Why CoolingMetrics?

Most air-conditioner listings shout about the purchase price. But over a few summers, what you pay to run a unit often matters more than what you paid to buy it. CoolingMetrics exists to put that number first.

The one metric that matters: cost per hour to run

We rank every air conditioner by cost per hour to run:

Cost per hour = rated power (kW) × your local electricity rate

It’s the number you feel on your bill, and it lets you compare a cheap-but-thirsty portable against a pricier-but-efficient mini-split on equal terms.

What makes us different

• Running cost, not just price. The default ranking is cheapest-to-run, by the leading metric above.
• Country-aware. Switch between the UK and USA and the cost recalculates at local electricity rates, in local currency.
• Honest about estimates. Where a manufacturer doesn’t publish power draw, we estimate it from the unit’s BTU and the typical efficiency for its type — and we flag it as estimated rather than hide it.
• Type-aware. Portable, window, split and mini-split units are classified and comparable, because “air conditioner” means very different things.
• Tools and guides. A BTU calculator to size your room, plus plain-English guides on running costs and which type to buy.

How it works

We gather live air-conditioner listings, extract the cooling capacity (BTU), efficiency (EER/SEER) and power draw, classify each by type, and compute the cost per hour at local electricity rates. Then we rank — cheapest to run, first.

Ready to find a unit that won’t surprise you on the energy bill? See every air conditioner ranked by cost to run.