Fans & Air Circulators: Quiet, Low-Cost Cooling for Every Room

Very little. A typical tower or pedestal fan uses around 40-50 watts, so at roughly 26p per kWh it costs only about 1p to 1.3p an hour. A low-energy DC-motor fan can cost under half a penny an hour on its lowest setting. Even running all night, you're looking at just a few pence.

Most AC-motor tower fans draw between 40 and 60 watts at full speed. Efficient DC-motor models like the MeacoFan range use far less, from around 3.5 watts on low up to roughly 30 watts on high. Fans are rated in watts rather than BTU because they circulate air instead of removing heat from the room.

DC-motor fans are the quietest for sleeping, often dropping below 25dB on their lowest setting, which is barely audible. Look for a model with a dedicated sleep mode and a sleep timer, and ideally one that is Quiet Mark certified. Tower and bladeless fans tend to be quieter than basic AC pedestal fans.

Neither is simply better; it depends on the room. Tower fans are slim, take up little floor space and look tidy in a bedroom or living room. Pedestal fans are height-adjustable and usually push more air over a wider area, making them better for cooling larger or busier spaces.

A pedestal fan has a traditional bladed head on an adjustable stand, so you can raise, lower and tilt it for wider, more powerful airflow. A tower fan is a tall, slim column that oscillates from a fixed height, giving a smoother, quieter draught and a more compact footprint. Pedestal fans often move more air; tower fans usually look neater and run quieter.

Buy a fan if you mainly want to feel cooler cheaply and quietly, as it costs only pennies an hour to run. Choose a portable air conditioner if you genuinely need to lower the room's temperature, for example in a hot south-facing bedroom or home office. Bear in mind portable ACs cost far more to run and need their exhaust hose vented out of a window, so they aren't truly hose-free.

A fan is far cheaper. A fan typically costs around 1p an hour, whereas a portable air conditioner drawing 900-1,200 watts costs roughly 23-31p an hour at 26p per kWh. Over a hot week that difference adds up significantly, so a fan is the better choice when you only need to feel cooler rather than chill the room.

DC-motor fans are more energy-efficient, quieter and offer more speed settings, often using under 4 watts on low, which makes them ideal for bedrooms and all-day use. AC-motor fans are cheaper to buy and perfectly good for occasional cooling. If running costs and quiet operation matter to you, a DC fan is the better long-term buy.