Well, when we first bought our house 4 years ago, the old meter here made our electricy bill run around $40-$50 a month during the summer months (our house is only about 975 sq ft). Then a couple years ago the upgraded it (said they had to) and suddenly were were getting bills in the $90-$100 range! We finally got ceiling fans in our two bedrooms and they run non-stop during the summertime. Even though they do help keep us cooler, I still find that I need to keep the air on at at least 79-80 degrees. But our last bill was still around $87. So, for me, it doesn't really seem to be saving us any money. I'm looking forward to when we can get all new double-pain windows in our homes to replace the single-pain windows. Then I know for sure our electric bill will be a lot lower.
It really just depends. If it means you can leave the air conditioner off more often, then yeah, it's usually going to make a difference in the bill. If you're running both almost just as much anyway, then no, it's not going to matter.
I always use my ceiling fan and a regular box fan. They do the job of cooling off the house, and there's really no point in running the AC for no reason. I try to cut back as much as possible. The bill is so high if you run the AC, I would rather find alternatives to cool off the the house. Closing your blinds also helps because you shut out the light that heats up your home.
Very interesting comments. I have been running the A/C a lot with the ceiling fan, to circulate the air. While adjusting the A/C a bit higher. I was worried that my electric bill was going to shock me silly, but was pleasantly surprised with the bill, which was lower than $100.
I believe that my ceiling fans help keep my cooling cost down. With the fan circulating the air and creating a breeze it at least feels like it's cooler in the room. Because of this I do not have to turn my AC down so low, so I think it does help to lower to electricity bill.
My mom and dad have an A/C and a ceiling fan in their room and during the summer, they keep both of them on during the night. Their room isn't too big, so I always tell them they're wasting power with the ceiling fan. I mean, it's not like they're in the living room, where sometimes not even an A/C is enough during a hot day.
We have a big, old house...1600 sq feet and built in 1925 so it has a tendency to be overly hot or cold. The fans definitely help because I don't have to keep dropping the temperature and can regulate each room at that point instead of having a the a/c run for 30 minutes to drop 1 degree.
When I was living in a warmer/more humid city, I used to have the timer set on the a/c to switch off in the middle of the night; and leave the fan running all through the night. The fan did help in circulating the cool air even after the a/c had been turned off. So yes, it did help to bring down electricity costs by 20% or so.
I think the fan helps to make it cooler, by circulating the air, thus allowing you, as some have said, to not have the A/C so low, thereby reducing cost.
I am not sure about the bill but we do keep the fans running all the time. We can cut the A/C off at time with the fans going. I find that with the fans running the A/C unit does not click on as often. We all so stay in the lower level of the house where it is cooler longer.
ceiling fans make the air feel cooler on your skin, they dont actually lower the temperature of the air. It can save you money because you can raise the temp on the AC and save money that way and you can not run AC on bearable days and just run the fans.
I think it does help to run the ceiling fan in the living room. I have noticed that the AC will kick on more often when the ceiling fan is off. It also helps that the air is circulating and it definately feels much cooler when it is on.
All of your comments point to the fact, that with air circulating from running the fan, it helps you to keep the A/C off or at a higher temperature, which is good.
When I have the ceiling fan on, I can still feel comfortable with the air conditioner set to a slightly higher temperature. A higher temperature setting means that the compressor doesn't have to work that much. That translates into a saving on the electricity bill.
We don't have air conditioning, as we both have breathing problems, but several of our neighbours have fitted ceiling fans after having high A/C bills. They reckon it saves around 20% on their electric bills, and our electric bills are 20% less than theirs, as we only have ceiling fans, so yes, it would seem that there are significant savings to be made.
I have a junky little air conditioner in my 3rd floor apartment, which is in a very old building...and the original wooden windows. No matter what I doI have to leave my air run continually the temperate in my apartment will shoot right up to 93-95 degrees. Whether my ceiling fans are on or off, my air conditioner stays on. Making my electric bills run about $170 in the summer months. Thankfully, we will be moving by the end of next month. Hopefully this helps reduce my electric bill.
Technically speaking, it does because the ceiling fan uses less electricity than the A/C, unless I'm mistaken. However, looking at it the practical way, I can't depend on fan alone because it's really hot over here at certain times of the year. There IS a slight decrease in bill when our family uses the A/C less though.
I don't think that they lower the bill. I think it feels better when you're sitting under one but that's about it. I really just think they're for comfort and that they should be turned off when you're not in the room because at that point you would just be wasting money. My husband is in the mind-set that if you leave them running continuously that they're circulating the air, yadda yadda....I just disagree.
There is some savings on the electric bill, because your A/C could be set higher, and should, as a result lower energy cost.
