Just as we get a little respite from the muggy air, it seems Britain’s summer of heatwaves is far from over. After scorching temperatures throughout June, forecasters are warning that the mercury could soar again this month, continuing our hunt for the best way to stay cool.
Closing the windows, drawing the curtains and hunkering down indoors while screaming “it burns” can help a little, there are far more effective ways to beat the heat. For most, that’s with the use of an electric fan and a portable air conditioner. With hot weather becoming more frequent in the UK, you may be wondering whether it’s finally time to invest in something more powerful than a modest desk fan.
But how do you decide? Portable air conditioners are undeniably more effective at cooling a room, but they also cost considerably more to buy and run. Fans are cheaper, quieter and more portable, but they’re not always enough during a heatwave. Here’s how the two compare.
Read more: Best fans, reviewed
Fans vs air conditioners: How do they each work and which is more effective at cooling the room?
While both fans and air conditioners work to cool you and your home down, they each do so in a different way, and one is more effective than the other.
Electric fans don’t actually cool the air inside your home like portable air conditioners do, they cool you down instead. They do this by moving air around the room, helping sweat and moisture on your skin evaporate more quickly. The air being circulated by a fan is the same temperature as the air in the room, so while it creates a cooling sensation, it doesn’t lower the room temperature itself.
A powerful air circulator fan, such as the MeacoFan sefte (£99.99, Meaco.com), can help move air around an entire room and provide a strong cooling breeze, but it won’t actually lower the room’s temperature.
Portable air conditioners physically lower the temperature inside your home. They do this by sucking up the hot air in the room, cooling that air down and then expelling the excess heat through an exhaust hose. Air conditioners with higher British Thermal Unit (BTU) ratings are better suited to larger spaces, while lower-BTU models are best for smaller rooms.
On extremely hot days, a portable air conditioner, such as the Meaco meacocool MC series pro 8000 BTU (£380, Argos.co.uk), will be more effective at cooling an entire room because it actively extracts heat from the room and vents it outside. If you want the most powerful cooling, a portable air conditioner is significantly better than a fan.
Read more: Best portable air conditioners, reviewed
Duux rise portable fan
The lightest fan in appliance expert Joanne Lewsley’s round-up of the best fans is the Duux rize portable fan. “If you want a fan you can genuinely take anywhere, the Duux rize is the best cordless fan I’ve tested,” she said. “It’s properly portable rather than just compact, with a lightweight 1kg build and a built-in battery that lasts up to 15 hours, so you can move it from desk to bedside to garden without hunting for a plug socket.”
Fans vs air conditioners: Which one takes up more room and which is more portable?
Electric fans win this one, hands-down. Handheld fans, desk fans, tower fans and even pedestal fans take up far less room than even the smallest portable air conditioners with the lowest BTUs.
While portable air conditioners are technically portable, featuring casters to help move them from room to room, they’re still bulky and heavy. Even relatively compact models weigh more than 20kg, while larger units such as the ElectriQ ecoplus 10000BTU weigh almost 29kg. By comparison, many of the best fans we tested weighed between just 1kg and 5kg.
You also need to think about the exhaust hose, which needs to be threaded out of a window, and that can be a cumbersome, unwieldy process, especially if you’re using a window seal around the hose for maximum energy efficiency.
Fans, on the other hand, are lighter and much easier to move between rooms and they can be stored away more easily when summer comes to an end.
Blyss A018I-09C 9000BTU portable air conditioner
The most energy-efficient portable air conditioner currently available in our round-up of the best portable air conditioners is the Blyss A018I-09C 9000BTU, which used around 55W on its highest setting. “In use, it cools effectively and the auto-swing vent does a good job of distributing air evenly around the room,” Joanne said in her review. “I also liked the front-facing display, which shows temperature and timer settings clearly from across the room.”
Read more: Best air coolers, reviewed
Fans vs air conditioners: Which costs more to run and how much energy does each use?
No surprises here, but fans are a lot cheaper to run than portable air conditioners. Based on our latest testing, most fans use between 13W and 40W of power at full speed. For example, the VonHaus air circulator uses around 13.6W and the MeacoFan sefte uses 22.5W. That’s only really a few pence to run overnight.
