Model
Friedrich KHVL28B35A
Rank #402 means 401 of the 404 room air conditioner models we track cost less to run each year; the 0th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 0% of those models.
What does the Friedrich KHVL28B35A cost to run per year?
Few room air conditioner models we track cost as much to run as the Friedrich KHVL28B35A; at about $312 a year it holds rank #402 of 404. It uses 35% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $479/yr to run, a saving of roughly $167 a year. Its size-adjusted efficiency percentile of 0 means its running cost, whatever it is, owes almost nothing to efficiency and almost everything to capacity. At a CEER of 12.6, its combined energy efficiency ratio is the single figure that best explains how it earns its running-cost number.
Immediately around it on the leaderboard, the Friedrich KCVL28B30A at $305/yr runs a little cheaper and the K�Hl KCVL36B30B at $343/yr runs a little more, a sense of how tightly models are packed at this point in the ranking. A room air conditioner typically stays in service for somewhere around 10 years; over that span, the Friedrich KHVL28B35A's $312/yr adds up to roughly $3120 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs. At rank #402 of 404, it sits at the very top of the cost range for its class, among the single priciest models we track to run.
By the numbers
The Friedrich KHVL28B35A normalized against its whole class, so each figure means something.
What it costs you over time
Running cost is an every-year number, so it compounds. At $312/yr, here is what the Friedrich KHVL28B35A adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Friedrich KHVL28B35A costs about $3120. That is roughly $1670 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $4790 over the same ten years.
How the Friedrich KHVL28B35A compares
The room air conditioner class we track runs from $51 to $389 a year. At $312/yr, it runs about $213 a year above the class median of $99, and it is about $261 a year more than the cheapest room air conditioner to run at $51. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $479/yr, the Friedrich KHVL28B35A uses 35% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 28200 BTU/hr, the Friedrich KHVL28B35A is a large room air conditioner for its class, which spans 5000 to 34100 BTU/hr with a median of 10100 BTU/hr, and larger room air conditioner models generally cost more to run than smaller ones in the same class, simply because there is more to keep cold, spin, heat, or light. The CEER of 12.6 on this model, below the class median of 15, measures combined energy efficiency ratio; it is the number to compare directly against another model's CEER if capacity is similar.
- Combined Energy Efficiency Ratio (CEER). Two units with the same BTU rating can post very different running costs, and CEER is the figure that explains most of that gap.
- BTU cooling capacity. BTU rating scales with room size, and it is usually the first driver of an air conditioner's running cost, ahead of its CEER figure.
- Thermostat and mode usage. How the unit is actually operated, thermostat cycling versus a fixed setting, moves real electricity use more than the rated BTU or CEER figure alone.
Common questions
Is the Friedrich KHVL28B35A cheap to run?
Its $312/yr running cost, rank #402 of 404, is above what most room air conditioner models we track cost to run, so this is not one of the cheaper picks on electricity alone.
How much does the Friedrich KHVL28B35A cost per month?
About $25.96 a month, which is the $312 annual estimate spread across twelve months at the US average rate of $0.1856/kWh. Your own bill scales with your local electricity rate and how heavily you use it.
How is this running-cost figure calculated?
The formula is annual kWh times price per kWh: 1,679 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $312 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Friedrich KHVL28B35A for its size?
0th percentile once size is factored in. That means its size-adjusted efficiency is not the main reason for the running-cost figure above; its capacity plays a large role too.
Cheaper to run in the same class
| Rank | Model | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 401 | Friedrich KCVL28B30A28900 BTU/hr | $305 |
| 400 | K�Hl KCVL28B30B28900 BTU/hr | $292 |
| 399 | K�Hl+ KHVL28B35B28300 BTU/hr | $277 |
| 398 | Whirlpool WHAW-241IN24000 BTU/hr | $263 |
| 397 | Tcl T24WQ2S24000 BTU/hr | $263 |
Source
ES_31705_KHVL28B35A_031320250541617_6450810View certified room air conditioner listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Friedrich and KHVL28B35A are used here for identification only and are not endorsements. Figures are computed by WattWise Labs from public ENERGY STAR data, not measured in our own lab.