Fan vs. air conditioner: Which is right for your home?
How to choose the best cooling solution for you
Credit:
Reviewed / Vornado / GE
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It's that time of the year when temperatures start warming up across the country, and you may find yourself looking for ways to keep yourself cool.
For the over-heated consumer, this has rekindled an old debate: Fan vs. air conditioner.
As you might have guessed, the answer can vary from person to person, depending on several factors. To understand this—and to determine which cooling solution is best for you—we first need to look at how each technology works. Plus we'll tell you about our favorite fan and air conditioners: The Vorndao 660 fan and GE Profile PHC08LY air conditioner.
Fan vs. air conditioner: Here's how they keep you cool
A fan vs. air conditioner helps you stay cool in very different ways. Both are primarily leveraging the cooling power of evaporation.
Fans blow air over your skin, which promotes moisture evaporation. Evaporation is an endothermic process, meaning the moisture absorbs heat from its surroundings as it turns into vapor. Part of what makes fans so efficient is they aren’t cooling down the whole room, just you.
Air conditioners work by drawing in heat from the environment and moving it elsewhere.
Air conditioners utilize the same mechanism, but in a far more complex way. Inside your air conditioner is a coil of coolant that’s continuously undergoing evaporation and condensation. Air is pulled into the air conditioner and cooled by the evaporation process. The condensation process happens elsewhere in the unit, allowing the heat to be radiated outside your home.
Fan vs. air conditioner: The cost of cooling
While it’s common knowledge that cooling your home will increase your energy bill—but did you know air conditioners use 100 times more energy than fans?
It takes significantly more energy for an air conditioner to move heat around than it takes a fan to blow air onto your skin. As a result, parking yourself in front of a fan vs. an air conditioner is significantly more energy efficient. Fans use around 1% of the electricity consumed by air conditioners. You could leave a fan running for a full 24 hours and still use less energy than 15 minutes of air conditioning.
While there are ways to minimize how much energy your home A/C is using, fans should be the go-to cooling option for the environmentally-conscious.
Our no 1. rated fan, the Vornado 660, does a great job of maximizing wind speed without your energy bill taking a hit.
This fan out-performed the competition with its ability to quickly circulate air throughout an entire room.
Read Our ReviewWhen fans just can't cut it
While they’re a significantly more energy-efficient way of helping you stay cool, fans aren’t always a perfect solution.
While ideal in many circumstances, you should avoid using a fan when temperatures start to heat up.
By speeding up the rate at which moisture evaporates from your skin, fans are also increasing your rate of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This is why the CDC only recommends using fans at temperatures below 95°F. Increasing hot-air circulation and sweat evaporation can actually speed up heat-related illnesses, like heat exhaustion.
Unless you're able to use the fan to pull in cooler air from outside, it's best to leave it off.
Fans don’t lower the overall humidity, either. Plus, humidity can make you feel hotter.
On humid days, sweat will evaporate off your skin more slowly, which further limits the effectiveness of a fan.
Fans, such as ceiling fans, desk fans, and window fans are best when used at close range. While the strongest fans will be able to circulate air throughout the entire room, they're much more effective if you're parked right in front of them.
When air conditioning is a good option
Though they come with their own issues, air conditioners are simply the best cooling option for certain circumstances.
While air conditioners use lots of energy, they’re the most comfortable cooling option when temperatures start to rise. Since they reduce the ambient heat in your environment, they’re much better at cooling larger areas. And air conditioners also help to remove moisture from the air, reducing humidity and letting your body dissipate heat more efficiently. If it’s above 95°F, air conditioners are your best bet for cooling.
If you're still worried about energy consumption, we recommend our no 1. rated window air conditioner, the GE Profile PHC08LY. Not only will it effectively reduce the humidity, but it also fears energy-saving settings to keep your energy bill as conservative as possible.
4.9
This is our top-rated window air conditioner, due to its cooling capabilities, quiet operation, and smart features.
Read Our ReviewWhich option is best for you?
So at the end of the day, is a fan or air conditioner right for your cooling needs?
A direct comparison between using a fan vs. air conditioner is unfair since each one helps you cool down in different ways. Determining which one is better for you depends on current conditions, needs, and size of your space.
Use a fan if:
- It’s less than 95°F
- It’s not very humid
- You can position yourself close to the fan
- You want to use less electricity
Use an air conditioner if:
- It’s over 95°F
- It’s humid
- You’re looking to cool a large area
- You can afford a higher electrical bill
Whatever you decide, we’ve got you covered. We've lab tested the best fans, desk fans, window fans, air conditioners, portable air conditioners, and even cooling mattresses available, so you can figure out the best fan or A/C to suit your needs. We can even help you figure out how to choose between a portable or window air conditioner.
During a heatwave, you don’t have time to mess around with products that don’t get the job done. Shop smart and keep yourself cool!
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