In a two-room apartment in Bucharest, the average electricity consumption reaches up to 100 KWh, without the use of an air conditioning system. Thus, the monthly electricity bill for an apartment amounts to approx. 66.47 lei with VAT included (due to the fact that we have a different capped price for a monthly consumption below 100 kWh/month – 0.68 lei/kWh), it is shown in an analysis by the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI).

“If we did not have capped and differentiated electricity prices, the extreme temperatures of this month would have doubled Romanians’ electricity bills (considering the price of electricity at a level of 0.68 lei/kWh), but the capped prices and differentiated will increase them by up to four times,” says Dumitru Chisăliță, president of AEI.

Thus, an air conditioning system of 18,000 BTU/h (5,274 W), which can provide the cold needs of a two-room apartment, has a consumption of approximately 1.55 kWh to cool the air from 30 – 32 C at 25 – 27 C. In a summer month with normal temperatures in Bucharest, it works on average about 4 hours a day, or 100 hours a month, thus generating a total electricity consumption of about 185 kWh/month. Considering that the operation of the air conditioning system causes an increase in consumption by 87 kWh/month (47% more than without an air conditioning system), respectively we switch to another tariff system, 0.8 leikWh/month for a consumption between 100 – 255 kWh/month, the monthly bill increases by 123%, to 148 lei with VAT included. It should be noted that the electricity bill increases by about 81 lei/month due to summer temperatures, the air conditioning system and differentiated capped prices for electricity.

In the situation where the air temperatures reach values ​​of 38-40 C, the cold requirement to ensure an air temperature of 25 C in the apartment increases, respectively the number of hours of operation of the air conditioning equipment increases. It works on average approx. 6.5 hours a day, approx. 195 hours per month, thus generating a total electricity consumption of approx. 272 ​​kWh/month. Given that the intensive operation of the air conditioning system causes an increase in consumption by 202 kWh/month (64% more than without an air conditioning system), respectively we switch to another tariff system, 1.3 lei kWh/ month for a consumption between 255 – 300 kWh/month, the monthly bill increases by 425% (compared to the situation in which an air conditioning system would not have been used), to 349 lei with VAT included. It should be noted that the electricity bill increases by approx. 349 lei/month, due to extreme temperatures, the air conditioning system and differentiated capped prices for electricity, AEI stresses.