I installed a Daikin FTXM35R in my living room in June and got some crazy bills. I keep it running from about 2 PM to 11 PM with the temperature set at 24 degrees. Is it normal for it to use this much power or is something wrong?
The Daikin FTXM35R is a 3.5kW unit, so running it 9 hours a day does use quite a bit of power, especially in August when the air is more humid and the motor works harder. But 24 degrees is a pretty low temperature for air conditioning - try turning it up to 26 or 27, maybe with a fan circulating the air: the difference on your bill will be noticeable. Also check that the filters are clean and there are no drafts, because if the room loses cool air the compressor never stops and obviously everything shoots up.
Back in June and July you might not have noticed it because temperatures were already high, but now in August with the humidity going up your air conditioner has to work a lot harder to dehumidify the air 💨 Try turning it up a couple degrees (26-27) and see if your bill drops noticeably, because every degree you save is a pretty significant drop in consumption especially when you keep it running almost the whole afternoon and evening.
What you're feeling is completely real. August is actually the worst month: humidity shoots up a lot and the air conditioner doesn't just cool but runs continuously to dry out the air, so consumption skyrockets. If you keep it running 9 hours a day at that power level, it's normal for your bill to be high - I've seen it happen to me too when I didn't turn off the AC during the day. Try unplugging it for an hour or two during the hottest stretches if you can, maybe raise the temperature a couple degrees when you're home: these small adjustments alone make a difference on your final bill.
24 degrees is actually pretty low as a threshold, and combined with 9 hours straight of running in August when the air's sticky, the consumption you're seeing is consistent with what a 3.5kW unit does under stress. Try bumping it up to 26-27 degrees and maybe set it to turn on an hour before you get home, so it's not running full blast from a cold start when you walk in - you'll definitely notice the difference on your bill.
Something nobody's mentioned: check if your air filter is clean. A clogged filter forces the compressor to work twice as hard to push air through, and in August with high humidity it becomes even more critical because denser air struggles even more. If you haven't cleaned it since June, that could be part of why your consumption is so high. Other than that, yeah, what you're seeing on your bill is consistent: 9 hours a day of a 3.5kW unit running full blast in peak summer with continuous dehumidification adds up fast, but a dirty filter really amplifies the problem.
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