Cooling for your home

Even in the ACT's hot summers, you can stay cool and save energy:

• Use fans first.
• Set your air conditioner temperature to 23˚C or above and keep the door closed.
• Use blinds, outdoor shade cloths and trees to shade your home.
• Open windows and use fans at night to cool your house. Close everything up early in the morning to trap cold air in.
• Limit the use of appliances that generate heat.
• Check your insulation and window coverings.  Most heat gain in your home can be through your windows and glass doors.

Solar panels are a great option to help power your home and reduce cooling costs.

Choose wisely

With summer temperatures increasing due to climate change, more Canberrans are using cooling appliances.

Fans (ceiling or portable)

Fans are cheap to run. They cost between 1 and 3 cents an hour. Fans help to bring cooler evening air into your home.

Ceiling fans with large blades move more air and are effective even at low speeds, which means they’re quieter through the night.

Evaporative air conditioners

Portable units (suitable for one or 2 rooms) cost between 2 and 5 cents an hour to run. While ducted systems cost around 20 cents an hour to cool a house.

Evaporative air conditioners are reasonably effective for cooling in the ACT's hot, dry climate, but are less effective when it’s humid. Remember, they require water, so may increase your household’s water usage.

They work by sucking hot air through a wet spongelike pad, blowing moist air into your home. As this moisture evaporates it has a cooling effect, reducing the air temperature by around 10˚C.

A downside is that each outlet vent requires a gap in ceiling insulation, and outlet vents are often poorly sealed. This causes significant heat loss in winter ( covers for the outlets can be purchased to stop warm air escaping through the ducting). And these systems only cool, whereas reverse cycle systems heat and cool meaning you only need one system.

Reverse cycle air conditioners

These are usually slightly more  expensive to run than evaporative air conditioners but are the most efficient form of space heating for winter (3 to 6 times cheaper than other heating types), so are the best system overall.

They can be ducted or wall-mounted single units (known as split systems).

Split systems cost between 15 and 50 cents an hour to run, depending on their size, efficiency and temperature setting. Ducted systems that cool a whole house generally cost more than $1 an hour to run.

Reverse cycle air conditioners are very effective because they can cool to low temperatures  if the room or house is well sealed (draught proofed) and the system is the right size. We recommend a setting of 23˚C.

Clean your reverse cycle air conditioner and its filter to keep it performing well. Follow the instruction manual and clean both the indoor and outdoor unit. Keep it maintained as recommended by the manufacturer.

Portable air conditioners

Portable air conditioners cost around 25 cents an hour to run. They make you feel cool when you’re sitting in front of them, but they often make the house warmer overall.

We often run workshops about how to stay cool. Check for upcoming events.