Portable air conditioners use considerably more energy because they actively remove heat from a room rather than simply circulating air. According to energy experts who spoke to The Independent, a typical portable air conditioner costs around 20p to 60p an hour to run, depending on the model, energy efficiency and how often it’s used.
Our own testing revealed that most portable air conditioners would cost around £6 a week to run continuously when there’s a heatwave, although real-world costs are often lower because units cycle down once they reach their target temperature.
It’s also worth remembering that efficiency isn’t just about energy use. A portable air conditioner that cools a room quickly may ultimately cost less to run than a less effective model that needs to stay on for hours to achieve the same result.
You also have to think about the cost of the appliance itself. The cheapest fan in our latest round-up costs just £38. The best portable air conditioners we’ve tested start at £240 and can cost as much as £700. That cost increases for higher-capacity models with extra features.
I’d recommend investing in a smart AC controller, such as the Tado smart AC control V3+ (£100, Amazon.co.uk) if you’re going to install a portable air conditioner in your home as this will help you manage and control your unit so that it runs more efficiently.
Fans are cheaper to buy and cheaper to run, but that might mean very little when you’re struggling to work and sleep in the heat.
I’d also recommend keeping an eye on the energy rating when buying a portable air conditioner. “A” is the most energy efficient and “G” is the least energy efficient, so air conditioners with an A rating will be cheaper to run.
Read more: Best handheld fans, reviewed
Fans vs air conditioners: Which one is easier to use?
Pedestal and desk fans are generally easier to use than portable air conditioners, but that’s largely because they do fewer things. With a fan, you simply plug it in and select a speed setting.
That said, many fans now include sleep modes, eco settings, app controls, voice assistant support and temperature-responsive automation.
Portable air conditioners still require more setup, however. Firstly, you need to attach a hose to the back of the air conditioner and thread it out of the window so that the hot air can be expelled out of your room. This means that your window needs to be close to a plug outlet, otherwise you’ll have a few problems stretching the hose out of the window. You also need to use a window seal to help stop air from flowing back into your room when it’s on, or it’ll cool your place down more slowly and be less efficient overall.
They’re just packed with more features as well. Portable air conditioners can act as dehumidifiers, they include programmable timers and precise temperature controls, and some portable ACs, such as the Hisense APC09QC, even include smart cooling modes that automatically adjust its settings based on the room temperature.
Fans vs air conditioners: Do you need to clean either one?
You should be cleaning an electric floor or desk fan once every three to four months, but considering most Brits will only be using a fan during the summer months, it’s worth giving a clean when you take it back out for the summer to remove any dust from the blades.
Portable air conditioners require more regular maintenance. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning the filters every couple of weeks when you’re using it heavily. Dust build-up can restrict airflow and reduce cooling efficiency, so keeping the filters clean is important for maintaining performance.
What are the different types of fan?
Unlike portable air conditioners, which are largely the same whatever model you choose, there are different types of fan out there, so what’s the difference between each one?
Tower fans are super-slim and have a small footprint, and plenty of them double up as air purifiers, or have support for app controls.
Pedestal fans usually deliver a stronger airflow, making them good for cooling larger spaces. Desk fans and portable fans are designed for personal cooling, making them ideal for home offices, bedside tables and travel.
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Air circulator fans are also becoming popular options. They don’t just blow air in one direction, they move air around an entire room, creating more consistent airflow.
The last type of fan is a bladeless fan. Popularised by Dyson, they use hidden motors to create a stream of air without exposed blades. They’re quieter than bladed fans and are easier to clean, but they’re definitely more expensive.
Should you buy a fan or a portable air conditioner?
Each has its pros and cons. Portable air conditioners actively remove heat from a room and are the most effective option during periods of very hot weather. but they’re bulkier, more expensive to buy and considerably more expensive to run.
Fans, on the other hand, circulate air to help sweat evaporate more quickly, making you feel cooler without actually lowering the room temperature. They’re cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, easier to move around and simpler to store away after the summer.
Ultimately, the right choice comes down to your budget, the size of your space and how hot your home gets during summer. If you regularly struggle with high indoor temperatures, a portable air conditioner will deliver the best cooling performance. If you simply want a cost-effective way to stay comfortable, a fan may be all you need.
For more, we’ve reviewed the best neck fans
