Why is Your Aircon Pushing Up the Bill?
Has your bill crept up even though you’re using the aircon the same way? It’s a frustrating one, especially with 2 to 4 wall-mounted units running in a Marine Terrace, Marine Crescent or Marine Drive flat.
Aircon is already the biggest power user at home. The NEA says about 30% of a typical household’s electricity goes to it. So a unit that’s working harder than it should shows up on your bill fast.
Tariffs move too. SP Group’s notice for 1 July to 30 September 2026 raised household tariffs by 17.0%, which added about $17.14 a month to the average four-room HDB bill before GST. If your usage is the same and the bill still jumped, we check the aircon first, then the tariff.
That’s what our high electricity bill diagnosis is for. We look at five common culprits:
- Dirty coils and filters: Clogged filters alone can raise energy use by 5 to 15%, because the blower has to push air through the dirt.
- Low gas: The compressor runs longer to reach the same temperature, so the room cools slowly and the meter keeps ticking.
- A compressor that never cuts off: It runs flat out and never gets to rest.
- Short-cycling: The unit switches on and off too often, which wastes power and wears out parts.
- An old non-inverter system: It runs at full power until the room is cool, then stops, then starts again. Estimates for swapping an old non-inverter unit for a 5-tick inverter model run from 30 to 40% less kWh a year.
We don’t guess. A technician measures the compressor’s run current against its rated current and checks the gas pressure and capacitor on each unit. A faulty compressor and a low-gas unit can look alike, and the fixes cost very different amounts.
You get a straight answer: will a service alone bring the bill down, or does something need repairing? For old systems that are past saving, replacement advice is referred to coolearth.com.sg.
If we find low gas, a gas top-up may help. Gas doesn’t get “used up”, so a unit that keeps losing it may have a leak, and we’ll tell you if that’s the case.
For units that have gone months without a service, regular servicing or an annual maintenance contract keeps running costs down. HDB’s own guidance suggests cleaning filters monthly and a professional service about every six months for lighter use.
Not sure which of your units is the problem? Book a diagnosis and we’ll check every wall-mounted unit in your flat, then tell you what’s worth fixing.
