Air conditioners and box fans are most effective when used together.
Box fans and air conditioners each have their own benefits and drawbacks. Box fans are inexpensive and create pleasant breezes, but don't lower room temperature. Air conditioners -- while more expensive -- efficiently cool your home but fail to help the cold air circulate. When it comes to choosing between the two, there are several factors to consider. Although keeping cool is the ultimate goal of summer, you must take other things, such as the cost of operation, into consideration.
Cost to Operate
The amount of money it costs to run a box fan or air conditioner depends on the amount of electricity used, and the cost of electricity. Its cheaper to run a box fan than an air conditioner, because a box fan is considerably smaller and uses much less electricity. According to Naturally-Speaking, a website dedicated to nature and conservation, box fans use about 50 watts of energy per hour of continuous use. A home central air conditioner system uses about 3500 watts of energy per hour of continuous use. If you run the box fan on high for 24 hours a day, the monthly total would come to about $12 per month (at 16 cents per kWh). If you run the air conditioner for only eight hours a day for a month, your total bill would cost about $136.
Working Together
Using your box fan along with your air conditioner will help you conserve energy. Keep box fans in each room in your home to help circulate the cool air put out by your air conditioner. Although box fans don't actually lower room temperature, they create a wind chill effect by speeding up the evaporation of moisture on your skin, making your body feel cooler. With fans helping cool you off, you can lower the setting on your air conditioner or raise your thermostat a few degrees. You'll reduce the amount of energy needed for your ac to work, and save money on your electricity bill.
Box Fan Tips
You can keep your house cool using box fans without an air conditioner. During the hottest parts of the day, place box fans in the windows of your home facing outward. Leave internal doors open, and windows without a fan closed. This will create a vacuum effect, and suck the hot air out of . Keep shades and blinds drawn to keep out hot sunlight. During the cool parts of the day, face your box fans inside to fill your home with cooler air.
Air Conditioner Tips
If your thermostat can accommodate programmable settings, set it to shut off when you leave home and turn back on about an hour before your return. Leaving your air conditioner on all day forces the machine to cool hot air repeatedly in your absence, wasting energy.
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