Ceiling fans are an effective and comfortable way to reduce your home’s reliance on air conditioning. A ceiling fan won’t eliminate your need for air conditioning, but it will help take some of the pressure off the A/C, preserving its service life and lowering your cooling bills.
A ceiling fan makes a room feel cooler by providing a wind-chill effect for anyone the fan blows air upon. While it doesn’t actually lower the room’s temperature, it does make it feel three or four degrees cooler, in the same way that a stro
ng breeze in the winter can make 40 degrees seem like 30 degrees. This will allow you to turn up your thermostat a few degrees without any loss of comfort. In the winter, a ceiling fan (with the rotation set to blow air toward the ceiling) can reduce your need to run your furnace by redistributing the warm air that collects near the ceiling.
A few factors will determine how effective your ceiling fan will be.
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Placement – For maximum effectiveness, ceiling fans should be placed 7 to 9 feet above the floor. They should also be placed 10 to 12 inches from the ceiling and 18 inches from the surrounding walls.
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Size matters – To efficiently cool a room that is up to 225 square feet, a 36- to 44-inch fan will suffice. Larger rooms may require a 52-inch fan. Larger fan blades also offer considerably better cooling at lower RPMs than a fan with smaller blades, plus less disruption of papers, magazines and other lightweight items.
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Quality – Unlike a lot of the products that you buy, quality matters when buying a fan. A higher quality fan will run more efficiently and last longer. Look for the Energy Star label.
If you have any other questions about cooling your home with a fan or home ventilation, please contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration & Electric Co. and speak to one of our HVAC professionals. We provide quality services to the Yuma area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Yuma, Arizona 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.
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