There is more to an air conditioner’s total cost than just its price tag. A cost of operation calculation lets you see what it will cost you to operate your room air conditioning unit over time.

It takes the energy efficiency of your air conditioner and the rate you pay for electricity to run your unit into account since energy efficient models save you money in the long run.

As a rule of thumb, you can calculate the cost of operation:

BTU x Cost of Electricity (in kWh) x hours of operation
EER rating x 1000