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How Much Does It Cost to Run a Ceiling Fan for 24 Hours?

Home/Resources/Heating & Cooling/Ceiling Fan Cost per Day
Derek Holt
Written & researched by Derek Holt Home & Appliances Editor
Updated October 2026
Over-the-shoulder view of a person adjusting a wall thermostat in a warm hallway, in bright midday sun

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The short answer: a typical 52-inch ceiling fan uses about 30 watts on medium and 70 watts on high. Run 24 hours at the US average residential rate of roughly 17.5 cents per kWh (US Energy Information Administration), that is about 13 cents a day on medium and 29 cents on high — roughly $4 to $9 a month if it never stops. A modern DC-motor fan cuts that by half to two-thirds. The formula is watts ÷ 1,000 × 24 × your rate per kWh.

We do not physically handle the fans we rank; our picks come from aggregated owner reviews and expert consensus, described in how we rank. Model-level recommendations live in best ceiling fan, and the wider category at the heating and cooling hub.

How do I calculate it for my own fan?

Three numbers, one line of arithmetic. Take the fan’s wattage at the speed you actually use, divide by 1,000 to get kilowatts, multiply by 24 hours, and multiply by the price you pay per kilowatt-hour. Your rate is on your electric bill — divide the total charge by the kWh used to get the all-in rate including delivery, which is usually 15 to 40 percent higher than the headline supply rate people quote.

Worked example: a 55-watt fan on high. 55 ÷ 1,000 = 0.055 kW. 0.055 × 24 = 1.32 kWh per day. At 17.5 cents, that is 23 cents a day, or about $7 a month. At California’s far higher residential rates it is closer to $13 a month; in Washington or Idaho, under $5.

Low-angle view of a person adjusting a wall thermostat in a warm hallway, in warm evening lamplight

What does a ceiling fan actually draw?

Manufacturers list airflow in cubic feet per minute and efficiency in CFM per watt, and the spread between fan types is large. DC-motor fans are the significant development of the last decade: they move the same air on roughly a third of the power, which is why ENERGY STAR certified fans are, on ENERGY STAR's own figure, up to 44 percent more efficient than conventional fans. The wattage below excludes the light kit, which frequently uses more power than the motor.

Fan typeLowMediumHigh24 hours on high at 17.5¢
44 to 52 in. AC motor, standard10 – 15 W25 – 35 W55 – 75 W23¢ – 31¢
52 to 60 in. DC motor4 – 8 W10 – 18 W25 – 35 W11¢ – 15¢
60 to 72 in. large-room DC6 – 12 W18 – 30 W40 – 60 W17¢ – 25¢
Outdoor / damp-rated AC12 – 20 W30 – 45 W65 – 90 W27¢ – 38¢
Light kit, 3 × 60 W incandescent180 W76¢
Light kit, integrated LED15 – 22 W6¢ – 9¢
Close-up detail of the material being worked in a heating & cooling project, in warm evening lamplight

What does it cost at my state’s electricity rate?

Residential electricity prices vary by more than three to one across the US, so the same fan can cost $3 or $11 a month to run continuously depending on where you live. The EIA publishes average residential rates by state monthly; these are representative 2026 figures for a 30-watt medium setting and a 70-watt high setting over a full 24 hours.

Rate (per kWh)Example states30 W for 24 h70 W for 24 h70 W for 30 days
11¢WA, ND, UT, ID8¢18¢$5.54
14¢TX, TN, MO, KY10¢24¢$7.06
17.5¢US average13¢29¢$8.82
25¢NY, NH, VT18¢42¢$12.60
32¢CA, MA, CT23¢54¢$16.13
44¢HI32¢74¢$22.18
Wide environmental view of a person adjusting a wall thermostat in a warm hallway, in warm evening lamplight

Does running a fan actually save money overall?

It does, but only through the thermostat. The Department of Energy’s guidance is that a ceiling fan lets you raise the cooling setpoint about 4°F with no reduction in comfort, and each degree of setback is commonly worth around 3 percent of cooling energy. On a house spending $180 a month on air conditioning, that is roughly $20 to $25 saved against $6 spent on the fan — a genuine net gain, and much larger than the fan’s own cost either way.

That saving evaporates if the fan runs in rooms nobody occupies, because the cooling effect is entirely on skin. The physics is in do ceiling fans actually cool a room. In winter the fan has a different job and a different direction — see which way should a ceiling fan spin in winter. For a like-for-like comparison against resistance heat, how much does it cost to run a space heater for 8 hours puts the numbers side by side.

Straight Answers

Frequently Asked

Is it cheaper to run a ceiling fan or air conditioning?

A ceiling fan costs roughly one to three cents an hour on high. A 3-ton central air conditioner draws about 3,000 to 3,500 watts and costs roughly 50 to 60 cents an hour at the national average rate — 20 to 50 times more. But they do different jobs: a fan cools people, not rooms, so it cannot substitute for AC in genuine heat. The saving comes from running both and raising the thermostat, which the Department of Energy puts at about 4°F with no loss of comfort.

Do ceiling fans use a lot of electricity?

No. A typical AC-motor fan uses 30 to 75 watts depending on speed, less than a single old incandescent bulb, and a DC-motor fan uses 5 to 35 watts. Run continuously for a month, a 30-watt fan uses about 22 kWh, which is under $4 at the national average residential rate. The light kit attached to it often draws more than the motor if it still has incandescent or halogen bulbs.

Should I leave a ceiling fan on all day?

Only in a room someone is using. A fan does not lower air temperature — it moves air across skin so sweat evaporates faster, which is why an empty room gains nothing. Worse, the motor converts every watt it draws into heat inside that room, so a fan left running in an empty bedroom adds a small amount of heat and costs money for nothing. Switch it off when you leave; it takes seconds to feel the effect when you return.

How many watts is a 52-inch ceiling fan?

Between 12 and 35 watts on medium and 45 to 75 watts on high for a standard AC-motor fan. DC-motor fans, which now dominate the higher end of the market, run 5 to 12 watts on low and 25 to 35 watts on high for the same airflow. Every fan sold in the US carries a FTC EnergyGuide-style label listing airflow in CFM and efficiency in CFM per watt, which is the honest number to compare across models.

Does fan speed change the cost much?

Substantially — power does not scale linearly with speed. Dropping a typical AC fan from high to medium usually halves the wattage, and low can be a quarter of high. So a fan run on low for 24 hours may cost 3 cents while the same fan on high costs 31 cents. If a room is comfortable on medium, running high buys a little more air movement at roughly double the energy.