What temperature should you set your air-to-air heat pump (also known as air conditioning) to in summer?

The standard advice to keep your home at the same temperature all year round could leave you feeling uncomfortable, cost you more in energy bills and be damaging for the planet. The temperature that feels right in winter may feel too cold in the summer. What’s the solution?

How does your air-to-air heat pump cool you down in summer?

An air-to-air heat pump is an air conditioner. It works by extracting the heat from inside your home via one or more indoor units, and transferring it to the outside, through an outdoor unit positioned discreetly on the exterior of your house. This is the reverse of the process by which the air-to-air heat pump warms your home on cold days.

What temperature should you set it to in hot weather?

People often say you should maintain an ambient temperature of 21-22˚C all year round, but that could feel too cold in summer.

When cooling your home, you should aim for a 4˚C difference between the outside and inside temperatures. Any more than that and you risk giving your body a shock when you go outdoors, which could be harmful to your health. Keeping the temperature within this range is also healthier for your energy consumption.

But ultimately, it’s about what feels comfortable to you and the people around you. Remember that some of us struggle with the heat more than others, such as older people or babies. Pets don't like to be too hot or cold either.

It also depends on the room, as you may want sleeping areas to be cooler than living areas. The number of windows in a room, or whether there are curtains or carpets, can also make a big difference to how cool a space feels.

Which setting is best while you're at home on hot days?

Whether your temperature is controlled in the room or via the Onecta app, you have plenty of settings to choose from for all situations. You can create different schedules with up to six temperature settings a day for seven days, with one temperature for when you're typically at home and another for when you're out. So there's no need to waste money by cooling (or heating) to one fixed temperature all the time.

And if you have a multi-split air-to-air heat pump system – with one outdoor unit and up to five indoor units – you can set your system to deliver different temperatures in different rooms.

Temperature settings in winter versus summer – should they be different?

In summary: probably, yes. There’s no point in maintaining the same temperature all year round if it doesn’t feel comfortable – and if it costs you more. Plus, it may not be the most sustainable approach in environmental terms. That’s why your air-to-air heat pump offers you so much flexibility and versatility.