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Most Australian guidance on this lands in the same place: 22 to 24°C is the comfortable range most households settle on in summer. What matters more than the exact number is this: every degree colder than where you actually need to be adds roughly 5 to 10 percent to your energy use, for a room that doesn’t cool any faster or feel meaningfully more comfortable once you’ve been sitting in it a few minutes.
Why 22 to 24 works for most Geelong homes
Geelong’s summer climate sits in the moderate range, not the tropics, so most homes here don’t need to chase the low settings that make sense in, say, North Queensland. A living area sitting at 22 to 24 degrees with normal airflow feels genuinely comfortable after a hot walk in from the car, without the unit working any harder than it needs to.
What actually happens when you go lower than that
Dropping the setting from 23 down to 18 doesn’t get the room cold faster, the unit cools to whatever number you’ve set and holds it there, it just means the compressor runs longer and harder to chase a target a long way from the outside temperature. That extra run time is where the bill blows out, not in the speed of the initial cool down. It also pulls more moisture out of the air than the room needs, which is why an overcooled room can start to feel clammy rather than simply comfortable.
Other things that affect how comfortable a given setting feels
A few habits make any setting in that comfort range feel more effective without touching the thermostat again.
Closing blinds or curtains on the sun-facing side of the house during the hottest part of the day keeps direct heat out before the air conditioner has to deal with it. Running a ceiling fan or portable fan alongside the air conditioner circulates the cooled air, which lets a lot of households sit a degree or two higher and still feel just as comfortable. Sealing obvious gaps around doors and windows stops cooled air leaking straight back outside. And a system that’s actually sized and installed correctly for the home holds a set temperature far more evenly than one that’s straining to compensate for an undersized unit or a duct run that was never set up properly. If your air conditioning installation wasn’t done right the first time, or your Ducted air conditioning isn’t zoning the way it should, that’s often the real reason the thermostat needs to be set so low just to feel comfortable.
A February afternoon in Herne Hill
A family in Herne Hill used to come home on stinking hot February afternoons, throw the split system straight down to 18 degrees, and leave it running flat out until bedtime. The unit rarely felt like it was keeping up, and the power bill each quarter reflected it. After switching to 23 degrees, closing the blinds on the west-facing side of the house before leaving for work, and running a ceiling fan in the main living area, the house felt just as comfortable by the time everyone was home, and the unit wasn’t working anywhere near as hard to get there.
Book a system that holds the right temperature without straining
If your air conditioner needs to be set unreasonably low just to feel comfortable, that’s usually a sign the system itself needs a look, not just the thermostat habit. We handle air conditioning installation Geelong wide and across air conditioning Geelong homes more broadly, and every job is backed by our 7 year workmanship guarantee and up to 7 years on the product itself. Call Too Hot To Handle on 0480 005 425 or email info@toohottohandle.com.au and we’ll take a look at whether your current system is actually working as hard as your bills suggest.
FAQ
What’s the best temperature to set my air conditioner to in summer?
Most Australian guidance points to 22 to 24°C as the comfortable range for a typical home. The right number ultimately comes down to what feels comfortable for your household and your home’s climate zone.
Does turning the air conditioner down lower cool the house faster?
No. The unit cools to whatever temperature it’s set to and holds it there, it doesn’t work any faster because the number is lower. A lower setting just means the compressor runs longer to chase a target further from the outside temperature, using more electricity without speeding up the result.
Why does my air conditioner struggle to reach 22 to 24 degrees on really hot days?
This usually points to the system itself rather than the weather, an undersized unit, a duct leak, or a system that was never installed or zoned correctly for the home. A straightforward assessment usually identifies which of these is behind it.
Can ceiling fans help me set the air conditioner higher and still feel cool?
Yes. Moving air across your skin makes a given temperature feel cooler, so running a ceiling or portable fan alongside the air conditioner often lets a household sit a degree or two higher without losing comfort.
Does the type of air conditioner I have affect how efficiently it holds temperature?
Yes. A correctly sized and zoned ducted air conditioning system generally holds a set temperature more evenly across a whole home than an ageing or undersized split system working alone, which is part of why the choice and installation of the system matters as much as the number on the remote.
