Your window fan is facing the wrong direction. Or not. Here's how to tell and save money.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2023. We are republishing it as part of our summer coverage.

As temperatures in Central Indiana climb higher, so do electricity bills. One way to lower the cost of your monthly utilities is by using window fans to cool your home. Window fans use less energy than air conditioners and can therefore be friendlier both on your pocketbook and the environment.

But what direction should they face — in or out? That depends, say experts.

The thing to remember about box fans is that they're great for pushing hot air out of your home. With that in mind, you should place window fans blowing air into your home on the coolest side of your house. Windows near shady, cooler outdoor areas usually provide the best intake, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. On the western, or hottest side of your home, face your window fans so they're blowing air out of your house.

If your house has more than one floor, consider putting the window fan facing out on the upper floor where indoor temperatures are usually hottest.

How much electricity do box fans use?

If you're going to go through the trouble of setting up a window or box fan, you probably want to know whether or not you're actually saving money, right?

Most box fans use between 50-100 watts of power per hour, according to experts, who say a 20-inch box fan consumes about 50-75 watts per hour. That's about 50% more than your standard ceiling fan, but far less power than an air conditioner, which can use between 500-5,000 watts of electricity.

A 20-inch box fan typically costs less than $25 at most retail outlets.

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How much money does it cost to run a box fan?

You can use a simple formula to calculate how much money it costs to run a box fan. But first, here's the simple answer: roughly $0.19 a day — that's if you're running a 50-watt fan for 24 hours and the price of your electricity is $0.16/kWh, which was the average cost of residential electricity in Indiana in May 2023, according to energybot.com.

So one box fan running nonstop typically costs under $6 a month.

To find out how much any appliance will cost in your home per hour, use this formula courtesy of Homes And Gardens: Cost = (power (in watts) x time (in hours)) / 1000 x cost of one kilowatt-hour.

So (50 watts x 24 hours) / 1000 x $0.16 per kilowatt-hour = $0.19

John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Is your fan blowing the right direction? Here's how to tell