With the dwindling non-renewable energy reserves, the world is slowly turning towards being energy efficient. Besides, saving energy is necessary to preserve our environment so that it can become conducive for our descendants to live in. As a result, it is important to become energy efficient and environmentally friendly in every aspect of our lives. It is from this perspective that we want determine between an air conditioner and a ceiling fan which one is more friendly to the environment.
Running an air conditioner versus a ceiling fan
Depending on the design of your air conditioner (either a window unit or a central air unit), you will find these appliances consumes between 1.2 Kilowatts to 3 Kilowatts of power. That can translate to a power bill of about 14-36 cents per hour. On the other hand, an efficient ceiling fan consumes only 30 Watts. That means that in every hour of running the fan, you inflate your electricity bill by just 1 cent. This makes the ceiling fan more energy efficient and therefore environmental friendly.
As we have seen above, an air conditioner consumes much more power than a typical ceiling fan. Unfortunately, most of the electricity available today is generated from power stations running on non-renewable fuels such as coal and oil. Burning these fuels not only depletes the limited reserves we have, but also it increases pollution in the atmosphere by releasing poisonous gases. Furthermore, the increased amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that causes global warming is largely a result of burning these fuels.
Disposing old appliances
Another perspective you can consider when comparing a ceiling fan and an air conditioner’s environmental friendliness is the amount of waste materials that each of these two appliances contribute. You will find that the air conditioner is made of more disposable materials than a ceiling fan. As a result, it makes a bigger contribution to landfills. This is not environmental friendly. Also, their coolers are filed with a poisonous cooling fluid that once released to the environment can be harmful to both humans and animals living there.
The need for a greener earth
A ceiling fan and an air conditioner work in different ways in order to cool a room. In the case of the air conditioner, it cools or warms a room by either heating or cooling air. This is different from the way a ceiling fan operates. In its case, a ceiling fan cools your body by pushing air towards you. This air causes an evaporation effect that cools your body. And when it is too cold, you can reverse the direction of airflow. This enables the warm air trapped under the ceiling to circulate to the rest of the room making it warmer.
Ceiling fans and air conditioners are very helpful appliances in our rooms as they help regulate the temperature of a room according to your needs. However, from what we have seen above, a ceiling fan seems to be the more environmental friendly option of the two. A ceiling fan will not only save you energy but also, will not need a large space in the landfill when compared to an air conditioner.