3-star vs 5-star AC: how much do you save?

Work it out for your home

Units a month, 1.5 ton split

The saving below is what those units take off your bill, at the top of your slabs, where units cost the most.

What it saves to your bill, state by state

For units a 5-star saves over a 3-star, 1.5 ton, 8 hours a day (68 units a month), on each state’s current tariff with the government schemes that apply to every home. Per month; two-monthly and quarterly bills are shown as a monthly average. Duty and fuel surcharge are not included.

Why the cost differs so much

Your electricity is charged in slabs. An appliance adds its units at the top of what you already use, where each unit costs the most, and in some states it can push the whole bill into a dearer table or past the limit of a free-units scheme. That is why the same appliance costs very different amounts in different states, and in different homes in the same state.

Method and sources

• BEE room AC star bands from 1 January 2026: split Table 3.2(g), window Table 3.1(g) (S.O. 2794(E), 16 July 2024; S.O. 3984(E), 28 August 2025)
• BEE AC notification S.O. 2528(E): “the operating hours shall be 1600 cooling hours per annum”

Related guides

• 1 ton AC
• 1.5 ton AC
• 2 ton AC
• AC units per hour
• Inverter vs non-inverter AC
• Window AC
• All appliance guides