How much extra does running a fan at night add to your energy bill?
AN intense plume heading in from Spain is set to bake the UK in a heatwave today.
With highs of 35C, it will make the UK hotter than the Caribbean.
To keep cool, many of us will be dusting off our electric fans, or splashing out on buying a new one.
But how much does it cost to run an electric fan, and what difference will this make to your annual electricity bill?
Here we explain everything you need to know.
How much electricity does a fan use?
The cost of running an electric fan depends on a few different things including, how long it's on for, what kind of fan it is, and how much you usually pay for your electricity.
The first thing you need to do is check how much electricity your fan uses when it's on.
This is known as the "wattage" and should be shown on the fan, or on the original packaging or instructions leaflet.
Once you have the wattage, you need to convert this into kilowatt hours by dividing the number by 1,000.
For example, if your fan has a wattage of 50, divide this by 1,000 to get 0.05. Then multiply this number with the number of hours you're using it for.
If it's on for 10 hours a day, for example, you'll have 0.5kW, and this is the amount of energy your fan uses per day.
How can I get to sleep when it's hot?
EXPERTS have issued the following tips to help you get a good night's sleep.
- Keep bedroom curtains closed during the day
- Use cotton sheets, which will absorb sweat and help you sleep more comfortably
- Open a window an hour before you go to bed
- Use a fan to circulate air around the room. If you place a bowl of ice in front of it your room will become cooler as the ice melts.
- Put sheets in the freezer for a few minutes before bedtime
- Don't go commando - sleep in cotton pyjamas, to let your skin breathe and ensure that any sweat is soaked up
How much does my fan cost to run?
To work out the cost of using your fan, you need to find out how much you pay for electricity.
If you check one of your statements from your energy provider, it should list how much it charges for one unit of energy (which is 1kw).
Multiply this amount by the kW output of your fan. For example, if you pay 16p for a unit of energy, multiply this by 0.5kW and you'll end up with 8p.
The equation is: Cost = power (kilowatt) × time (hour) × cost of 1 kWh (pence).
But how much extra will you pay if you're running the fan throughout the night to stay cool?
We used a free energy use calculator to find out how much running an electric fan for 12 hours a day would cost.
Based on a fan with a wattage of 50, and with one unit of energy costing 16p, it would cost 7p a day, £2.19 a month, or £26.29 a year.
Obviously this depends on how long you have the fan on, as you're not going to have it on every day of the year.
To cut costs on your energy bill the easiest thing to do is switch providers, especially if you haven't done so in a while.
This can knock hundreds off your annual bills and it's quick to check via a comparison website.
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