Model
Seasons ST12VB2
Rank #298 means 297 of the 404 room air conditioner models we track cost less to run each year; the 27th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 27% of those models.
What does the Seasons ST12VB2 cost to run per year?
Among the 404 room air conditioner models we track, the Seasons ST12VB2's $120/yr running cost ranks it #298, in the above-average-cost group. It uses 46% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $223/yr to run, a saving of roughly $103 a year. Size-adjusted, this model trails most of its class on efficiency, ahead of just 27% of room air conditioner models we track. At a CEER of 13.9, 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 Seasons ST12VB1 at $120/yr runs a little cheaper and the Friedrich KHVS12B33A at $122/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 Seasons ST12VB2's $120/yr adds up to roughly $1200 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Midea MAT12R1FWTK.
By the numbers
The Seasons ST12VB2 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 $120/yr, here is what the Seasons ST12VB2 adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Seasons ST12VB2 costs about $1200. That is roughly $1030 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $2230 over the same ten years.
How the Seasons ST12VB2 compares
The room air conditioner class we track runs from $51 to $389 a year. At $120/yr, it runs about $21 a year above the class median of $99, and it is about $69 a year more than the cheapest room air conditioner to run at $51. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $223/yr, the Seasons ST12VB2 uses 46% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 12000 BTU/hr, the Seasons ST12VB2 is a mid-size room air conditioner for its class, which spans 5000 to 34100 BTU/hr with a median of 10100 BTU/hr, right in the middle of the capacity range, so capacity is roughly a wash compared with the rest of the class. Its CEER of 13.9, below the class median of 15, reflects combined energy efficiency ratio: a higher figure means it wrings more useful work out of every kilowatt-hour, so it is the efficiency lever to weigh against raw size.
- 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 Seasons ST12VB2 cheap to run?
Its $120/yr running cost, rank #298 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 Seasons ST12VB2 cost per month?
About $10.01 a month, which is the $120 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: 648 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $120 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Seasons ST12VB2 for its size?
27th 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
Source
ES_1095007_ST12VB2_05292026112348_80299305View certified room air conditioner listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Seasons and ST12VB2 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.