Does it really cost 50p an hour to run an air conditioner?

[crazzy kopite]

I bought an Air con from Homebase recently and it is a grade b and is 9,000 watts. My brother said elec is 5p per kilowatt, if yours is 9Kw thats 45p per hour.If it really is 50p an hour I don't think I would hardly use it. I have been having it on for 4 hours a day last 2 weeks.

Does it plug into a UK mains 3 pin socket? If so it definitely does not consume 9000W of power. The maximum that can be taken from a single socket is about 3000W.

The 9000 is most likely the BTU figure (British Thermal Unit) which is a measure of how effective the unit is at cooling the air. Bit like a gas heater rating in reverse.

Have a look for the rating plate on the back or bottom of the air conditioner. By law it has to list the power consumption which will probably be around 1000W making the running cost 5p/hour (assuming you are lucky enough to be only paying 5p per Kilowatt Hour for your electricity.)

Anyway never mind the running costs what is the sound quality like?

[crazzy kopite]

My air con is not noisy at all, just a low humming noise but dont think I would have it on if I was watching a dvd film although saying that if I had my 5.1 set up I bet I woudn't hear it.
Last week my air con got the room to 16c in 4 hours but now it only seems to get it around 20c still keeps the room cool though.

Backplate on my air con says
Power source 220-240V
Maz Input 1100W

[Jazz Monkey Jr]

1100W would cost you aronnd 8-11p/hour to run, but it still adds up.