Become a fan of fans

Running indoor fans on hot summer days can help your family stay cool and your energy bills remain manageable.

A few tips:

Running a fan is cheaper than running the air conditioner. If August presents you with a comfortable, breezy day, turn the a/c off and run floor fans instead.
If you have ceiling fans, run them while the a/c is on. Fans don’t cool a room, per se. Instead, they move air around to create a breeze that feels cool on the skin of anyone in the room. For summer, the fan will push air downward if you switch the blades to move counter-clockwise. You might even be able to turn the thermostat up a few degrees while ceiling fans are running.
Turn off all fans if you’re not in the same room as the fans. The fan isn’t cooling the room; it’s cooling the people in it. So if a room is empty, a running fan is a waste of electricity.
If your fans are mounted in windows, don’t use them on days when the outdoor air is hotter than the indoor air. Window fans—and your window-mounted air conditioner’s fan setting—pull outdoor air into the house.