The cross flow fan is a unique type of turbo machinery where the air stream flows transversely across the impeller, passing the blades twice. Due to its complex geometry, and highly turbulent and unsteady air-flow, a numerical method is used in this work to conduct the characterization study on the performance of a cross flow fan. A 2D cross-sectional model of a typical indoor air conditioning unit has been chosen for the simulation instead of a three dimensional 3D model due to the highly complex geometry of the fan. The simplified 2D model has been validated with experiments where it is found that the RMS error between the simulation and experimental results is less than 7. The important parameters that affect the cross flow fan performance, i.e. the internal and external blade angles, the blade thickness, and the casing design, are analyzed in this study. The formation of an eccentric vortex is observed within the impeller. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.