Will using fans & turning off air conditioning save on electric bill

Question

House will easily heat up to 83 or higher during day, so cooling is a necessity. Will fans be cheaper to run then air conditioning? What is reasonable expectation for cooling from fan? Say lower air temp. 1, 2, 3, or more degrees.

This is standard 3 bedroom ranch home.

Answer 1

fans dont cool rooms they cool people

Answer 2

Yes. Definitely.  Just the temperature will actually make you realise.  Fans are hotter while air conditioners are cooler.

If I'm not wrong, switching on fans around a month is 1/6 of ur air conditioning bill.  That actually makes you save so much(:

Answer 3

Using the two in conjunction might be the best way to keep your house cool, while using the least amount of energy.

If the house is empty during the day, rely on just the fans to keep the air circulating  and the temps down some what.  When you return home turn the A / C on and leave the fans on till the cool air is moving well, then just go to one fan to keep the benefits of moving about the cooler air.  This will allow you to set you A / C unit to a level that is closer to that of outside (this less of a power drain) while still making the interior feel more comfortable.

The two links below have a number of additional great tips and ideas on more "green" cooling.

Answer 4

Fans are much cheaper!

Answer 5

A fan does not cool the air. It just moves it around.

The reason it feels cooler is due to the fact that

it evaporates moisture from your skin. Try wetting your

arm and put it near a fan. When liquid evaporates from

a surface it cools the surface. A fan accelerates this

process. When the outdoor temperature feels cooler than

the indoor temperature, usually in the evening, I put a

box fan in a window  (on high) and blow cool air into

the house Further, open the tops of other windows. This

will allow hot air (near the ceiling) to escape. The

answer to your question is yes!

Answer 6

I'm going to start sounding like a broken record.... TINT your windows,it makes a huge difference.you can do it yourself :)  

Answer 7

Absolutely! Not Only Do You Save Energy And Money You Also Don't Pollute The Ozone Layer By Turning On Your Air Conditioner  

Answer 8

I have lived in Thailand for the past 12 years and have never used air coditioning. Fans do not make a room cooler. The air moving past your body takes the heat away with it making you feel cooler. To my mind air coditioning cannot be healthy as you are moving from a relatively cold place into a hot place and vice versa every time you enter or leave your house. Yes fans are very much cheaper to use than an air conditioner.

Answer 9

Not knowing where you live, could be that there are many ways that the fan could improve your plight.

Having retired from our local utility, I can assure you that any air conditioning costs much more to operate than your fan.

If you live in an area that cools off a lot in the non-sunlight hours, you would want to take advantage of the cooler air.

When the temperature outside drops below your inside temperature, open your windows, use your fan to exhaust the hotter air from your home.  Cool as much as possible.  In the morning, as the outside temperature exceeds the inside temperature, close all windows, draw your blinds and shades to keep the sun out.  Use your fans to circulate the inside air.

Air conditioning is really a recent invention for the home owner, just a mere 50 years ago, in many areas, A/C was a real luxury.

Answer 10

The previous 2 are correct, its a matter of comfort not temperature.  Running an AC has nothing to do with ozone, people are confused on this.  The old problem was the freon in AC's we bad for the ozone, but since we stopped making that freon, its not a problem.

Answer 11

There are 3 ways to transfer heat, and the method of convection..or air in this case, is one of the least efficient. Not to mention that the elctricity to run any kind of electric motor, since it isn't the electricity directly that runs the fan, but the build up of a magnetic field from electricity running through the motor wires. I wo'nt get into electromotive forces and 'slip' discussions here to make it easy but the inefficiency of an electric motor and air in general wastes energy right there.

Despite this inefficient method though, an A/C system uses a fan as well, but most of the power goes to running the conpressor and making the cooling cycle operate. So yes, a fan is more energy saving than an A/C system..in general...depending on how long you have to run the fan to equate to the same cooling effect of the A/C.

But again due to the inefficiency of air to maintain its cool once the A/C is shut off, I can't see the time on being that much less for an A/C system with this large of a house, compared to the continuous running of a fan to keep the air moving.