Ceiling Fans vs AC: How Should You Cool Your Home?
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Should you cool your home using ceiling fans? Or should you use air conditioning? This post takes a look at the pros and cons of fans and air conditioning, and when to use each one to cool your home.
Which will cost you more?
When it comes to saving money on your energy bills, ceiling fans are the clear winner. It can cost as little as 1 cent per hour to run a ceiling fan. Air conditioners meanwhile cost from 6 cents to 88 cents per hour to run depending on the BTU rating. This adds up in the long run - a ceiling fan may only cost you $0.12 per day, whereas an air conditioning unit could cost you up to $10 per day.
What about the cost of installation? In this instance, ceiling fans also cost much less upfront. It can cost between $100 and $300 on average to install a ceiling fan. If you haven’t already got air conditioning, expect to pay anywhere from $3000 to $8500 on installation - depending on the size of your home and the system you require. Portable air conditioners cost less, but are still often more expensive than a ceiling fan.
Which is better at cooling your home?
This is where air conditioning beats using a ceiling fan. The way a fan works is by circulating air - which can create the sense of coolness, but doesn’t actually cool the air. Air conditioners on the other hand actively cool the air using refrigerants.
This makes air conditioners more effective in higher temperatures - above 95℉ there is practically no point of using a ceiling fan, as the air being circulated will stop feeling cool. Air conditioners on the other hand can rapidly bring down the temperature in a heatwave. You can also adjust them to decide exactly how cool you want the air to be.
Just make sure that your air conditioner is functioning correctly. Air conditioners need to be regularly serviced and cleaned to keep them working efficiently. You can use companies like Ressler & Mateer to service and repair your air conditioning.
How often do you need to cool your home?
The type of climate you live in can greatly impact whether fans or air conditioning are the best investment.
In northern states that rarely experience heatwaves, there may be little point in investing in air conditioning - a fan may be all you need to cool the air in relatively warm weather.
In southern states, air conditioning is likely to be a necessity to deal with the hot summers. Fans become a lot less effective once temperatures reach the 90s - if this is a common occurrence in the summer months, you’ll need AC to keep your home cool.
Conclusion
Ceiling fans are the most energy-efficient option for relatively warm weather. For most of the year in some locations, you could save money by relying on fans. That said, air conditioning is necessary for cooling your home during extreme temperatures - fans may be cheaper to run, but are useless when it’s very hot.
