Before investing in a solar air conditioner from Solaeris, you need to know how much money you would save by installing one and how that saving would translate to how quickly you would recover your investment.
A solar air conditioner uses no power as it runs off solar panels during the day. Taking the current cost per unit of electricity and calculating how much an inverter air conditioner would use over a month and a year, you could save around R7000 per year or more using a solar air conditioner.
Let’s investigate more and see how much money you would save on a 12000 BTU, 18000 BTU, and 24000 BTU solar air conditioner over a year and how fast that saving would recover your initial investment.
How Much Money Would You Save With A 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner
If you consider that modern inverter air conditioners are about 30%-40% more efficient than non-inverter models, an LG 12000 BTU inverter air conditioner is rated at 1100W or 1,1kW. This means that this unit will use 8,8kWh of electricity over an eight-hour day.
Over 30 days, that is 264 kWh, and at the current average cost of electricity at R2,558 per kWh, according to Business Insider, running this unit would cost R675 per month and 3168 kWh per year, costing around R8103-74.
Now, while you may not have the unit cooling your home around the year, you may have it warming the room in winter and cooling in summer, and this cost is just for ONE air conditioner in your home. Most homes would have at least one in each bedroom and possibly one in the lounge/living area.
The Solaeris 12000 BTU solar air conditioner would cost zero, so you would save R8000 per year on each unit installed. PLUS, with the constant nuisance of load shedding, your solar air conditioner would still run even if ESKOM isn’t, and this doesn’t include the ESKOM tariff increases either!
Now let’s examine the ROI (return on investment) figures for a solar air conditioner.
Cost Of Investment Vs.Return On A 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner
At R15900 per unit, the Solaeris 12000 BTU solar air conditioner is about twice the price of an inverter air conditioner, and you would still need to install it and have the solar panels to run it, which would add another R12000 or so to the price.
So for one unit, you would be investing around R28000, which is a fair amount. However, it would help if you considered a few aspects here too.
- Firstly, once the unit is installed, you have zero cost of operation.
- Secondly, regardless of ESKOM’s increases, your cost remains zero!
- Solar air conditioners heat and cool and add value to your property
- They can run off existing PV Systems, so you may not even need to add more capacity.
Now, let’s see what the savings would be taking into account ESKOM’s likely increases over the next three years at around 15%, which was the increase seen in 2021. Currently, the average cost is R2,558; in 2023, that would be R2,941; in 2024, that would be around R3,382 per kWh.
- Year 1 – R8103
- Year 2 – including 15% increase – R 9318-45
- Year 3 – including 15% increase – R 10716-22
Total for a single 12000 BTU inverter airconditioner – R28137-67
Total cost for Solaeris 12000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner – R28000.
Assuming that ESKOM ONLY gets a 15% tariff increase, your investment in a SINGLE air conditioner would be paid off in 3 years on the savings achieved.
If you have more than one, you need to consider that your average kWh cost will be much higher as you move into higher consumption brackets according to ESKOM’s sliding usage scale.
If you exceed the 600kWh per month usage, your cost per kWh rockets to R3.18 per kWh, and if you have air conditioners, that will certainly happen, so let’s see what that cost would be over three years:
- Year 1 – R10 074.24 @ 3168 kWh / year @ R3,18/kWh
- Year 2 – R11585-38 with a 15% increase
- Year 3 – R13323-18 with a 15% increase
Total for three years = R34982-80
Investing in a solar air conditioner from Solaeris would mean it would be paid off in 28 months or just 2,3 years and save you R6982-00!
How Much Money Can You Save On An 18000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner
An 18000 inverter air conditioner would use around 1700W or 1,7kW. Over eight hours, this would be 13,6 kWh per day or 408kWh per month and 4896 kWh per year.
At the average tariff of R2,558 per kWh, this would be a cost of :
- R1040.40 per month
- R12484.80 per year
At R3,18/kwh, that cost would then increase to :
- R1297 per month
- R15569.28 per year
The 18000 BTU solar air conditioner unit is R19900, and add installation and panels for R12000 to have a total cost of R31000. When you consider this investment against the savings and increases over three years, you will get the following :
- Year 1 – R15569-28
- Year 2 – R17904.68
- Year 3 – R20590-38
Total cost for three years, including a 15% tariff increase per year = R54064-34.
Adding an 18000 BTU solar air conditioner from Solaeris would pay off the investment in 20 months and save you R23064-34!
How Much Money Would You Save With A 24000 BTU Solar Air Conditioner
The 24000 BTU unit would use about 2000w or 2kW, and over 8 hours, that would be 16kWh per day or 480kWH per month; 5760 kWh per year.
At R3,18 per kWh, the monthly cost would be R1526-40, and the annual cost would be R18316.80. Taking that over three years and including the increases, you would get the following prices:
Year 1 – R18316-80
Year 2 – R21064-32
Year 3 – R 24223-97
Total cost for three years = R63605-09
A Solaeris 24000 BTU solar air conditioner costs R25900 plus R12000 for the panels and installation for a total of R37900 and would be paid off in 21 months with the savings and save you R25705.09!
Conclusion
With ESKOM tariff increases and load shedding to contend with, it is clear that investing in a Solaeris solar air conditioner will save you big money and return your investment in three years or less, all the while adding value to your property!
Undoubtedly, buying a solar conditioner for your home is a great investment. It will return itself countless times over and keep you cool or warm even when ESKOM pulls the plug – and you will sleep better knowing that your air conditioner is helping to save the planet too!