A ceiling fan can be an elegant design feature to a room, and can also help you save valuable energy dollars when used the right way. Read on to see how to best use ceiling fans and reverse your ceiling fan, if needed, to stay comfortable and save energy all summer long.
How Ceiling Fans “Cool”
Ceiling fans can help you feel cooler on warm days without lowering the thermostat setting and using extra energy to run the cooling system. Ceiling fans produce a comfortable wind-chill effect that helps remove heat and moisture from the skin more quickly, which is how fans help us to feel cooler.
Reverse Your Ceiling Fan
During the summertime, the ceiling fan should be set at the default counter-clockwise blade rotation setting to blow or push air down toward the floor. This produces the correct wind-chill effect of removing heat and moisture from the skin. If your ceiling fan is not blowing air in a downward direction, it needs to be reversed.
Turn the fan off and wait for the blades to completely stop. Most fans have a switch on the side. Change the switch setting and turn the fan back on. Begin with a low speed first for several hours to see if this setting, which uses the least amount of electricity, makes the room comfortable for you.
Spinning Energy Savings
To save energy on cooling bills, increase the thermostat temperature setting one degree each day while the ceiling fan is running. Do this until you’ve reached an agreeable middle between energy savings and comfort. It ‘s easier to do this with a digital, programmable or WiFi thermostat, which itself provides an excellent level of convenience, comfort and energy savings.
Note that during the heating months, the ceiling fan direction should be switched again to save on heating bills, this time so it moves in a clockwise direction. By pushing the air up toward the ceiling, it forces warmer air near the ceiling down into the occupied areas of the room. If you do this, however, it’s vitally important that you remember to reverse your ceiling fan blade rotation back to counter-clockwise in the spring.
For more tips on how to stay cool and comfortable this summer and for saving energy in your Dayton area home, contact Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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