Which is colder, 16 or 24 on an aircon?

Neither. The air coming out of the unit is the same temperature at both settings, because the compressor either runs or it does not. What changes is when the unit decides to stop. At 16 in a Philippine room it mostly never stops, so it runs for hours and the room ends up colder than anybody wanted and the bill reflects it.

Does setting a lower temperature cool the room faster?

No. Fan speed does that. Set the fan to high when you walk into a hot room and leave the temperature where you normally want it. Turning the number down to hurry it along only means the unit carries on past the point you would have been comfortable.

Is 24 degrees hot for an aircon?

Not in this climate, for most people. In a room with the humidity under control, 24 to 25 is where a lot of households settle for daytime. If 24 feels hot to you, it is worth checking whether the room is actually damp rather than warm, because humidity and heat feel similar and only one of them is fixed by a lower number.

Is 22 degrees cold for aircon?

It is below where most people need to be, and it costs more than it looks, because the compressor runs considerably longer to hold it. If 22 is the only setting that feels right, the usual causes are humidity, a unit that is too small for the room, or a coil that has not been cleaned.

What temperature should I set at night?

Somewhere around 24 to 26, and let sleep mode raise it gently as the night goes on. Bodies lose heat while asleep, so the setting that felt correct when you got into bed is usually colder than you need by the early hours.

How much does each degree actually cost?

It depends on your rate, your unit and how long it already runs, which is why nobody can honestly give you a single percentage. What is certain is the direction: a colder setting means more compressor running time, and running time is what you pay for. Our running cost estimator will put a figure on it for your own household if you enter your own rate.

The best temperature to set your aircon

The number on the remote is a stopping point. It tells the unit when to ease off, and almost everybody reads it as a throttle. That one misunderstanding is behind most of the arguments about it and a good part of the bill.

16 is not colder, it is longer

The air leaving the indoor unit is the same temperature whether you have asked for 16 or for 24. A compressor runs or it does not, and while it runs it produces cold air at whatever it produces cold air at. The setting only decides the point at which the unit eases off or stops.

So asking for 16 in a Philippine bedroom does not get you cold air sooner. It gets you a unit that keeps working long past the point you were comfortable, usually all night, because 16 in this climate is a target most rooms never reach. Running time is the thing you pay for, and that is where it goes.

1 At 24 it stops. The room reaches the number, the compressor eases off, and the gaps are the part of the night you are not paying for. Your body is asleep and cooler anyway, which is why the page's own range for sleeping starts here.
2 At 16 it does not. The air coming out is exactly as cold as it was at 24, because a compressor runs or it does not. What changes is that 16 is a target most rooms in this climate never reach, so the unit keeps working long past the point you were comfortable, usually until morning.

Drawn for this page from its own first argument: the air leaving the unit is the same temperature at either setting, so what the number changes is how long the compressor runs. The pattern illustrates running and stopping; it carries no durations, because the page gives none.

Half of comfort here is not temperature at all

Twenty five degrees in dry air and twenty five degrees in a humid room are not the same experience. Sweat is how a body sheds heat, and it works poorly when the air is already holding as much moisture as it can. This is why a room can be genuinely cold and still feel unpleasant, and why turning the number down is so often the wrong lever.

A correctly sized unit removes moisture as a side effect of running properly. An oversized one cools the air fast, stops, and leaves the room cold and damp, which is the exact sensation that makes people reach for a lower setting. Dry mode is the setting for when the room is cool and still clammy.

What to set, and when

1 Asleep, 24 to 26. A body runs cooler asleep, so a room that felt right at bedtime feels cold by three in the morning. Sleep mode does this drift for you.
2 Awake with people in the room, 24 to 25. Comfortable for most people sitting still, and high enough that the compressor gets long periods off.
3 Walking into a hot room? Your normal setting with the fan on high. The fan speed is what pulls the heat out quickly; the number does not change how fast a room cools, only how long the unit keeps going.

Drawn for this page from its own table: 24 to 26 asleep, 24 to 25 awake, and the 16 it opens by arguing against. Ranges rather than one right answer, which is what the page says as well.

Situation: Set; Why
Sleeping: 24 to 26; Your body runs cooler asleep and a room that felt right at bedtime feels cold by three in the morning. Sleep mode does this for you by letting the setting drift up through the night.
Daytime, people in the room: 24 to 25; Comfortable for most people sitting still, and high enough that the compressor gets long periods off.
A room you have just walked into, hot: Your normal setting, fan on high; The fan speed is what pulls the heat out quickly. The number does not change how fast it cools, only how long it keeps going.
A room nobody is in: Off, or a timer; Cooling an empty room is the only setting on this page that is simply waste.
Very humid day, room already cool but clammy: Dry mode instead of a lower number; The discomfort is moisture rather than heat, and dropping the number will not fix it.

Ranges rather than a single right answer, because households differ and so do rooms. The direction is what matters: higher costs less and is usually enough, and the way to cool a hot room quickly is the fan speed.

What a colder setting actually costs you

Every guide on this subject quotes a percentage per degree. We are not going to, because the figure depends on your unit, your room and how long it already runs, and a number with none of that behind it is decoration.

What you can do is measure your own. A lower setting does not change what the unit draws while running; it changes how many hours it runs. So in the running cost estimator, put in the hours the COMPRESSOR is working rather than the hours the unit is switched on, and compare. A unit that used to rest for twenty minutes in every hour and now never rests is a third more running time, and the estimator will price that in your own money at your own rate.

Put your own rate in Check the size your room needs

Four things that beat changing the number

Fan on high while the room comes down. This is the actual speed control, and most people never touch it.
Swing on. A fixed louvre cools one part of the room and leaves you adjusting the temperature to fix a problem that is about air movement.
Sleep mode. It raises the setting gradually through the night, which is the direction your body wants anyway.
A clean coil and filter. A restricted unit cannot hold any setting efficiently, and the first sign is that last year's comfortable number no longer feels comfortable.

Questions people ask

Which is colder, 16 or 24 on an aircon?: Neither. The air coming out of the unit is the same temperature at both settings, because the compressor either runs or it does not. What changes is when the unit decides to stop. At 16 in a Philippine room it mostly never stops, so it runs for hours and the room ends up colder than anybody wanted and the bill reflects it.
Does setting a lower temperature cool the room faster?: No. Fan speed does that. Set the fan to high when you walk into a hot room and leave the temperature where you normally want it. Turning the number down to hurry it along only means the unit carries on past the point you would have been comfortable.
Is 24 degrees hot for an aircon?: Not in this climate, for most people. In a room with the humidity under control, 24 to 25 is where a lot of households settle for daytime. If 24 feels hot to you, it is worth checking whether the room is actually damp rather than warm, because humidity and heat feel similar and only one of them is fixed by a lower number.
Is 22 degrees cold for aircon?: It is below where most people need to be, and it costs more than it looks, because the compressor runs considerably longer to hold it. If 22 is the only setting that feels right, the usual causes are humidity, a unit that is too small for the room, or a coil that has not been cleaned.
What temperature should I set at night?: Somewhere around 24 to 26, and let sleep mode raise it gently as the night goes on. Bodies lose heat while asleep, so the setting that felt correct when you got into bed is usually colder than you need by the early hours.
How much does each degree actually cost?: It depends on your rate, your unit and how long it already runs, which is why nobody can honestly give you a single percentage. What is certain is the direction: a colder setting means more compressor running time, and running time is what you pay for. Our running cost estimator will put a figure on it for your own household if you enter your own rate.

Not as cold as it was?

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