Using your Air Conditioner with Solar

It’s hot, it’s Summer and it’s Australia! Of course, we are going to use the air conditioner, but have you wondered what it means for your electrical bill even with Solar?

First, if you are using your air conditioner it is going to pull power, but the good news is that your solar power system can help run these remarkable machines, so you can stay cooler even on a budget. You may just have to change the way you use it.

Did you know that your air conditioner pulls the most power when you first turn it on?

When you first turn on an air conditioner, it is starting from nothing, trying to make a hot room cooler but being fought back by the large amount of hot air throughout the room. Pulling an average of 4kW when turned on, you may be frightened to even start it. But no, we don’t want you living in the heat if you don’t have to.

If you have solar installed, you can offset the cost of running an air conditioner by setting up an auto timer to start while the sun is still up. This means your air conditioner will pull from your solar power and not from the grid and your home will be nice and cool for when you get home. Once your house has reached the temperature set, it will pull less power. If you get home and need to adjust the temperature, the air conditioner alongside the Solar Power has already done the hard work. You can change the temperature by small increments without pulling too much power.

Now every home, every solar power system and every air conditioning unit is different, so we do recommend having a play and figuring out what works for you. Some older air conditioning units will pull more power than others and some houses may need better insultation to help maintain the temperature. But, using your air conditioner at strategic times will help you and your family’s pocket in the long run.

For prolonged use overnight, you may like to start your research into Battery Storage and we at Solahart Darling Downs would love to help. Please call us on (07) 4632 1974 for more information about battery storage and how it can help keep you cooler for longer.