How much does it cost to leave a fan on all night? | The Sun

ANOTHER heatwave is on the horizon with the Met Office predicting temperatures could reach the early 30s later this week.

Households across the UK will be turning on their fans to keep from sweltering in the heat.

But how much does it cost to run a fan and how much could it add to your energy bills?

Summer months are when you ideally should be saving on your bills, drying your clothes outside in the summery breeze instead of having to use costly tumble dryers.

But even with your indoor heating turned down or maybe even completely off, having a fan on could see you rack up unwanted costs.

And new research recently revealed household bills could rise by up to £6,000 this winter.

 

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So learning how to cut costs where you can has never been more important.

It comes with the energy cap, set by the regulator Ofgem, set to rise to over £3,000 later this year.

It will also be reviewed every three months from October which means households on standard default tariffs could see their bills rise more often.

If you're getting hot under the collar about rising costs, we explain how much you could be paying to keep cool.

How much energy does a fan use?

To work this out you need to find out how much electricity your fan uses.

First, you need to find out its "wattage", which will give you the answer and tell you the amount of power it's using.

Then you need to find the total output you will have to turn that wattage into kilowatt hours.

There's a little bit of maths involved though.

First, you have to divide the kilowatt hours by 1,000 which will give you how much output is used in one hour.

Therefore, if your fan is 70 watts output on its high setting and you always use this, divide 70 by 1000 = 0.07.

You then need to multiply this number by the number of hours you've used the fan.

For example, if you're using it for 12 hours at a time, then 0.07kW x 12 hours will mean 0.84kW output.

How much does it cost to leave a fan on all night?

One you have your kilowatt output, you need to multiple it by the amount you are charged for 1 kW of electricity.

There is no standard price for electricity cost per kWh in the UK, so you'll need to look on your energy bill to find this amount.

One thing to bear in mind is that if you are on a default tariff and subject to the price cap, then your supplier can currently charge up to 28p per kWh.

With this in mind, you'd take your 0.84kW, and times it by 28 – equalling 23.5p.

The equation is: cost = power (kilowatt) × time (hour) × cost of 1 kWh (pence).

So if your fan costs 23.5p to have on for 12 hours, and you have it on for a full week, that adds up to £1.64 across the seven days.

If you repeated that across the month, the cost would be £7.28.

Obviously, costs will vary depending on what type of fan you have, how long you're using it for, what setting it's on and how much you pay for your energy.

Will Owen, energy savings expert at Uswitch.com, said: “Running a 70W fan for 12 hours will cost you almost 24 pence, and if you’re worried about your energy bill there are a few tricks to keep your costs down.

“Fans are at their most efficient on their lowest power setting, so pick the slowest speed that gives you a decent cooling breeze.

“You could place your fan in front of an open window to improve its cooling effect, but if it’s an especially hot day, this may mean blowing warm air through the house. A better trick is to place a bowl of ice cubes in front of the fan, which will give you a lovely cool breeze.

“If you’ve just got your fan out of the garage or attic it may have accumulated a lot of dust, which can reduce the efficiency of the mechanism. Give your fan a good clean, removing any dust from the blades and any other surfaces.”

The difference betweenKilowatts and Watts

IF you’re trying to calculate energy usage the terms can be confusing, according to OVO Energy

kW stands for kilowatt. A kilowatt is simply 1,000 watts, which is a measure of power.

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of energy.

So a 1,000 watt drill needs 1,000 watts (1 kW) of power to make it work, and uses 1 kWh of energy in an hour.

That’s why, if you leave a TV or computer on standby, it is still using power and creating a kWh cost on your energy bill

Do fans make a room cooler?

Although fans can't make a room cooler, they can make you feel cooler.

The air moving over your skin can lower your body temperature but won't do much about the heat inside a room.

So if you don't plan on being in the room there's no point of leaving the fan on as it won't do anything to the heat inside the room itself.

How else can I keep cool in the heat?

Relying on just a fan to keep you cool could be adding to bills during a heatwave, but there are other options you could try.

You could try cooling your sheets down before bed by sticking them in the freezer, according to TikTok star That Property Guy.

Shutting curtains and blinds during the day can help the house stay cool, while opening the windows on both sides of your home can create a cooling through-breeze without the cost.

He also recommends avoiding using the oven and turning off appliances which are not in use as they kick off heat too, even on standby.

Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said that having a cool shower before bed can set you up for the night to avoid overheating.

You could try putting hot water bottles in the freezer, or a plastic bottle if you don't have one.

You could also make your fan work harder by putting a a bowl of with water and ice in front to cool down the house.

We have also calculated how much it costs to leave your air conditioner on all night.

It's not just us struggling in the heat, here's eight gadgets to keep cool in a heatwave – including your furry friends.

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