It is much cheaper to run fans all day than to run air conditioning all day, by a factor of 10 to 20 times. A typical household box fan or tower fan uses 50 to 100 watts of electricity, which costs about 1 to 2 cents per hour at average US electricity rates, or about 20 to 50 cents for 24 hours. A high-velocity air mover uses 200 to 800 watts, costing 3 to 12 cents per hour. In contrast, a central air conditioner uses 3000 to 5000 watts, costing 40 to 70 cents per hour, and a window AC uses 500 to 1500 watts, costing 8 to 20 cents per hour. Running central AC all day can cost 10 to 15 dollars per day, while running a fan all day costs less than a dollar. However, fans do not actually lower air temperature, they only make you feel cooler through wind chill when you are in the airflow. Air conditioners actually remove heat and lower temperature. The most cost-effective strategy is to use both together, run the AC to cool the house to a moderate temperature, then use fans to circulate cool air and create wind chill so you can set the thermostat 4 to 6 degrees higher and save 20 to 30 percent on cooling costs. Running fans in empty rooms wastes energy, so turn them off when no one is present, unlike AC which can be set back but not completely off if you want to avoid humidity and mold.
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