Aircon vs Fan: Which Comes Out on Top?

When deciding how to cool your home, it can be difficult to decide which appliance to choose. Both air-conditioning and fans have beneficial features, but you may find that one is better suited to your needs. In this post, we’ll compare aircon vs fan to see which is best for you.

Advantages of fans

The main advantage of a fan is that it uses less electricity than an air conditioning unit. This makes it cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

Not only are they cheaper to run, but they’re usually much cheaper to buy.

They also tend to be much more portable than air conditioning units. Even portable air conditioning units usually need attaching to a window, whereas fans are completely freestanding.

Disadvantages of fans

Fans can make you feel cooler, but they don’t actually do anything to change the room temperature. Similarly, they don’t impact the humidity, so can be even more ineffective on humid days.

The most inconvenient aspect of using a fan is that they only work at close range. You need to be sitting relatively close to a fan to feel any change, which is fine if you’re just working at a desk. If you’re moving around, or trying to cool multiple people, you can set the fan to spin around, but this is rarely effective.

Fans should be used carefully on especially hot days as they can increase dehydration. This is because they work by increasing the rate of evaporation of your sweat, but this causes your body to lose moisture quicker. Because of this, they can also cause dry skin, dry eyes and a sore throat.

Finally, fans do nothing to filter the air that they’re circulating. This means that dust and other allergens can be sent around the room, which is bad news if you’re prone to hay fever.

Advantages of aircon

Air conditioning works by actually cooling the air, decreasing the room temperature. Most air conditioning units dehumidify air as part of this process, which can help you prevent mould.

Air conditioning units contain a thermostat that means they can turn on and off automatically, only working when they are needed.

Some units even have a quiet night mode so that they don’t disturb you while you sleep.

Disadvantages of aircon

Air-conditioning units are generally more expensive to purchase and run than fans, simply because they do more.

The filters also need changing regularly, in order to protect the mechanism inside. This is an extra cost to consider.

Aircon can be more difficult to install without professional help. There are usually elements both indoors and outdoors, requiring lots of parts to be placed correctly for the unit to function.

Aircon vs fan: the verdict

If the weather isn’t too hot and you’re on a tight budget, you might find that a fan does the job. However, if it gets really hot and humid, you’ll want air conditioning on your side.

Need help installing your aircon?

Air conditioning is an investment that certainly pays off when the weather warms up. If you want to get a better idea of how much it will cost, COA Services offers no-obligation quotes for supplying and installing air-conditioning throughout Leeds and Harrogate.

For more information email [email protected] or phone 01423408336.