On air conditioners and their effect on the power system

It is generally hot and humid in Southeast Asia owing to its placement on the planet, situated close to the equator and thereby receiving more direct sunlight. This makes air conditioning a necessity, especially for the health and living standards of the people in the region. Inevitably, a resulting necessity is also reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity, serving as the backbone of powering these air conditioners in households and buildings.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) pointed out that the demand for cooling is increasing, not just due to rising temperatures and populations, but also because of rising incomes. While equity and access will certainly still be an issues, the stock of air conditioners in Southeast Asia is projected to increase ninefold between 2020 and 2040. Consequently, space cooling is seen as “the fastest growing source of energy demand from the buildings sector” at almost 4% annually to 2035 and will mostly occur in emerging and developing economies, according to the agency.

In the Philippines, for instance, consumer finance company Home Credit reported in May last year that they financed over 1,000 air conditioning units per day since mid-March 2024 or the start of the summer season. The company also noted that more than half a million air conditioners have been purchased since it started operations in the country 10 years ago.

As you can imagine, these additional demands for electricity culminate in additional pressures to expand and upgrade the power system across generation, transmission, distribution, and even retail supply. People using air conditioners will certainly calibrate their usage depending on the time of day, and with growing stock, this leads to increasing system peak demand during the day and in the evening. A Philippine energy distribution company estimated an additional 2.5 gigawatt-hour of consumption per day whenever there is a one-degree rise in temperature.

The use of inverter motor-driven air conditioners (and other cooling appliances like refrigerators) should be encouraged, especially as it can produce similar or even better output with more efficiency, or in other words, with the same or smaller amount of electricity. This translates to lower costs for the consumer and, when aggregated, relieves some pressure on the power system. From an analysis they did, the IEA found that more efficient models are actually available at the same price as less efficient ones for consumers in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

For a long time, the refrigerator was the most power-hungry appliance in an American household before air conditioning and heating systems took the crown. Policy — in the form of evolving efficiency standards — as well as continuous technological innovation by manufacturers have mutually reinforced the efficiency improvements in refrigerators. The same combination might be able to do the same for air conditioners, if not already.

The Philippine Department of Energy promotes better customer information and choice by mandating a Philippine Energy Label shown in appliances being sold in stores. These labels contain Energy Efficiency Ratings, details of the product model, and even its estimated monthly energy consumption. 

The IEA also suggests the use of fans together with air conditioners, so that the temperature settings of the latter can be lowered, further saving on consumption while still achieving an optimal cooling effect. 

In tandem with energy-saving habits, these are just some of the ways customers can participate in helping alleviate stress on the power system, while also benefiting from relatively lower energy bills and without sacrificing personal comfort.

At the same time, buildouts in power generation, transmission, and distribution must still be able to grow faster or at par with energy demand — not just coming from demand to keep houses and buildings cool but also from new demand centers like newly-energized communities and emerging hotspots such as smart cities, data centers, and electric vehicles. Even amidst global uncertainty and slowing economic growth, electricity demand is still widely expected to continue rising today and in the near future, specifically by 3.3% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026, as per the IEA. 

As electric power continues to be a constant backbone to consumption, growth, and development, there should be an emphasis on strengthening the reliability of the power supply and its accompanying infrastructure. Reliability must also be balanced with affordability so that people can enjoy and benefit accordingly. For air conditioning in particular, keeping it constant, available, and within reach can literally make the difference between discomfort and comfort, inefficiency and productivity, and illness and health.