Electric Fans Increase the Body’s Threshold for Thermal Discomfort

The primary driver of air conditioning use is thermal discomfort. When ambient temperatures—the air that you’re occupying—exceed your threshold, you’ll feel uncomfortably warm. That causes people to turn on the air conditioning unit and keep it on until the temperature drops below that threshold.

Moving indoor air with electric fans increases the temperature threshold at which people feel uncomfortably hot by about three to four degrees Celsius. 

About 75 percent of households in the United States have air conditioners, which use approximately six percent of all the electricity produced nationwide. As the planet gets hotter due to global warming, air conditioner sales are expected to increase significantly.