How to choose economical heating and cooling?

[Alex73]

How does a consumer best determine the best heating and cooling to buy? Why can’t the item descriptions say this unit costs $2 per hour to run or something similar which is far more easier to understand than all of the other useless stuff they write. I don’t care how many kilowatts or whatever horsepower things have because they don’t mean anything to me. I am a tenant just simply looking for the cheapest way to heat and cool this place because it feels like a freezer in winter and i feel like i am sitting in a hot car all day in summer. Trust me, i am not exaggerating. No I can’t just get the landlord to put insulation in, he refuses to spend any money on the place and i simply can’t afford anywhere else to even apply, let alone hope to find a vacancy at the moment. It is ridiculous out there. My electricity bills are coming in at about $900 a quarter and i live alone! Im on a pension and this has to be the worst place i have had to try and keep warm and cool in without literally going broke. Is there anyonewho can tell me an affordable heating and cooling option for me please? I dont care if i have to buy it myself, imstall it 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Alex73. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about economic heating and cooling.

As someone who has, at times, also had $900 electricity bills for a quarter, I can certainly appreciate the frustration. The only thing I was doing differently from then to now ($450/quarter) was running a bar heater in winter. You might want to check out this handy guide I put together to try and de-mystify How to choose heating for your home.

By far, the best and most economical solution to heating and cooling a home is a reverse-cycle split system air-conditioner. I also rent and purchased the system myself and had it installed with landlord approval. I didn't bother requesting they assist with the price as I knew it would pay for itself within a couple of years. I typically only run it when temperatures make it uncomfortable inside. If it gets chilly even with a jumper on, I'll switch it on to heat the lounge room, or if it's a hot day, I'll run it all day to keep the room cool. Since installing the unit, I haven't really noticed it affecting my electricity bill at all.

Given the different rates people pay for electricity, it would be difficult to put a dollar figure on how much a unit costs to run that would apply to everyone. For your interest, it's fairly easy to work out how much a unit would cost to run. Say you were looking at the Carrier Allure 2.6kW Reverse Cycle Split System Air Conditioner. It's a 2.6kW unit, so it consumes that per hour. If your rate for electricity was $0.28/kWh, it would cost you 2.6 x $0.28 per hour, which is 70 cents. Running the unit for four hours per day, every day of the year would cost you around $1000 per year. I suspect even running it that often would still be saving over your current heating and cooling. 

One kilowatt (kW) is 1000 Watts. So a 2.6kW air conditioner that can cool and heat an entire room roughly consumes the same amount of power as a 2400W bar heater that can only radiate heat directly in front of it. I'd be running the bar heater for 8 hours a day, and the small bedroom would still be chilly, whereas I run the air-con for 30mins, and it takes the chill off the large lounge room. Both will cost a similar amount to run, but the air-con will be far more effective and therefore cost you less. The cost to run the unit per hour really has little to do with its efficiency and long-term cost.

I highly recommend you look at a reverse-cycle air-conditioner, and if that is not possible, consider a portable air-conditioner. The trick with any air-con is you want to close off areas to keep the heat and cool in. I have mine in the lounge room, and make sure to close the doors when it's running.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Jason]

Hi @Alex73,

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. 

Many thanks for your post. I'm sure it is a challenge that many other people face. In addition to Mitch's fantastic advice, you might also be interested in these popular discussions, which contain plenty more tips:

• Reducing your power bill

• What home heating do you recommend?

• How do you keep your home warm in winter?

Hope that helps,

Jason