for example used for large appliances, will only increase energy consumption and increase the energy bill;
• Energy efficiency of the appliance: this is the element that determines the greatest difference in energy expenditure. As a rule, you should always remain on an “A+++” energy class and, in any case, never go below “A”;
• BTU of the appliance: this is the unit of measurement, defined as the British Thermal Unit, which indicates the range and power of an air conditioner. One of the most widespread values ​​is that of 12,000 BTU which, in general, indicates the ability of the appliance to cool or heat rooms of approximately 30-40 square metres.

How much does a cold air conditioner consume

Let’s start from the needs of home coolingthose most common in Mediterranean countries. How much does a cold air conditioner consume? First of all, it depends on the type of appliance installed:

• Centralized air conditioning: very widespread abroad, installed directly at condominium level, it allows you to control all the rooms of the house with a single motor system. It can even absorb 3,000-4,000 watts;
• Wall air conditioner for single room: the most used solution in Europe, it absorbs approximately 900 watts for medium-sized appliances and 1,400 for large appliances;
• Portable air conditioner: absorbs approximately 500 watts, which can however increase up to 900 depending on the size of the room in which they are placed.

According to some surveys conducted by A2A energia, consumption in watt hours can be distinguished as follows:

• 9,000 BTU air conditioner: approximately 750 watt hours, equal to 0.75 kWh;
• 12,000 BTU air conditioner: approximately 1,050 watt hours, equal to 1.05 kWh.

The average Italian consumption, if the air conditioner is used only to cool the rooms, is around 450 kWh per year. At the energy tariffs of autumn 2022, this is therefore an expense from 220 to 300 euros per year.

How much does a hot air conditioner consume

The consumption of a hot air conditioneri.e. with a heat pump function, are not at all dissimilar to those of a cold solution. This is because the operating mechanism is always the same, in the first case heat is released to the external environment, in the second it is recovered.

However, there is an interesting factor: heating functions, although energy-intensive, are more efficient than many other technologies such as air conditioners. An air conditioner a 1,000 watt heat pumpfor example, is capable of releasing a heating power equivalent to 3,000 watts into rooms.

Generally speaking, depending on the size of the appliance and the environment, the energy consumption varies from 300 to 1,400 watts:

• 9,000 BTU air conditioner: approximately 850 watt hours, equal to 0.85 kWh;
• 12,000 BTU air conditioner: approximately 1,110 watt hours, equal to 1.1 kWh.

At the energy tariffs of autumn 2022, and considering around 350-450 average kWh consumed per year in the coldest season, the expense is always around between 220 and 300 euros per year.

Hot and cold air conditioning: how long should it be left on?

As you can easily imagine, one of the elements that most influences energy consumption is the ignition time of the air conditioner. One of the most common questions among consumers, in fact, is the difference between turning on the air conditioner only when needed or keeping it active for 24 hours.

Still generally speaking, an air conditioner tends to consume more in the first twenty minutes of activity, when the air in the rooms is at room temperature and must therefore be heated or cooled. When the temperature of the area has stabilised, consumption tends to progressively decrease. This means that:

• Using the appliance as neededwe will have a peak in consumption at each switch on due to the need to stabilize the temperature of the rooms;
• Using the appliance 24 hours a dayafter the first few hours of use the energy demand will progressively reduce.

One might therefore think that the 24-hour solution is more convenient, but in reality this is not the case. Except for some particular days, where the heat is particularly suffocating or the frost is biting, it is not necessary to keep the appliance always on to maintain a comfortable temperature in the house.

For example, it could be useless during the night or, again, during hours when our presence at home is fluctuating. It is more useful to use timers or smart solutions connected to applications and mobile phones, turning on the air conditioner remotely approximately an hour before we return home.

Sources