Keeping cool costs - but you can keep your bills down by following some simple steps.

Keeping cool costs - bit you can keep your bills down by following some simple steps. Photo: Glen Hunt

It's been a long, hot summer for most of us and with the run of high temperatures set to continue, air conditioners will keep getting a good workout. But many of us are wasting money through lazy energy consumption and bad habits.

Australians have taken to air conditioning in a big way with an estimated 9.2 million units working to keep the summer heat away. Air conditioning is particularly energy hungry with many people wasting money on unnecessarily high electricity bills because they are ignoring a few simple ways to reduce their cooling costs.

“Closing doors and windows on hot days and covering window glass will help keep your home cooler”, says Grant Waldeck, a spokesperson for comparator website comparethemarket.com.au.

“Sunlight can warm a room quickly, making air conditioning necessary,” Waldeck says.

A cool 22 degrees might be an ideal air conditioning temperature during the summer but energy can be saved by increasing it just a little. Fans use less energy than air conditioning, Waldeck says. Each one degree of cooling can add up to 10 per cent to the running costs.

A recently released survey of air conditioning use by LG Electronics shows 90 per cent of respondents estimate air conditioning accounts for up to 30 per cent of their energy bill.

Tom Wolfenden from energy comparison website Make It Cheaper, says: “Over summer, if managed poorly, running your air conditioning unit can in fact account for up to 50 to 60 per cent of your energy bill.”

A common mistake is leaving the air conditioning on when leaving the house. “If you leave the house, switch your unit off,” Wolfenden says. “If you want to save money it's as simple as that.”

Only 30 per cent of respondents in the LG survey said that they cleaned or replaced their air conditioner filter every year. “If you have a dirty filter, then you air conditioner has to work overtime,” Wolfenden says. Newer and more energy efficient air conditioners are going to be cheaper to run.

It is not only cooling and heating appliances that households need to keep an eye on. Driers, hot-water systems and kettles also tend to use the most energy around the home, Grant Waldeck says.

How to keep cool - without blowing the budget

  • Monitor your temperature gauge and remember that every increase of 1 degree can add up to 10 per cent to the running cost of your unit Clean or replace your filter regularly. A clean filter will help ensure your air-conditioner is performing at its most efficient.
  • Don’t leave your air-conditioner on when you aren’t at home. Consider purchasing a unit with remote control functionality.
  • Avoid placing other heat emitting home appliances near your air-conditioner. It causes your unit to work even harder to cool the air around it, increasing its energy output.
  • Shade your windows in summer with curtains, awnings, or shutters to reduce heat absorption. By keeping your house cooler your air-conditioner has less work to do.

Source: LG Air-Conditioning Academy