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Understanding the ins and outs of AC wattage is essential, because the watts of power your air-conditioning system uses significantly affects your electricity bill and your carbon footprint. Here's a quick primer on AC wattage.
How Much AC Wattage Does Your System Use?
Your air conditioner uses electricity to move indoor heat outside. A watt is a rate of electricity consumption. Generally, a central air conditioner is expected to use between 3,000 and 3,500 watts of electricity per hour during the summer months. On the "fan only" mode, its energy usage reduces to 750 watts per hour.
Portable air conditioners require between 2,900 and 4,100 watts per hour to cool your home. A small window unit uses 500 watts per hour, a medium-sized unit uses 900 watts per hour, and a large unit uses about 1,400 watts per hour.
The Importance of Wattage Used by Air Conditioners
Watt usage is important because the billing amount on your electricity bill is for your kilowatts-per-hour usage. The more the watts your air conditioner uses, the higher your electricity bill will be. Watt usage also matters if you're looking to lessen your home's carbon footprint.
There are several ways to track your air conditioner's watt usage. You can use a smart electrical meter or a smart thermostat and its companion app. Comparing your electric bills to the corresponding bills of the same period last year can also help you establish whether your air conditioner is losing efficiency and increasing its watt usage.
Factors that could make your air conditioner increase its watt usage include:
Lack of maintenance. Skipping annual maintenance makes your air conditioner lose efficiency, increasing its watt usage.
Short-cycling. A properly sized AC unit won't need to run consistently to cool your home. Instead, it can do its job in just two cycles of around 15 minutes per hour. If your unit is short-cycling, it will consume more electricity at the startup of each short cooling cycle, leading to increased watt usage.
Dirty air filter. A dirty filter may cause higher watt usage. Make sure you check your AC filter once a month and replace it if it's dirty.
Keeping up with AC maintenance helps you prevent increased AC wattage use. Contact Air Assurance if you need professional maintenance or help tackling short cycling or other AC issues in the Broken Arrow area.