Most UK households will have reintroduced their fans into their bedrooms and living rooms as the country cooks under its first heatwave of the year. However, many people don’t know exactly how much they cost to run, so we have done the maths to work out what you can expect to pay throughout the month of June. Fans are incredibly useful when there is hot weather, helping us stay comfortable and get to sleep. But it’s always useful to know how much they are costing you in energy bills.
The UK’s May temperatures have broken records, reaching well over 30C in parts of the country. According to the Met Office, more summery weather could be on the way in June, and households will likely use their fans more throughout the next few weeks. The energy price cap will remain the same until June 30, so we can work out what households can expect to pay in the next few weeks while using their fans to cool down.
First, we have to identify the typical power consumption of a standard fan. According to Curry’s, that is between 40w and 60w. Let’s go with 60, to see just how high bills can get for a standard fan.
Then, we estimate how much the fan is used. Again, we’re working out the maximum you can expect to pay, so we will go with 24 hours per day.
This means that 1.44kW would be consumed per day. Given the current energy price cap average of 24.67p per 1 kWh, we get a monthly cost of £10.81.
However, that is using a fan for 24 hours per day for a whole month. Let’s say the fan is used for just 12 hours of the day. That would mean the monthly cost would be £5.40.
It will remain the same until June 30, and a new energy price cap will take effect on July 1. Although it has not yet been announced, it is determined by usages based on a published algorithm set out by regulator Ofgem.
Therefore, experts have made their predictions on what increases or decreases might happen when it changes next. According to the consumer watchdog Which?, it will likely go up by around 12.7%, and that is down to a number of factors, such as the conflict in the Middle East.