With energy costs on the rise, you might be looking for ways to curb your home’s cooling costs this summer, especially after the first electric bill rolls in. Our experts in the Good Housekeeping Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab always recommend the use of fans as a replacement (or at least, supplement) to air conditioners, since they cost so much less to operate.
In this comparison of window fans versus window ACs, energy costs is one of the factors we considered. But there’s more that goes into the decision, including price, installation, maintenance, and more. Here are the details of the full head-to-head.
Upfront cost
Window fans are the clear winner over window ACs when it comes to price. The fans we tested generally range from $50 to $100, while widow ACs typically run from $250 to $500, with some units costing north of $1,000. Most homes have more than one room that needs cooling, so when you multiple it out, cooling you home with fans could save you $1,000 or more over ACs. Point window fans!
Installation
This one goes to window fans, as well. Putting one of them into the window is an easy one-person job. Installing a window AC will be a two-person task for most households. What’s more, since fans are very easy to take in and out, you can do so during stretches of cooler weather, to bring fresh air into the room and to regain the full view from the window. A window AC, on the other hand, will be parked on the windowsill for the duration of the cooling season, at which point you’ll need to enlist a helper to take it out and store it for the winter.
Operating costs
Because window fans only rely on a simple electric motor to spin their blades, their energy consumption is minimal—about the same as a light fixture, which works out to a few dollars a month. Air conditioners are more complex, with a compressor, blower, and condenser fan. That makes a window AC more expensive to operate. Depending on the cost of electricity in your state, the size of the AC, and how often you run it, you’re probably looking at a monthly bill of between $30 and $50, per unit.
Cooling power
Here’s where window ACs dominate. Because of their engineering, which involves sending heat out of the room and returning cooler air into it, ACs actually lower the temperature in your home. The best models from our test do this quickly and consistently, so if you like a cool 68° F, the window AC can deliver.
Window fans, on the other hand, are designed to cool people by creating a wind chill effect. Some newer fans have a temperature control setting, but it’s a little misleading, since the setting will only adjust the fan speed based on ambient temperature in the room, spinning faster as the room heats up and slower as it cools down. No fan in the world will actually lower the temperature in the room.
That said, most window fans do have an engineering trick of their own—the ability to pull hot, stale air from the room by reversing the direction of their blades, from intake mode to exhaust mode. With dual-fan models, you might even be able to set the fans to move in opposite direction, creating a fresh air exchange in the room.
The bottom line
When it comes to maintaining maximum comfort through the long, hot summer, there’s no substitute for air conditioning. We’re not here to persuade you otherwise, despite the many benefits of window fans listed above. But if you’ve never lived with window fans before, we think you’ll be surprised at how effective they can be at keeping you cool.
There are times when a window fan might make sense, for example in a guest room, where you want to avoid the the trouble and expense of installing a window AC for only occasional use. Or if you’re lucky enough to have central AC, you can switch the system off during cooler stretches and throw in a window fan as needed for temporary spot cooling.
