U.S. residential electricity EIA data: July 2026 US average 18.3¢/kWh Updated

Cooling · Texas

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Ceiling Fan in Texas?

The short answer

Running a 50W ceiling fan in Texas costs about $0.01 an hour. At 8 hours a day, that’s roughly $1.93 a month and $23.18 a year.

The estimate uses Texas’s average residential electricity price of 15.9¢/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 Texas

Cost at 15.9¢/kWh, the Texas average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 1.5 $0.01 $0.24 $2.90
2 hours/day 3.0 $0.02 $0.48 $5.80
4 hours/day 6.1 $0.03 $0.97 $11.59
8 hours/day 12.2 $0.06 $1.93 $23.18
12 hours/day 18.3 $0.10 $2.90 $34.78
24 hours/day 36.5 $0.19 $5.80 $69.55

Texas vs other states

At typical use, a ceiling fan costs $23.18 a year in Texas — $46.90 less than in Hawaii and $4.61 more than in Louisiana.

Texas has the 22nd-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. Texas price per kWh · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in Texas

15.9¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +3.4% 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.
  • Long, hot summers in Texas mean cooling equipment can run most of the day from May through September — try 10–12 hours above to see a peak-month cost.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a ceiling fan for 24 hours in Texas?

Running a 50W ceiling fan for 24 hours uses about 1.20 kWh, which costs about $0.19 at Texas’s average rate of 15.9¢/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 Texas that costs $1.93.

Is it expensive to run a ceiling fan in Texas?

Texas has the 22nd-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 15.9¢/kWh — close to the middle of the pack. Running a ceiling fan here costs about $23.18 a year at typical use, compared with $26.73 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in Texas right now?

The average residential electricity rate in Texas was 15.9¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 3.4% 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.

Sources & method