Cooling · Iowa
How Much Does It Cost to Run a Ceiling Fan in Iowa?
The short answer
A typical 50W ceiling fan costs about $0.01 per hour to run in Iowa, or $1.95 a month at 8 hours a day.
The estimate uses Iowa’s average residential electricity price of 16.0¢/kWh from EIA (July 2026) — 13% below the national average.
Source: U.S. EIA, July 2026 data · Updated
Ceiling Fan cost by daily use in Iowa
| Daily use | kWh/month | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 hour/day | 1.5 | $0.01 | $0.24 | $2.92 |
| 2 hours/day | 3.0 | $0.02 | $0.49 | $5.84 |
| 4 hours/day | 6.1 | $0.03 | $0.97 | $11.67 |
| 8 hours/day | 12.2 | $0.06 | $1.95 | $23.35 |
| 12 hours/day | 18.3 | $0.10 | $2.92 | $35.02 |
| 24 hours/day | 36.5 | $0.19 | $5.84 | $70.04 |
Iowa vs other states
At typical use, a ceiling fan costs $23.35 a year in Iowa — $46.73 less than in Hawaii and $4.77 more than in Louisiana.
Iowa has the 24th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. electricity prices in Iowa · all states ranked
Electricity price trend in Iowa
16.0¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +4.4% from a year earlier.
How to lower the cost of running a ceiling fan
Ceiling fans don't lower the room temperature; they make you feel 3–4°F cooler through wind-chill on your skin. That is why they save money only when you also raise the thermostat. A standard AC-motor fan uses 50–90W on high, while efficient DC-motor fans use 15–35W. Running a fan in an empty room just wastes electricity.
- Turn fans off when you leave the room — they cool people, not spaces.
- Raise the AC thermostat by 3–4°F when the fan is running.
- In winter, reverse the direction (clockwise) on low to push warm air down from the ceiling.
- Summers in Iowa are relatively mild, so cooling costs are concentrated in a few hot weeks each year.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a ceiling fan for 24 hours in Iowa?
Running a 50W ceiling fan for 24 hours uses about 1.20 kWh, which costs about $0.19 at Iowa’s average rate of 16.0¢/kWh.
How many kWh does a ceiling fan use per month?
At 8 hours a day, a typical ceiling fan uses about 12.2 kWh a month. In Iowa that costs $1.95.
Is it expensive to run a ceiling fan in Iowa?
Iowa has the 24th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 16.0¢/kWh — close to the middle of the pack. Running a ceiling fan here costs about $23.35 a year at typical use, compared with $26.73 at the national average rate.
What is the electricity rate in Iowa right now?
The average residential electricity rate in Iowa was 16.0¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 4.4% from a year earlier.
Is it cheaper to run a ceiling fan or AC?
A ceiling fan uses roughly 1–3% of the power of central AC. Using fans to raise your thermostat a few degrees is one of the easiest ways to cut summer bills.
Ceiling Fan costs in nearby states
Other appliances in Iowa
Cheapest and priciest states
Comparisons
Sources & method
- Electricity rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly — average residential retail price, July 2026 (latest available). Retrieved .
- CO₂: EIA State Electricity Profiles, 2024 emissions rate of in-state power generation.
- Default usage for ceiling fan: 8 hours a day. Typical power 50W.
- Formulas, duty cycles and limitations: methodology. Data download: open data (CC BY 4.0).