Ideal Air Conditioning Temperature In Winter For Your State

We don’t often associate winter with air conditioning, but some parts of Australia get damn cold during the cooler months. That’s when reverse cycle air conditioning comes into play, allowing you to blast your home with delicious warm air and defrost your poor fingers and toes.

But what is the ideal air conditioning temperature in winter? What should you set the temperature as on your remote control, to warm you up nicely without costing a fortune? Let’s find out.

The ideal air conditioning temperature in winter

As a rough guide, the ideal air conditioning temperature in winter is between 18-20°C. This should keep your home nice and comfortable while keeping energy costs to a minimum. It also varies slightly from state to state, and you’ll need to set the temperature slightly higher for colder states like Tasmania.

Here’s a full breakdown for every location:

But these numbers are also subject to change depending on a few factors. We explore these below.

What affects the ideal air conditioning temperature in winter?

How you experience the cold

If you’ve set your air conditioner’s temperature to one of the recommended numbers above but are still cold, if you can afford to, it goes without saying that you should turn it up. We all experience the cold differently depending on where we grew up, our levels of body fat, our gender, metabolism, and more. So if you’re feeling chilly despite having a thick jumper on, don’t suffer needlessly—turn up your AC by a degree or two.

Who is in your home

If you have a fresh baby at home, you’ll need to be careful with the temperature because babies can’t take off layers of clothing if they get too hot. We recommend sticking to the temperatures listed above, but put your hand on the back of your baby’s neck to check whether it feels sweaty or cold. If it feels warm without being sweaty, the AC temperature is perfect.

Seniors are another age group that is more sensitive to temperature, particularly the cold. Older people tend to have a thinner layer of fat under their skin, which makes them lose heat more easily. So you may want to add a degree or two to the recommended temperature and ask whether it’s good for them.

Your home’s construction

The way your home is built and positioned will affect the AC temperature too. The following can change how well it retains heat in winter:

• Insulation—the amount and type of insulation you have in your home can massively affect the AC’s efficiency, and the temperature you need to set.
• Its orientation to the sun—if your house sits along an east/west axis, the sun will shine through your windows much more frequently, and provide natural warming.
• The number and size of windows—heat escapes from glass much more easily than brick and wood, so if you’re lucky enough to live in a home with lots of windows, you’ll pay for the privilege with a harder-working AC system. You may need to increase the temperature to keep things nice and warm.
• The colour of your roof—dark roofs absorb sunlight, and light roofs reflect it. This may affect how hard your AC system has to work to maintain a warm temperature.

Ultimately, the ideal air conditioning temperature in winter comes down to how you feel, and how much you’re willing to spend on your electricity bills. We hope you found this article useful—please get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss an air conditioning solution for your home or commercial property.

Want to learn more about suitable AC temperatures? Check out our article on the best air conditioner temperature for sleeping.