How we work it out
There's no government energy-rating registry for ceiling fans the way there is for fridges, dryers or air conditioners, so the wattages here are typical manufacturer specifications for each fan type on its highest speed, current Australian retailers, July 2026. Watts ÷ 1,000 gives kilowatts, times hours run, times your state's rate.
Worked example: a standard DC living-room fan (30 W) run 8 hours a night in NSW: 0.03 kW × 8 h = 0.24 kWh × 32.4¢ = about 8 cents a night, or roughly $7 across a 90-night summer.
The comparison that matters
A fan doesn't cool a room the way an aircon does. It moves air across your skin so sweat evaporates faster, which feels cooler but does nothing to the thermometer. Priced against a 5 kW split system doing the same hours, though, it isn't close: the aircon costs somewhere between 20 and 75 times more, depending on your fan type, since it's actually pulling heat out of the room instead of just stirring the air. A standard DC fan sits around 45 times cheaper. Run the fan first, and only reach for the aircon when the fan alone stops being enough.
DC versus AC motors
If your fan is more than about 10 years old, it's almost certainly an AC-motor model, and it's likely drawing two to three times what a new DC fan draws for the same airflow: DC motors use electronic speed control instead of a chunky transformer, so they sip power even on high and barely register on low. A DC fan run all summer costs a few dollars. An old AC one can still cost less than a single week of aircon, so swapping it out is a nice-to-have, not an urgent one.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to run a fan than an air conditioner?
By a wide margin. A ceiling fan on high typically costs 5 to 20 cents a night, while a 5 kW split system running the same hours costs several dollars. The catch is a fan only cools people, not the room, so it isn't a like-for-like swap on a genuinely hot night.
Should I run the fan and the aircon together?
Yes, and it can save money. A fan lets you feel comfortable at a slightly higher aircon setpoint, and every degree warmer you can tolerate cuts the aircon's running cost by roughly 10%. Turn the fan off when you leave the room though, since it does nothing for an empty one.
Do ceiling fans use much power on low speed?
Very little. A DC fan on low can draw under 5 W, a fraction of a phone charger. Nearly all of a fan's running cost, small as it is, comes from leaving it on high for long stretches.
What this costs, state by state
A standard DC ceiling fan (30 W on high) run for 8 hours a night across a 90-night summer.
| State | Rate | Per night | Across summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 32.4¢ | 8¢ | $7.00 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | 7¢ | $6.44 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | 7¢ | $6.74 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | 9¢ | $8.23 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | 8¢ | $7.26 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | 7¢ | $6.24 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | 7¢ | $5.92 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | 8¢ | $6.85 |
Reference rates for 2026–27. Your row is highlighted once you set your location.
Sources
Electricity rates: AER Default Market Offer (NSW, SA, south-east QLD), Victorian Default Offer, and each remaining state's regulated tariff, current for 2026–27. Appliance figures: the energyrating.gov.au registration database (July 2026 snapshot). Methods and assumptions are described on each page.