During Cooler Weather, Use Ceiling Fans To Stay Warmer
It may seem counter intuitive at first, but the same ceiling fans that keep you cool during hot Florida summers can also ward off winter’s chill. It’s the way you use ceiling fans that makes the difference.
Ceiling fans don’t change the air temperature. They work by simply circulating air. Because warm air rises, the heat from your furnace or heat pump collects near the ceiling, where it doesn’t do you much good. Used correctly, a ceiling fan will circulate the air in the room to bring that warm air down toward floor level. You’ll have rooms that feel warmer, have fewer cold and hot spots, and you may even reduce your total energy use, too.
Here are some tips for using ceiling fans in the winter:
- Run your fans clockwise. On each fan’s motor housing, you’ll find a switch that changes the direction the blades turn. Flip that switch so the blades turn clockwise as you look up at them. Turning this direction, they create an updraft instead of a downward breeze. This updraft moves air toward the edges of the room and then downward toward the floor.
- Keep fans on low. Run your fans on the lowest possible setting during the winter. Even running clockwise, rapidly turning fan blades can still create an uncomfortable draft.
- Place fans strategically. Ceiling fans can help even out the temperature in multi-story homes where the upper levels overheat, but the downstairs area isn’t warm enough. Placed at the top of a stairwell that runs between upper and lower floors, a ceiling fan will draw warm air from the upper level to the lower level.
Use ceiling fans this way and you may find you can turn down your heat a little, which could save you some money. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, for every degree you turn down the heat, you could reduce your energy bills by up to 1 percent.
For more expert tips on ceiling fans, contact the pros at Symbiont Service Corp. Since the early 1980s, we’ve been providing the Englewood area with reliable HVAC service.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Englewood, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about ceiling fans and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Stay In The Loop
Don't miss out! Like us on Facebook or subscribe to our RSS Feed on Feed Burner and get our latest posts.