How Much Does It Cost to Run a Ceiling Fan?

Most ceiling fans with a conventional AC (induction) motor draw about 50–80 W on their top speed and much less on low. We use 60 W as a typical figure. At 10 hours a day that's 0.6 kWh: about $0.11 a day in the US, £0.16 in the UK and €0.14 in Greece.

Over a month, 10 hours a day adds up to about 18 kWh. Even running around the clock, a 60 W fan uses about 1.4 kWh a day, under a third of what a typical room air conditioner uses in 8 hours.

If your fan has a light kit, add the bulbs separately. LED bulbs add about 10–20 W, but on older fans with three or four incandescent bulbs, the lights can use more power than the fan itself.

Fans with a brushless DC (BLDC) motor typically use about 25–35 W at top speed and under 10 W on low, roughly half the power of a conventional fan for similar airflow. They are now widely sold in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the rest of South Asia, where fans often run most of the day for much of the year, and as DC fans in Australia, North America and Europe.

Because they draw so little, BLDC fans also make a home inverter or UPS battery last longer during power cuts and load-shedding, and they suit solar systems well. They usually cost more to buy, so the saving matters most where a fan runs many hours a day.

Whatever the motor, speed matters: power rises steeply with speed, so most fans use far less on low than on high.

A fan doesn't lower the room temperature. It cools you by moving air across your skin, which helps sweat evaporate. That's why a fan only saves money when someone is in the room, so turn it off when you leave.

Used with an AC, a ceiling fan lets you set the thermostat about 2°C (4°F) higher with similar comfort, and the AC then runs less. In dry or mild weather, a fan alone is often enough, at a small fraction of the cost of air conditioning.

Fan season runs roughly from April to September in the Northern Hemisphere and from October to March in the Southern Hemisphere. In the tropics, ceiling fans often run all year.

Figures are typical for 48–56-inch (1,200–1,400 mm) fans. Large or high-airflow fans can use up to about 100 W. Your fan's exact rating is on its label or in the manual; use that number in the calculator.

• Turn the fan off when you leave the room: it cools people, not the air.
• Use the lowest speed that keeps you comfortable.
• With AC, raise the thermostat about 2°C (4°F) and let the fan make up the difference.
• If a fan runs many hours a day, replacing an old AC-motor fan with a BLDC model roughly halves its running cost.
• Swap any incandescent bulbs in the light kit for LEDs.
• In winter, many fans have a reverse switch: on most models, running the fan slowly clockwise (seen from below) pushes warm air down from the ceiling without a draught.

• Air conditioner
• Air cooler
• Dehumidifier
• Space heater
• Bill analyzer