Martin Lewis’ MSE reveals cost of using a fan this bank holiday | Personal Finance | Finance
For those getting through scorching bank holiday temperatures across the UK, an electric fan might be the difference between sleeping easily and an uncomfortable night. But with energy prices increasingly on the rise, many will be worried about the impact that high use has on the environment and their pocket.
While there is little disguising the burden of heavy use on the environment, Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website has moved to reassure users about the impact on their finances. They wrote: “Many have asked us if using an electric fan to keep cool in summer will burn a hole in their pocket. The good news is you CAN use an electric fan to manage the heat without breaking into a cold sweat at the cost.
“A typical 12-inch 35-watt desk fan would cost less than 1p an hour to run based on the current Price Cap rates, so about 7p if you leave it on all night. A big 50-watt tower fan wouldn’t cost much more – just over 1p an hour.
“If you have a large floor fan, they typically range between 10 watts and 120 watts, costing up to 3p an hour.”
Temperature records are usually broken tenths of a degree, not several degrees.
Sunday brought a record-breaking high of 32.3C at Kew Gardens, south-west London, and the warmest May night since 1944.
Yet parts of the south and south-east could hit 34C or 35C on Monday and Tuesday as heatwaves continue.
Last week there were lows of minus 5C in Scotland and daytime temperatures more widely peaked at about 14C to 15C.
“We see these changes happening so much more dramatically”, senior Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said, adding that climate change is boosting the heat.
“In the past, heatwaves built and built and built and built over days and days and days – these now just develop so quickly.
“It’s huge sort of swinging temperatures, and obviously records being broken by day and by night, so it just shows sort of how extreme the weather can change, and how quickly it can change as well.”
As a result of climate change, all meteorological models are predicting “more extreme heat, more extreme weather events” and “hotter, drier summers – wetter, windier winters”, he added.
