What's your AC cost?

[Mai72]

I have a window unit. It's a Kenmore Elite 8,000 BTU. I have it on average 3-4 hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm trying to figure out the cost per hour. I haven't gotten my electric bill yet, so I'm sure it's going to be more than what I'm currently paying.

If I have the fan on/no AC. Will the cost be the same?

What are you paying a month?

 

[lxskllr]

No idea. I have central air, and budget billing, so my bill is normalized throughout the year. To estimate your bill, read how much energy it uses, and multiply that by your electric rate. It's probably close to 1.5kw when it's running.

 

[DrPizza]

I have two window units going 24/7, sometimes set at 68, sometimes set as high as 70. No idea how much it costs; electric bill is a couple hundred a month.

Using the fan only will not use as much energy as using it to run the compressor that cools the air.

 

[bradly1101]

We have a Danby 14,000 BTU portable, and with these hot days it adds about $50/mo. to the electric bill. It all depends on your rate.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I have whole house A/C, use it from about noon to 8PM when the temps are projected to be over 90. I seldom set it below 73 or I freeze my ass. My highest electric bill this year has been $59.

 

[Capt Caveman]

If only the OP knew math or google for an A/C cost calculator.

Central A/C, no idea. Not poor.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My 12k BTU portable was rated at 14.5 amps. Never actually measured it though.... my central AC (2 ton, or 24k BTU) is on a 20 amp double pole breaker, so no more than 4.8kw. I should measure it some time, would give me an idea how feasible it would be to run it off solar. Our hydro rates are through the roof here and keep going up every couple months.

But some basic calculations for fun: at 18 cents per kwh, if I ran my central AC for 1 hour, that would be 4.8kw x 0.18 = 86.4 cents per hour to run. Of course that's a rough calculation as I'm going by the breaker size and not the actual rating/usage. Also not compensating for the furnace blower, so it probably somewhat evens out. Basically, a bit under a dollar per hour. So you run it for 12 hours you're looking at close to 10 bucks. That's a 2 ton unit. It varies, if you want more accuracy you want to actually measure stuff then calculate from there.

 

[olds]

No idea. It costs what it costs.

 

[Raincity]

Central AC cooling a 1000 Sq Foot condo at 78 non stop runs me about $140 here in Las Vegas. My spring,fall winter electric bills run around $60.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Central AC cooling a 1000 Sq Foot condo at 78 non stop runs me about $140 here in Las Vegas. My spring,fall winter electric bills run around $60.

Wow that's cheap, all the fixed fees alone here are well over $60. We get raped here.

 

[Raincity]

But the Vancouver BC area is a nice area to live in so you pay the piper for housing and utilities. Between the summer heat, crime, and LV club culture drives me bonkers.

 

[RockinZ28]

Fairly cheap, hard to say exactly though. Central air maybe adds $30-40/mo with 1800sqft house @ 78 F. My electric bills were actually slightly higher in WI winter, must be from trying to heat that freezing water. Have natural gas for heating, but for some reason the water heater is electric. In any case my highest electric bill so far in this house was $87 total.

 

[Red Squirrel]

But the Vancouver BC area is a nice area to live in so you pay the piper for housing and utilities. Between the summer heat, crime, and LV club culture drives me bonkers.

Sell house and move to the prairies or something, instant millionaire.

 

[Raincity]

Sell house and move to the prairies or something, instant millionaire.

Trust me the idea has crossed my mind on a few occasions.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I keep my house at 70-72 and also have a portable AC in my office to cope with the heat from all my electronics. I'll run that 2 hours a day on average. Top electrical bill during the summer is around $350 and that is typically in July or August. As olds said, it costs what it costs - no way am I living in a 78-80 degree house.

 

[rcpratt]

8,000 btu/hr = 2.4 kW

2.4 kW * $0.12/kWh = $0.28/hr.

Made some assumptions about the efficiency of the unit and your electricity cost, but it should be close-ish.

 

[Linux23]

Lemme see. I have a 3 ton A/C so ruff estimates are like 2.5 to 4 kWh. Typically it runs 4 hours per day. On really hot days maybe 6.5 hours.

So I'm using between 400-600 kWh of power alone just to run the A/C. It'd be lower but my girl broke her wrist so she's home all day.

So about $80-$120 per month for AC only (I'll look up my runtime report on ecobee's website when I get to work).

Total utilities bill is around $150ish.

 

[Linux23]

I keep my house at 70-72 and also have a portable AC in my office to cope with the heat from all my electronics. I'll run that 2 hours a day on average. Top electrical bill during the summer is around $350 and that is typically in July or August. As olds said, it costs what it costs - no way am I living in a 78-80 degree house.

70-72??? Jeezus are you a penguin or something?

I feel so comfy at 79 (kinda cold) and most recently 80 which is just right for me with the ceiling fan on high.

Running below 77 is a waste IMHO.

 

[Linux23]

I have a window unit. It's a Kenmore Elite 8,000 BTU. I have it on average 3-4 hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I'm trying to figure out the cost per hour. I haven't gotten my electric bill yet, so I'm sure it's going to be more than what I'm currently paying.

If I have the fan on/no AC. Will the cost be the same?

What are you paying a month?

That AC is probably pulling about 500-700 watts depending on efficiency. Multiple .5 or .7 by how many hours per day and how many days in the month and you'll get a rough estimate.

 

[gorcorps]

70-72??? Jeezus are you a penguin or something?

I feel so comfy at 79 (kinda cold) and most recently 80 which is just right for me with the ceiling fan on high.

Running below 77 is a waste IMHO.

Speak for yourself. I keep mine at 73-74 for cost, but 72 would be my ideal

 

[zinfamous]

central AC and have only run it for the last ~month and probably up until the end of August. we have it set between 81-84 F (not the most pleasant, but tolerable compared to the 95 F/50%+ shitstorm going on outside...and we have a cool basement to retreat to).

Just last month, bill was $90! that's up from the usual $25-30 we have been paying for power (gas for all heat, btw). I don't know the $/kwh of the top of my head

 

[ultimatebob]

At my old house, I ran 2 5,000 BTU window units and a 12,000 BTU in-wall unit basically 24/7 to keep it cool. It added about $100 a month to my electric bill.

My new house is bigger, so now I have 4 window units and a big portable unit running all the time. That electric bill is going to suck.

 

[olds]

70-72??? Jeezus are you a penguin or something?

I feel so comfy at 79 (kinda cold) and most recently 80 which is just right for me with the ceiling fan on high.

Running below 77 is a waste IMHO.

We keep ours between 70 and 72 also.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

70-72??? Jeezus are you a penguin or something?

I feel so comfy at 79 (kinda cold) and most recently 80 which is just right for me with the ceiling fan on high.

Running below 77 is a waste IMHO.

WTF? 79 is "kinda cold" in what world exactly? I'd keep mine at 65 if I weren't so cheap and do keep it at 65 in the winter. If it gets over 75, I can't sleep.

 

[rcpratt]

70-72??? Jeezus are you a penguin or something?

I feel so comfy at 79 (kinda cold) and most recently 80 which is just right for me with the ceiling fan on high.

Running below 77 is a waste IMHO.

Yeah, you're crazy. I'd put it at 68 at night if I could stomach the extra cost. 72 is our go-to. 79 is crazy town.

But hey, my neighbor literally had all of his windows open yesterday and it was 94 degrees. Whatever floats your boat.