In this article we will see how much power does a fan consumes. We will look into power consumption of ceiling fans, pedestal fans, table fans and coolers (tower) and also look into ways using which we can reduce their power consumption and save some electricity bill.
A standard ceiling fan without the BEE star rating has rated power of 75 watts. If we use a 75 watt fan for 12 hours in a day it will consume 900 watt hour (75 X 12) of electricity in a day, which adds upto 27 kWh of electricity in a month.
How much electricity does a fan use?
The power consumption of a fan depends on the sweep (radius) of the blades, the air delivery rate and the revolution per minute of the motor, but to give you a ballpark figure most ceiling fans has rated power anywhere between 60 -100 watts.(without BEE ratings)
If you want to find the exact rated power of your ceiling fan, then visits your fan manufacturer website or find your fan on amazon and check the description section to find the wattage of your fan.
If you don’t want to do the google search then just take 75 watts as most household fans has rated power somewhere around 75 watts +/- 10 watts.
If you are confused with what is watt, kilowatt and kWh of electricity then read this article – What is Watt, Kilowatt, Kilowatt hour (unit) of electricity?
In short Watt and kilowatt are units of power. It basically shows the rate at which power is consumed by a device. For example a 100 watt TV will consumes power at a rate of 100 watts per hour. 1 kilowatt = 1000 watt.
Kilowatt hour is the actual energy consumed by the device in an hour. For example a 100 watt TV running for 24 hours consumes 100 watt x 24 hours = 2400 watt hour or 2.4 kilowatt hour of electricity a.k.a 2.4 units of electricity.
Let’s calculate the power consumption of a fan with an example.
You have 3 fans each of 75 watts in your house, two in living room and one is bedroom. Each one of these fans runs for 4 hours during the day and 8 hours during the night. so how much power will all the three fans consume in a day and in the entire month?
We will do the calculation for one fan and then multiply it by three to get the final power consumption.
- Power consumed by one fan in a day = Rated power X Operational hours
- Power consumed by one fan in a day = 75 watt X 12 hours
- Power consumed by one fan in a day = 900 watt hours
- Power consumed by one fan in a month = 900 watt hours X 30 (Days in a month)
- Power consumed by one fan in a month = 27,000 watt hours = 27 kWh
Hence for three fans the power consumption in a month is 27 X 3 = 81 kWh.
How much electricity bill Will You Get For Using Your Fan?
To calculate the effect a fan has on your electricity bill you should know the electricity tariff in your area.
Electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for one unit (kWh) of electricity.
I live in Mumbai, India here the electricity tariff is Rs 12 per unit of electricity. Tariff = Rs 12/kWh.
Electricity bill for using a fan (Rs) = Power consumed by the fan (kWh) X Electricity tariff (Rs/kWh).
Whatever is your electricity tariff use it to calculate the the electricity bill, I will show it for my tariff.
So for the three 75 watt fans running for 12 hours In a day throughout the month, the electricity bill you will get will be 81 kWh X Rs 12/ kWh = Rs 972.
In the below chart you will see how much electricity bill you will get for using a 75 watt fan for 1 hour in a day, 12 hour in a day and 360 hours in a month.
| Operational hours | Power consumed by 60 watt fan | Electricity Bill (Rs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | 75 X 1 = 75 watt hour | 0.075 X 12 = Rs 0.90 |
| 12 hours in a day | 75 X 12 = 900 watt hour | 0.9 X 12 = Rs 10.80 |
| 12 X 30 = 360 hours in a month | 75 X 360 = 27 kilowatt hour | 27 X 12 = Rs 324 |
How Much Electricity does a fan with built in lights use?
Personally I don’t know why people opt for these fans, I know they look good but it’s terrible pain to get these fans cleaned.(Personal Opinion)
From power consumption point of view the fans with light consume same power as standard ceiling fans of same size because the light used is LED and they hardly constitute to 5 watts.
so in terms of power consumption fans with lights on them are as efficient as your standard fans.
How much power does a Pedestal Fan or Table fan use?
Pedestal fan have smaller sweep (radius) in comparison to the ceiling fan. Most common pedestal fans used have blades of 400 mm (16 inch). They are generally used in small places and can offer cooling across larger circumference because of their ability to rotate about the central rod.
In general pedestal fan rated power is between 50 watt to 60 watt, the reason for this is the high revolutions per minute they offer in comparison to the ceiling fans.
Table fan are same as pedestal fans except the vertical rod. Most commonly used table fan have blades of 400 mm (16 inch), they can either be mounted on wall or used the normal way by keeping it on a table..
The rated power of a table fan is same as pedestal fan somewhere between 50 watt to 60 watt.
You can use the below calculator to find out exact power consumption of your Pedestal or table fan.
The stand fans are quite energy efficient than other cooling appliances. Hence, If you are looking to buy a table or pedestal fan then feel free to check out this list of some power efficient top rated pedestal fans.
It’s a good investment as they are handy, easy to accommodate and can be placed anywhere.
How much power does a tower fan or a cooler consume?
Water coolers are great cheap alternative to air conditioners. Water coolers are available in sizes like 16 liter, 22 liter, 36 liter and so on and there power consumption varies from 150 watt to 300 watt depending on the size of the water cooler.
You can use the above calculator to find power consumption of your tower fan.
How to save electricity bill because of your fan:
Well you will agree with me that fans don’t consume much power after all, but there are ways using which you can reduce the power consumption of a fan by some margin, let’s look into it.
- Opt for BEE five star rated fans, they consume 10-15% less power for the same wattage and rpm than a conventional fan without BEE ratings,
- If you are planning to change your fans then opt for Brush less DC motor (BLDC) fans. They consume as low as 30 watts for same air delivery and speed.
- The obvious one is to turn off the fans when not in use. This is something we all ignore but can save you good amount on your electricity bill.
What size of fan should you buy for your house?
While buying a new fan we all wonder what size of blade we should opt for.
You can use the below guide to narrow done the perfect size of fan you should use for your room and the number of fans you should use.
What type of fan you should buy in 2020:
Well if you are planning to buy a new fan in 2020 then my suggestion will be to buy a BLDC fan with BEE five start rating.
These fan are power efficient, and give the same amount of cooling.
BLDC fan consume only 30 watt of power whereas the standard fans consume 75 watts of power but their cost is three times the cost of standard fans.
Still I feel they are well worth the investment and you should go for it if the budget permits.
I found only Atomberg Technologies provides BLDC fans in India so you can buy fans from them.
These are the 3 best ceiling fans I found on the internet in terms of less power consumption:
- BLDC Fan BEE star rated from Atomberg Technologies (amazon link) – https://amzn.to/39XrAqR
- Orient Electric (amazon link) – https://amzn.to/36TXPFH
- BLDC Fan BEE star rated by Atomberg Technologies (amazon link) – https://amzn.to/36K5oyu
Conclusion on fan power consumption:
To conclude this it is wise to say fans are highly power efficient. An average size ceiling fan has rated power of 70 watts and for 12 hours of operation they consumes 0.84 kWh of power which translates to less than Rs 12 in your electricity bill.
However there are ways using which you can cut down the power consumption of a fan by half. The best one is to replace your existing fan with BEE five star rated Brush less DC Motor (BLDC) fans.
BLDC fans consume as low as 30 watts of power and cut down the cost of running your fans by half.
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References:
Good one , I really appreciate your calculations.
It would be good idea if you provide date of article published on page. Great info otherwise.
Thanks a ton, Jayesh! Incredibly helpful articles!
Nice article. Informative. Thank you.