Fans, Electricity, And You: How Much Electricity Do Fans Use?

Fans are like the internet of yester year. We can not imagine life sans one, especially in a hot environment. It is one of the most important things that put a smile on our faces when we return home from a hot, humid and unforgiving day we spend working so hard! In ancient times, this smile was free when fans were ‘hand-operated’. Now it comes with a cost, albeit an affordable one. And that my dear friends, is electricity, which costs money. So, let us take a look at the consumption of this wonderful appliance.

Types of Fans Using Electricity As Power

Before generalizing about the savings, making an informed decision is always wise. In order to do that, let’s get to know the most common types of fans available in the market.

The folding fan

Also called a Japanese (or Oriental) folding fan, you just flap it near your face to get instant, short bursts of wind. This is one of the most ideal fans you can purchase.

Why?

a) it is cheap;

b) it is portable;

c) it is ergonomic,

and d) it does not cost electricity!

Well, it can not beat the price of the local newspaper or a magazine in your local barbershop. But its ergonomic design arguably helps your wrists last longer while you are flapping away.

Recommended Folding Fans

  • Material - These floral folding hand fans are made of fabric with luxury printed vintage flowers, lace around edge, metal U ring, and hollow carved plastic staves.
  • Floral hand fan size: Length 9 inches; Opened Width 16.5 inches.
  • Package include: 8pcs folding fans of random color to match your wearing or dancing outfit.
  • Occasions - These folding hand fans are great for themed party, home decoration, wall decoration, festival season, school play, tea party, Halloween costume, dancing, wedding, prom, pageant, cosplay or any other special occasion. Also excellent as a gift for your loved ones.
  • BABEYOND IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK IN US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE.

The ceiling fan

This is (almost) the staple appliance of a majority of households, as far as cooling solutions are concerned. It consists of a central motor with three or more blades attached strategically. The entire unit is hung on a hook from the ceiling. The motor works on electricity and rotates the blades which pump the air over it down on your heads.

Recommended Ceiling Fans

  • Indoor 48-inch vintage-style ceiling fan is ideal for large rooms up to 225 square feet (15 feet by 15 feet) with standard ceilings
  • Barnwood finish fan with reversible blades in reclaimed hickory/pewter ash finishes, light kit includes three medium base ST15 filament LED light bulbs
  • Remote control included for convenient operation, four speed control, on/off function for fan and on/off/dimmer for light
  • High-quality motor delivers powerful air movement and quiet performance, reverse function for summer/winter operation
  • Down rod only installation, illustrated instruction manual included, Lifetime motor and two-year on all other parts

The table fan

This is a miniature version of the ceiling fan, which can be kept on a – you guessed it – table! Some similar, bigger capacity fans have long support which keeps them upright; and these are called pedestal fans or mist fans.

Recommended Table Fans

  • OSCILLATING TABLE FAN – The Honeywell QuietSet 13” Personal Table Fan provides powerful personal cooling with quiet operation and a slim, compact design. Choose what’s best for your environment with 4 levels of sound and power settings in one small fan.
  • QUIET COOLING – Not just a personal fan, this oscillating tower fan offers powerful cooling with less sound. It features a compact size, quiet operation, oscillation, automatic shut-off timer and 4 levels of sound/power, so you’re always comfortable.
  • CUSTOMIZE YOUR COMFORT – With multiple options for sound and power, you’ll always be cool. This compact fan is great as a fan for a bedroom, on nightstands, desks and more. Customize your cooling to however you like it with this quiet fan.
  • SMART SAVINGS – Fans for home are an easy way to cool down any space and improve airflow. Give your air conditioner a break by using a portable indoor fan to help reduce your energy consumption and costs.*
  • HONEYWELL QUALITY – Help improve cooling and energy savings* anywhere in your home like the living room, bedroom or office using a Honeywell fan. We offer personal fans, whole room fans, tower fans and oscillating fans that are a great choice.

The tower fan

This fan comes in the shape of a tower and is operated by a motor just like the above two, but differs in the mode of air circulation with additional features like filtration and ionization. These fans boast an efficiency in the operation of their motors.

Recommended Tower Fans

  • 【Meet Your Cooling Needs】Personalize cooling effective with 3 optional airflow mode including Normal, Natural and Sleep, as well as 3 quiet speed setting from low, medium to high can meet all your cooling needs.
  • 【Adjustable Size】Unique design of adjustable size, easily switch between 36 and 42 inches without any tools. Ideal for bedroom, livingroom, kitchen, RV, office, etc. It also comes with a build-in handle for easy transport.
  • 【Enjoy Quiet Cooling】Feature with ultra silent operation, LED display auto off after 30 seconds and widespread oscillation, give you undisturbed and cooling sleep.
  • 【Easy to Use】The user-friendly remote control features multiple speed settings, fan modes, oscillation, and a convient 7 hours auto on/off timer which bring you convenient use experience and automatic energy saving.
  • 【Safety for Family】Equipped with narrow fence to protect children from putting fingers in it. The heavy stand base provide protection against falling. This tower fan is ideal for families with children and pets.

Wattage, Volts, and Amps

So, the big question is, “How much electricity do these fans consume?” That depends on the motor that is used in any kind of fan as well as its speed setting. Each motor has a voltage rating (Volts), an ampere rating (Amps), and/or a Wattage rating (Watts). These ratings are specified on the label of the fan (or its motor unit). Assuming 1 Kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 1000 watts of electricity used per hour to be equal to 1 unit of electricity on your meter, you can calculate the units consumed by the fan by simply dividing its wattage rating by 1000.

So, for an ultra-power-saving, Energy Star fan with a 20-Watt rating, the amount of electricity consumed is (20 ÷ 1000 = 0.02) or 0.02 units at maximum speed. It’s that simple.

If you don’t know the wattage rating or can not find it, just look for the ampere rating on that fan. Once you have found it, multiply it by 110 or 120, (which must be the standard voltage of the electric supply in the US) and behold! You have your wattage rating. So, a fan with 0.16 Amp rating amounts to 0.16 x 120 = 19.2 Watts (approximately 20, a ‘marketing-friendly’ number) or 0.02 units for you.

And, there it is – basic mathematics saving your bills. Of course, the higher capacity motors draw more electricity, while the lower capacity ones draw less. Among the range of household fans available in the market, you can find these 20-Watt fans for economic use or 100 to 110-watt high-end ones which utilize to 0.02 to 0.11 units of electricity per hour respectively.

Considering a rate of $0.15 per unit and 24-hour use, a fan uses as low as $2.19 [ (0.02 units) x (24 hours) x (365 days) ÷ (12 months) x ($0.15) ] or as high as $12.045 worth of electricity per month. Not bad!