Rising frequency and intensity of summer heat waves have emerged as one of the most economically consequential dimensions of climate change for urban Indian households. The present study examines the association between cooling adoption status and household consumption behaviour during the peak summer season in Guntur, drawing on the conceptual framework of averting and defensive expenditure in environmental economics. The study is based on primary data collected from 248 sampled households in Guntur city of Andhra Pradesh, using a structured household interview schedule, with the analytical sample comprising 132 air-conditioner-owning households (53.23 per cent) and 116 non-air-conditioner-owning households (46.77 per cent); air-conditioner-owning households were deliberately oversampled relative to their share in the broader urban population to ensure adequate analytical power. The analysis focuses on the primary cooling infrastructure of the household, the increase in monthly electricity bills during the peak summer months relative to mild months, the change in food delivery frequency during summer compared to winter, the reduction in outdoor discretionary spending during heat-wave periods, monthly heat-related health expenditure during summer and the total summer-attributable consumption cost as a percentage of monthly household income. Descriptive statistical tools (frequency and percentage analysis) and inferential statistical techniques (Pearson's Chi-square test of independence at the 5 per cent significance level) were used for data interpretation and hypothesis testing. The findings indicate that cooling adoption status is significantly associated with five behavioural and expenditure dimensions of summer consumption (the sixth dimension, primary cooling infrastructure, is structurally tied to the sampling strata and therefore treated as descriptive rather than inferential). Air-conditioner-owning sampled households absorb the burden of extreme summer temperatures primarily through elevated electricity expenditure and food delivery dependence, while non-air-conditioner-owning sampled households absorb a relatively larger share of the burden through heat-related health expenditure and through the proportional weight of summer costs on monthly household income. The findings suggest that extreme summer temperatures are associated with differentiated household consumption burdens in Guntur, although these associations should be interpreted cautiously because cooling ownership is closely related to household income and other socioeconomic factors not separately controlled for in the present design.