OT Which direction is your ceiling fan SUPPOSED to run?

[RobertMacy]

Problem with authority? Maybe, but it was a LEARNED response.

Actually, I was trying to confirm whether others experienced what I had found empirically, and was in direct opposition to the 'experts' suggestion. Plus, convince Ms. Macy that I am NOT an idiot and delusional for thinking I know more than the experts on these House shows.

The recommendation has nothing to do with your

I thought that way too, directly blowing down onto me in hot weather 'sounded' better. But just confirmed that blowing down on me ended up 'feeling' a good 5 degrees hotter, than letting air come in from the sides. I now have the fan set for UP and it feels cooler in the room than with NO fan. And earlier it definitely felt hotter with the fan blowing DOWN, by several degrees above what it was like with NO fam.

At University I had a roomate who during the summer would go logging for piece meal wages to make great money. He said they roasted all day, like into the 80's, 90's, and froze at night in their cabins. Wake up in the morning to find a sheet of ice frozen over standing water in any dish! Now THAT's cold. He said the money was worth it, though.

[clare]

Low humidity 30C is comfortable. 28C and 60+% humidity is a different story. But still better than 39C and 90+% humidity in Livingstone in October!!!

[RobertMacy]

I didn't think to see if the manual for these fans says anything about air direction. Great, trip over those damn little manuals [one for each fan] for a year, now can't find a single one!

aha! distance to the ceiling making a difference, hmmmm, 10 ft ceilings so the fan has the luxury of being down a bit from the ceiling.

assume 'v' mean down?

[RobertMacy]

wow, sounds neat!

just got done with a 'side by side' comparison; DOWN is HOTTER than no fan! even though the air hits you more directly just seems to become hot air. UP is COOLER than no fan! keep getting cold drafts from every side. well 'cool' drafts.

[RobertMacy]

True, a bit leaky into the rest of the house and a lot of thermal storage out there in the form of a few thousand sq ft of travertine stones.

This is 2008 construction in AZ custom built for an owner, walls are like R-22, or such and ceilings are like R-30+ or such.

Ceiling exhaust fan !!! when it's 105 outside no way!!! you want me to suck in outside air at those temps??!!

Let's see at night 81 during day 105, making the average high side of 93, sounds about right.

Since I painted my house a darker color and take advanatage of 'night time radiation' the average in our house has dropped substantially. Who would have thought? dark house = cooler average, light colored house = hotter average. but true we noticed a difference the moment the house was painted.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I just took a look on my Davis weather station console. 32% indoor, 43% outdoor humidity. This week end Stampede starts, hope we have good, dry weather next 10 days.

[krw]

Down in Summer, up in Winter. A breeze cools.

It doesn't do anything for the temperature (other than raise it slightly - power dissipation of the fan) but a breeze will cool you off. You don't want this in the Winter but you may want to mix the air, so it should be up and on low so you don't feel a draft. Low will mix the air, just fine.

DOWN

[krw]

But you can cool to a higher temperature if you help the convection off your skin. Add in evaporative cooling and a breeze is a big win, at least in small rooms, like a home.

[krw]

Ours have pull-chains for both switches (even though all but one have two wall switches, and that one has two switches but only one is connected for some reason).

[clare]

Air conditioned, or not?? In the "theatre" we were able to crank the AC up 4 degrees C without people complaining of heat, and the "upper deck" area is now cool instead of toasty. (about 1/3 of the "theatre" is about 16" higher (floor) than the rest - with level ceiling. Originally was 3 levels, 1/3 low, 1/3 up one step, and 1/3 up another step. A few of the girls should wear more clothes - they complain their legs get cold.

[rickman]

I can't explain that and it is in direct opposition to what I have observed. With the fan blowing down gently I feel the breeze and it helps. I never felt like the air was a warm wind. With the fan blowing up I don't feel anything, but then my ceiling may be higher than yours, it is a cathedral ceiling. I do use it for dispersing the stuff that triggers the smoke detector. If you like your toast dark it goes off. Turn on the fan and in a minute it goes off.

Money is money. I am barely willing to do regular work these days. Once you get some how much do you need?

[clare]

I'm sitting at 24C and 41% right now without the AC on. Was 13C outside this morning, and 25-ish later in the day -likely 45%. Not nearly as hot and humid as earlier in the week.

[clare]

Just checked - 14C and 81% outside right now in Waterloo.

[Jon Danniken]

Move the air down in the summer so the breeze keeps you cool, move the air up in the winter to push the heat out of hugging the ceiling.

Jon

[Pico Rico]

move the air up in the summer so you aren't blasting yourself with warm air, move the air down in the winter to push the warm air down where you live.

I think a lot of this has to do with how tall your ceilings are, and your specific temperature differentials.

[rickman]

I would love to see a reference for this factoid. It is an often perpetuated myth that half you heat leaves your body through your head. Simply not supported by the facts.

This statement shows no understanding of human physiology. Even ignoring the issue of perspiration and evaporative cooling, the human body is nominally at 98°F and will be cooled better in an airstream of even 90°F than in still air.

[Jeff Liebermann]

I thought it gets kinda cold at night in Az. I've only been there once. It was quite hot during the day, but we nearly froze sleeping in the car at night.

In some areas, white rocks and white roofs are required by code to reduce air conditioning requirements. It's suppose to reflect the sunlight instead of absorbing it. Now, you're telling me that the collective wisdom of the local planning department might be wrong? Are you sure?

[Tim Wescott]

We have air conditioning which keeps the house at 78, and a way undersized room dehumidifier which we set up in the master shower, turn on the circulating fan in the furnace, and basically slowly and inefficiently dry out the whole house.

It makes a huge huge difference how hot it feels -- and we're in Oregon, where everyone is a humidity wimp.

[HerHusband]

Hi Robert,

If the fan has been off for a while, there will be a pool of hot air near the ceiling. When you turn the fan on, it may feel warmer for a while until that hot air mixes with the cooler air below.

A ceiling fan doesn't change the actual temperature in the room (watch your thermometer). It just feels cooler because the air moves across your skin. That's why you should only run the fan when you're in the house. You're just wasting energy if you're not in the house to feel the breeze.

In a closed room, it really shouldn't make any difference which way the fan blows. The fan simply circulates the air, one direction or the other, but it moves the same amount of air either way. Doorways and other openings can alter the airflow somewhat, but that's the basic principle.

That said, the breeze will be strongest directly in front of the fan where it is less dispersed. Since I spend more time walking beneath the fan than I do above it, I always have my fan blowing down. That way I am more likely to feel the air flow.

In any case, try both directions and see which is more comfortable in your home where you spend the most time.

I rarely use my ceiling fan in the winter. I don't want air moving across my skin to make me feel cooler. About the only time I use the fan in the winter is if we are using our woodstove, in which case it helps equalize the heat in the house instead of being warm in one room and cool in the others.

Anthony Watson

[Stormin Mormon]

Consulting the works of Aristotle, Confucious, and Ann Landers..... provides a variety of data.

Try one, try the other. Do what works for you.