Free calculator

Air Conditioning Running Cost Calculator UK

Use your electricity tariff and the unit's electrical input to estimate cooling or heating costs over different periods.

Your assumptions

Change any value and the estimate updates immediately. The default tariff is an example only.

p/kWh
Use the unit rate from your bill, excluding the standing charge. If you do not have it, check Ofgem's current price-cap rates as a benchmark; your tariff may differ.
kW
Use input power, not the larger cooling or heating output shown in kW.
Inverter systems usually modulate. Use 100% for a cautious full-power estimate.

Estimated electricity cost

Selected annual period£0.000 kWh across the selected weeks
Per active day
£0.00
Per selected week
£0.00
Average active month
£0.00

How to use the estimate

The calculator multiplies electrical input by an assumed average power percentage, operating time and your electricity unit rate. It does not add the standing charge because that is normally payable whether or not the air conditioner runs.

Actual use changes with weather, room heat gain, insulation, set temperature, equipment sizing, maintenance and inverter modulation. Treat the result as a budgeting scenario rather than a bill prediction.

Finding the correct power figure

Look for rated or nominal electrical input in kW on the product data sheet. Do not enter the headline cooling capacity. For example, a unit described as providing 2.5 kW of cooling may draw much less than 2.5 kW of electricity.

If the manufacturer publishes a range, run more than one scenario. A lower percentage can represent steady part-load operation, while 100% shows the cost if the unit drew the entered input continuously.

Time-of-use tariffs

If electricity has different prices by time of day, use a blended rate for the hours when the system normally runs or calculate each tariff period separately. This tool stores and transmits no values.

Read the full UK air conditioning running-cost guide.