# Calculating power consumption in portable air conditioning unit

Apologies for this likely very simple/stupid question.

I have a portable AC (air conditioning) unit that's supposed to be "energy efficient". On the back of the unit, it tells me some details about the unit's power consumption:

Voltage: 115 V-60 Hz
Current consumption: 11.4 A
Cooling capacity: 4100 W (14000 BTU/h)


So here's where I'm a little confused. I see the 4.1 kW and I'm a little confused, because my limited understanding of electricity would be that the power consumption shouldn't exceed the voltage multiplied the current (in this case, 1311 W). Does this mean that my unit is drawing 1.3 kW/h of electricity, or 4.1 kW/h? If it's the former, how does it output more than 3x the power that it draws in?

Also, I was wondering if my power consumption remains constant with this unit plugged in (whether at 1.3 kW/h or 4.1 kW/h), or if it will fluctuate based on the settings? In other words, are the numbers listed on the unit supposed to represent how much power it will draw in no matter what, or does that represent the maximum amount of power it will draw (meaning that it could draw less if I, for example, didn't need as much cooling)? Apologies for my limited understanding here, but just want to make sure I can get a roughly-accurate estimate for my upcoming power bill.

• The unit consumes about 1400 watts (the limit in the US for a 15 amp "standard plug outlet" (and often breaker back at the entrance panel) is about 1500 to 1800 watts, max. So this unit is designed for a "standard plug," but will likely consume the entire branch current. Air conditioners "pump" energy. So this unit says it can pump a little more than twice its energy consumption. It's typical for air, which I think at best provides about 2.4X. And that's on a good day.
– jonk
May 25 '20 at 18:38