Cooling with a ceiling fan might seem “old school,” but in the quest to keep your home comfortable, it can save energy and money. You can find one at local home-improvement and hardware stores for as little as $50. (Depending on the size of the room you want to cool, the price may be higher.) Also, look for Energy Star ceiling fans, because they cost even less to run, and that adds up over time.
“Ceiling fans are really inexpensive to use, compared to other cooling methods” said DuWayne Dunham, energy services supervisor at Clark Public Utilities. “At the current electric rate, you can run one six hours every day for a month for just 90 cents — that’s 3 cents a day. Even if you’ve got ceiling fans in multiple rooms, that’s not much.”
Running an air conditioner or a heat pump can add up on the monthly bill because they use more energy. Depending on the technology, and how low you set the thermostat, the costs can be managed to remain reasonable. Even still, running a ceiling fan can help keep you cool, for pennies.
Ceiling fans don’t work as air conditioners do, and they don’t provide the same type of cooling. Air conditioners remove heat from air, actually changing the temperature, while the ceiling fans just move air around. The air moving across your skin and evaporating moisture is what makes you feel cooler. For this reason, it’s not necessary to run fans when you’re not in the room; just turn them on when you get home.
“Moving air can make you feel as much as eight degrees cooler than the air around you,” Dunham said. “Fans aren’t as effective on those scorching days, but they’re a great choice for moderate days and as part of an effective strategy to stay cool inexpensively.”
Other tips
In addition to fans, Dunham suggests these ways to keep cooler on hot days without running up your utility bill:
• Set your thermostat to 76 degrees or higher. If you have air conditioning, the higher the setting when it’s hot out, the more energy you’ll save. The same is true for heating in the winter, in reverse.
• Mornings and evenings the outside air temperatures are often cooler. Take time to open doors and windows when temperatures drop to purge the house of heat. Then close up your home to keep heat outside during the hottest parts of the day.
• Window coverings, drapes, blinds or awnings also help keep out heat. Close blinds in the early part of the day and open them when it’s cooler. Air conditioners work two to three times harder when sunlight is allowed to pour in through windows.
• Whenever electrical appliances are running, they produce heat. So turn off appliances, computers and other entertainment devices. When you need light, use LED bulbs that produce almost no heat compared to incandescent or halogen bulbs.
• Run laundry loads late in the day. Cook using a microwave or toaster oven instead of the oven, or grill outdoors. Be sure the clothes dryer vents outdoors and wait to run it when it’s cooler outside. On a warm day, hanging your clothes to dry outdoors is a great alternative as well.
• Wash only full loads in the dishwasher during the cooler part of the day and use the air-dry cycle.
• If you use an air conditioner or heat pump, have it tuned-up once a year to make sure you get the maximum efficiency. Tune-ups are inexpensive, compared to repairs or replacement, and can extend the lifespan of the system as well as improve efficiency. Check to see the filters are clean. For outside units check that they are free of trash and leaves.
Together, these strategies can help keep you cool and comfortable without a big impact on the electric bill.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
