What Does Running Air Conditioning Cost in Europe? A Summer 2026 Country Comparison
Electricity in Europe averages 25.3 ct/kWh, so cooling a room all summer — a 1 kW unit, 8 h a day — runs roughly €182. But the bill swings wildly by country, and the hottest places often pay the most. Here's what AC really costs, country by country, and how to cut it.
What does running an air conditioner actually cost?
The honest answer is: it depends on your unit and your electricity price — but the maths is simple. Take a typical room air conditioner drawing about 1 kW of power. Run it 8 hours a day and it uses roughly 8 kWh daily.
At Europe's average household electricity price of 25.3 cents per kWh (data period 2025-S2), that's about €2.02 a day — roughly €182 across a 90-day summer. Double the runtime or the unit size and you double the bill; a small bedroom unit costs less, a power-hungry old one a lot more. The single biggest factor, though, isn't the machine — it's where you live.
The cruel twist: the hottest countries pay the most for power
You'd hope the countries with the most brutal summers would have the cheapest electricity to cool them. The opposite is often true. In the Mediterranean — where AC runs longest — power is pricey: Spain 32.9, Italy 33.3, Greece 26.9 and Cyprus 29.9 cents per kWh, all above the European average of 25.3.
So southern households get hit twice: more cooling hours, and a higher price for every one of them. A couple of warm-climate exceptions stand out — Croatia (17.7 ct/kWh) and Malta (14.3 ct/kWh) have some of the cheaper electricity on the continent, so a summer of cooling costs noticeably less there.
A summer of cooling, country by country
Here's what one air conditioner (1 kW, 8 h/day, 90 days) costs to run across a single summer, using each country's latest household price:
- Spain — about €237
- Italy — about €240
- Greece — about €193
- Portugal — about €200
- France — about €219
- Croatia — about €128
- Malta — about €103
- Netherlands — about €169
- Poland — about €211
- Germany — about €316
Germany, with the priciest power of any large market, tops this list even though Germans cool far fewer hours than Spaniards. The European average sits near €182 for the season.
Why the same AC costs two to three times more elsewhere
The hardware is identical; the bill is not. Across Europe, household electricity ranges from about 5.6 to 50.8 cents per kWh — a two- to threefold spread. The difference comes down to taxes and levies, the generation mix (cheap hydro and nuclear vs expensive imported gas), and grid fees.
That's why the very same portable AC that costs a Croatian household around €128 a summer costs a German one about €316. Knowing your local price — and the cheaper hours within the day — is the first step to controlling the bill.
How to cut your cooling bill
You can shave a cooling bill substantially without sweating:
- Set it to 26°C, not 20°C. Every degree lower adds roughly 5–10% to consumption. 26°C is comfortable and far cheaper.
- Choose an inverter / high-efficiency (A+++) unit. Inverter compressors can use 30–50% less than old on/off models.
- Cool one room, close the door. Don't pay to chill the whole home.
- Block the sun by day. Shutters and blinds cut the heat before it gets in — less work for the AC.
- Run it when power is cheap. On dynamic or time-of-use tariffs, midday solar can make daytime cooling cheaper than you'd think; otherwise pre-cool in off-peak hours.
- Clean the filters; use fans first. A clogged filter wastes energy, and a fan often delays — or replaces — switching the AC on at all.
Check your country's live price — and a few cooling facts
Cooling costs track electricity prices, and those move. See the current, live price where you are on our country pages — for example Spain, Italy, France, Portugal or Germany — and compare across the continent in our European electricity price trends.
Quick facts: air-conditioning ownership in Europe is rising fast as summers get hotter, pushing electricity demand toward summer-afternoon peaks that used to belong to winter. Ironically, that same midday sun now floods the grid with cheap solar — so the hours you most want to cool can be among the cheapest of the day to do it.
FAQ
How much does it cost to run air conditioning for a day?
At Europe's average electricity price of 25.3 ct/kWh, a 1 kW unit running 8 hours uses about 8 kWh and costs roughly €2.02 a day. In pricier countries it's more, in cheaper ones less — scale it to your own unit and runtime.
Which European country has the most expensive electricity for cooling?
Of the big markets Germany is priciest at about 43.8 ct/kWh (Ireland is higher still), so cooling a room all summer there runs around €316. The cheapest tend to be in the south-east and Malta (14.3 ct/kWh).
How many kWh does an air conditioner use?
A typical 1 kW room unit uses about 8 kWh over 8 hours. Bigger or older units use more; an efficient inverter model less. Multiply the kWh by your electricity price for the cost.
Is it cheaper to run the AC at night?
It depends on your tariff. On a flat rate it's the same all day; on time-of-use tariffs nights are often cheaper — but with today's solar boom, midday can be cheap too. The late-afternoon peak is usually the most expensive time to cool.
What's the cheapest way to stay cool?
Fans first, then a high-efficiency inverter AC set to 26°C, cooling only the room you're in, with blinds closed against the sun. That combination can cut a cooling bill by a third or more versus an old unit blasting at 20°C.