Air Conditioning vs Fans

Fan

With our brief taster of summer and hopefully the rest still to come many of us will switch our air conditioning units on in the office without even thinking twice. However, those who live in countries with a hotter climate year round are often faced with the potential costs of the systems and many end up asking the question if fans would be more efficient in terms of money.

The way it actually needs to be looked at is the different benefits you get from both. Fans don’t change the temperature of the air it simply moves the air around giving the impression of a cool breeze. However air conditioning units change the air temperature and therefore do not need to be on as long as fans. Although fans are obviously cheaper to run per hour, they will have to be on a lot longer to have the same lasting effect as a fan.

Fans have been around for generations starting in India with the punkah fan. In the early 1900’s what we see as today’s air conditioner was created although we do use both fans and air conditioning to keep ourselves cool during the summer months.

Going forward those working on new designs are not just focused with simply keeping air cool but also to make sure they are as energy efficient as possible. Most of them at the moment have eco friendly refrigerants but engineers will be carrying on with their developments to improve it.

In properties, not so much in the UK, but an issue that is experienced is with cool air and proper room ventilation. This goes back to the air changing temperatures via an air conditioning unit or simply the fan moving the air around to reduce humidity and stuffiness. But the question still remains, do you choose an air conditioning unit or a fan.

The answer has been suggested by The Center for Disease Control and they have said those who are ill, at risk of heart disease, children and elders will benefit from a cooler room. A fan won’t provide this change in temperature but alongside the air conditioning unit both can be very effective. Overall, no one likes to be working in an environment that is too stuffy or too cold so the temperature needs to be balanced for all.