Want to cut back on your energy usage and save some money? Then skip the AC and turn on a fan. According to The New York Times, a standard window air conditioning unit uses 1,200 watts and costs 14 cents an hour to run, while a typical ceiling fan running at a medium speed operates on 30 watts an hour and costs just one penny every three hours to run. We know they save energy, but how well do they work? The Times tested three models—the Emerson Midway Eco ceiling fan ($450), the Air King Whole House Window Fan ($137), and the Air King 36-inch Industrial Grade Drum Fan ($400). See how they stacked up below:
The Reviews
Emerson Midway Eco Fan: After a complicated installation due to a missing parts bag, the Midway Eco fan's "motor and mount were squeakless," and "the blades gave off a tranquil white-noise whir, with a faint cyclonic overtone." The fan did lose points on style, though: the author called the all-white fan body "bulbous and amoeboid."
Air King Whole House Window Fan: Described as "DMV chic" with an appearance "less industrial than institutional," the author said the fan sounded like the "strained roar of a prop plane." (Read: LOUD.) However, it still did the trick. The author writes, "Yes, the Air King is indifferent to fashion. Yes, it’s intolerably loud. And still it blows most cheap fans away."
AIR KING 36" Industrial Grade Drum Fan: this industrial fan was, well, pretty industrial. Loud and "brawny and all metal," the author mused that the individual who'd like this fan "might be classified as livestock. Or maybe an artist who lives in an open 4,000-square-foot warehouse and enjoys listening to Stockhausen's 'Helicopter String Quartet.'" As a home fan, it was totally effective, but likely not very practical due to the noise level.
• Read the whole article and more details about each of these fans at The New York Times.
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The whole house fan is loud but I generally only have to turn it on for 5 minutes to suck the cool night air in from outside. (not sure if the one reviewed is a similar type?).
I am always attracted to the big giant industrial fans at Home Depot. Thank goodness I only have an 800 sq ft space or one of those bad boys would've already made it into the back of the truck.
I've got a whole house fan, huge windows placed to take advantage of the cross ventilation breezeway & venting in the roof. Also a 4ft sloping overhang on the roof. It brings a smile to my face when someone visits for the first time and says "oh, you have AC?". "Nope, fooled ya....", I reply.
i'd be interested in more (and better) reviews of fans to be used instead of AC. I don't really care if it's hideous...I do care how well it keeps me cool and if it's ridiculously loud.
We paid a lot of money to have central AC installed in our old Philadelphia rowhouse. The summers here are pretty brutal, particularly due to the humidity. But my house also has ceiling fans. I hate the looks of them, but they are very effective, and allow us to keep the AC system set considerably warmer than we'd otherwise like.
The AC system cuts the humidity, and the fans do the rest. Works for us.
I have to agree with Contrabass, living on the humid East Coast, AC is almost essential during those days in July and August where no amount of air circulation will provide relief from the humidity, even at night. Fans do help from having to keep the AC set so low though.
I live in Phoenix, AZ. It was 99 degrees outside at 11 o'clock last night. I run fans, ceiling fans, the AC, and take around 4 cool showers a day.
But at least it's a dry heat.
Vornados win. They're better than ceiling fans, recirculate the entire room in minutes, and no unsightly appendage on the ceiling. They are an awesome supplement to any kind of A/C.
Did I just read "take around 4 cool showers a day" on RE-NEST?
1) Cold packs from the freezer on your neck and lower back.
2) Spritz your chest and shoulders with water whilst you sit in front of a fan. Heps immensely, and for about 1/10,000th the water (!).