How to use Ceiling Fans with Air Conditioners to reduce costs

Most homeowners will turn on their ceiling fan to help increase air circulation, in conjunction with using a central air conditioning system in the summer time. Here we will discuss the strategy that you should use when running your ceiling fan(s) and air conditioning unit together.

When looking at things from a cost perspective, it is more economical to run  your ceiling fan then it is to run an air conditioner. The ceiling fan uses 30 watts per hour, so it costs literally one cent to run per hour. Your home central air unit uses 3 killowatts in comparison – that’s a LOT more! So the cost for running the central air unit is 36 cents per hour. This makes for a large cost difference – obviously it’s much more economical to run a ceiling fan.

With that being said, we don’t expect you to be able to run only the ceiling fan all the time. However, the concept here is to set the thermostat at a higher temperature on your thermostat. This way the air conditioner won’t come on as often. Run the ceiling fan more, and the air conditioner less – that’s the concept. Four degrees higher on the thermostat equates to 17 cents per hour being saved. It works out very quickly to save you a lot of money, if you’re able to not run the thermostat as low. This way the air conditioning unit does not come on as often.