Estimate from the published tariff and manufacturer ratings; your bill may differ.
Why the band matters more than the wattage
Residential bills in Pakistan are not sliced slab by slab. The band your total lands in sets the rate for every unit on the bill. On the unprotected tariff a home at 300 units pays PKR 33.10 a unit; at 301 units it pays PKR 36.46 on all 301. So the cost of an AC is not its units times a rate. It is the bill with those units added, at whatever band the new total reaches, minus the bill without them.
That is why the same AC costs different amounts in different homes. 244 units on top of 100 is a 344-unit bill; on top of 500 it is a 744-unit bill in the top band at PKR 47.20 a unit, before fuel adjustment, duty and 18% sales tax. Pick your usage without the AC honestly, from a winter bill if you have one, and the calculator does the rest.
The 200-unit cliff
A home that has used 200 units or fewer in each of the previous six months is aprotected consumer and pays PKR 10.54 or 13.01 a unit. The first month the AC takes the total past 200, the whole bill moves to the unprotected schedule, at PKR 28.91 a unit and up, and it takes six clean months to get back. For a small home the AC's true cost is that jump, not its own units. The calculator treats a total of 200 or under as protected and anything above as unprotected, and tells you when the AC is what crosses the line.
How the AC's units are worked out
Each size starts from a manufacturer's rated input power for cooling, cross-checked against K-Electric's planning table. A non-inverter compressor is either on or off, so over an hour it draws its rated input for the share of the hour it runs: we use a 80% duty cycle for a Pakistani summer, which is an assumption. An inverter compressor slows instead of stopping; we use 70% of rated input as its average over an hour, on the basis that K-Electric's inverter figures are 60% of its non-inverter ones and the spec sheets' low-speed input is a fifth of rated. Each degree on the thermostat above 24 °C takes 6% off, each degree below adds it, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency's rule of thumb.
| Size | Type | Rated input | K-Electric's figure | Units per hour at 24 °C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ton | Inverter | 1,162 W | 900 W | 0.81 |
| 1 ton | Non-inverter | 1,190 W | 1,500 W | 0.95 |
| 1.5 ton | Inverter | 1,450 W | 1,200 W | 1.02 |
| 1.5 ton | Non-inverter | 1,880 W | 2,000 W | 1.50 |
| 2 ton | Inverter | 2,000 W | 1,500 W | 1.40 |
| 2 ton | Non-inverter | 2,500 W | 2,500 W | 2.00 |
The rated inputs are the standard cooling figure on the Gree GS-12PITH11S and GS-18PITH11S sheets for 1 and 1.5 ton inverters, the rated figure on three 2 ton inverter sheets (Haier, TCL and Electrolux agree within 150 W), and Haier's fixed-speed Turbo Cool sheets for 1 and 1.5 ton non-inverters. No current 2 ton fixed-speed sheet was found, so that one is K-Electric's figure alone.
The bill changes every month
Two lines ride on every bill and move without the base tariff changing. The fuel charges adjustment for July 2026 is PKR 2.0581 a unit onSeptember 2026 bills, and the quarterly adjustment under S.R.O. 1501(I)/2026 is PKR 0.5194 a unit on bills from September to November 2026. Both are in the figures above. Both are charged on every unit, so they scale with the AC too. The electricity bill calculatorkeeps the current values and shows what is pending.
What this calculator cannot know
- Your AC's real duty cycle. A west-facing room with a tin roof keeps the compressor at full load long past the first hour. A shaded room with a fan on cycles far less. The 80% and 70% figures are stated assumptions, not measurements.
- Room size and insulation. An undersized AC in a big room runs flat out and never reaches the set point, which is the one case where an inverter saves almost nothing.
- Your unit's age and condition. A dirty filter or a low gas charge raises the draw well above the sheet.
- Sanctioned load. The fixed charge is per kilowatt of sanctioned load; the calculator uses one kilowatt, and it cancels out of the difference in any case unless the AC changes your band.
- Next month's fuel adjustment. It is decided about five weeks after the month and billed the month after that.
Sources: K-Electric energy consumption calculator · Gree GS-18PITH11S 1.5 ton inverter spec sheet · Gree GS-12PITH11S 1 ton inverter spec sheet · Haier HSU-18HFPAA 1.5 ton inverter spec sheet · 2 ton inverter spec sheets (Haier HSU-24HFAB, TCL TAC-24T3, Electrolux ELSAC-24K) · Haier HSU-12CFCP/023L 1 ton fixed-speed spec sheet · Haier HSU-18CFCP/023L 1.5 ton fixed-speed spec sheet · NEECA, Pakistan Energy Labels for Room Air Conditioners Regulations (S.R.O. 413(I)/2024) · Bureau of Energy Efficiency, "each degree saves about 6%" · Energy Department, Government of Punjab, "Save your bills" · NEPRA S.R.O. 279(I)/2026 · NEPRA fuel charges adjustment, July 2026 · NEPRA quarterly adjustment, S.R.O. 1501(I)/2026 · Japan Electronics, air conditioners (full catalogue) · PriceOye, Gree AC price list · PriceOye, Haier AC price list · Dawlance Elegance 45, 2 ton inverter, Japan Electronics
