Worrying about the cost of keeping cool has replaced worrying about the cost of central heating as the North East basks in glorious sunshine this week.
And there's more scorching days to come, with experts predicting a spell of hot weather ahead and the long-range forecast promising plenty more this month.
With long hot days come warm, stuffy nights, and if you are struggling to sleep you may be wondering how much it would cost to run a fan overnight for a cooling breeze. Fans can be indispensable in warm weather – many run one on low all night to ensure a good night’s sleep or have one beside them on a desk to combat hot and humid days.
Read more: Little-known way to slash your water bills by up to 50% a year
As the cost of living stretches budgets, families are having to be much smarter with their choices, especially as the summer months are the ideal time to save money towards winter energy bills. So it pays to check that your fan isn't adding too much to your bills.
Here's all you need to know about running a fan this summer:
How much energy does a fan use?
The good news is that fans are surprisingly energy-efficient, especially when compared to an electric air-conditioning unit.
To work out how much yours costs, you'll need to find out how much electricity it uses. First, find out its wattage, which you will then have to convert to kilowatt hours (kWh)to tell you the amount of power it's using.
You should be able to find the wattage on either the fan itself or the infgormation booklet you got when you bought it. You could also lkook up your brand and model on the internet. Once you know the wattage of your fan, convert this into kWh. It might sound complicated, but all you need to do is divide the wattage by 1,000 to give the amount of energy it uses per hour.
So for example, if your fan is 70 watts output on its high setting and you always use this, divide 70 by 1000 = 0.07kWh.
How do I work out the cost?
Once you have the kWh your fan uses, you can work out how much it's costing you. Mini models can use as little as 5 watts, while large bladed fans can be more than 100 watts. To work out the cost, you will need to know how much you pay for one unit of energy (1kw). This should be listed on your energy bill. The Ofgem energy price cap from July 2023 is £2,074, which will cap electricity prices at 30p per kWh.
Multiply the cost of a unit of energy by the kW output of your fan and that will be how much it is costing to run your fan for an hour.
Are some fans cheaper to run than others?
It's worth knowing which types of fans are cheapest to run:
- Bladed fans: These tend to use the most energy and the larger the blades, the more energy it needs to turn them.
- Tower fans: These often have lower power consumption compared to bladed fans but tend to be less effective so you may need to have them on a higher setting.
- Bladeless fans: Sometimes called air multipliers, draw air in before passing it over small asymmetric blades that increase the pressure and airflow, before pushing it out into the room. These can be more energy efficient but the purchase price can be quite high.
How much does it cost to leave a fan on all night?
Once you know how much your fans costs to run for an hour, it's a simple matter of multiplying that number with the amount of hours you want to run it. So if your fan costs 2p per hour, it will cost 20p to run it for 10 hours (2p x 10 hours), 48p for a whole day (2p x 24 hours) and £3.36 for a week (48p x 7 days).
Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? Join in the conversation below
Do fans make a room cooler?
Fans can't make a room cooler, but they can make you feel cooler. The air moving over your skin can lower your body temperature but if you don't plan on being in the room there's no point of leaving the fan on. Uswitch energy expert Ben Gallizzi said: "Try placing a bowl of ice cubes in front of your fan to send a cooling breeze around your room, and make sure to keep your device free of dust to make sure it runs as efficiently as possible."
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