While we are used to utilising our fans in Summer, few of us realise that our fans can be used in Winter, as well. Many modern fans have a Summer/Winter mode that can help you cool your house in Summer while keeping it toasty warm in Winter. By using your ceiling fan in Summer, you can save up to 40% on air conditioning costs. This is due to the fact that circulating the cool air with a fan means you can reduce the use of air conditioners. Further, fans create a wind-chill effect on your skin, making a room feel up to 8 degrees cooler. In Summer, a ceiling fan pushes cool air down, evaporation perspiration and creating the wind chill effect mentioned above. This allows you to feel cooler without affecting room temperature. Further, an outdoor fan can help you feeler cooler, allowing you to spend more time outdoors or entertaining.
What Direction Should a Fan Spin in Summer?
Most ceiling fan Summer modes spin counter-clockwise to direct cool air to the ground. Blade design also contributes to the downward movement of cool air. If you are not feeling cool air, then it is possible your fan is spinning the wrong way, in Winter mode. The Summer/Winter mode can be found as a switch on the side of the fan or on the remote control.
What Direction Should a Fan Spin in Winter?
If your fan is in Winter mode, it should be spinning clockwise. The air won’t be cooling as it is in Summer mode. So if you don’t feel a cool breeze coming off your fan, then you are in Winter mode. You don’t want to cool the air down in Winter, rather you want to draw the air up. When running your fan in winter, it is better to have it on a lower setting than you would use in Summer. You want to achieve a gentle mixing of the air, not a draft. The exception to this is if you have a large space or high ceilings.
Why Does The Ceiling Fan Direction Make a Difference?
Thanks to the angle and pitch of its blades, when a ceiling fan is put into reverse, or Winter mode, the motion sucks cool air from a room up towards the ceiling. As the air rises to the ceiling it pushes the air which is already there down into the room. Because warm air naturally rises, this is a great function in Winter. Left to its own devices, warm air will rest underneath the ceiling, but a reversible ceiling fan circulates the air efficiently. However, when a ceiling fan is in reverse or Winter mode, you will not feel a breeze. If you don’t know about the reverse function, you might think that the fan is not working properly. So if you can’t feel the effect of your ceiling fan, check to see if it’s in reverse.
How to Switch Summer/Winter Mode
Modern ceiling fans feature easy Summer/Winter mode switching. Fans generally feature a switch on the hub or motor housing of the fan. Some fans also feature a switch on ceiling fan remote controls. These switches are designed so as not to detract from the aesthetic of the fan.
Some Great Tips and Tricks You Can Perform With Your Ceiling Fan!
A Card Trick If you are playing cards at a table that is beneath a ceiling fan during the summer and you want the fan to cool you off without blowing the cards off the table, then turn your fan in reverse (clockwise) and run it on the highest speed. This will cause the fan to draw the air up from the table and blow it around your backside.
Dining Rooms How about over a table when you are eating? Same thing as playing cards or doing anything else at your table. Running the fan in reverse will help keep the fan from cooling off your food while gently throwing a breeze towards the walls and back up toward your backside. You might notice that in many restaurants, the fans are running in a clockwise motion.
Bedrooms Well, some people do not like the feeling of air blowing directly on them and cannot sleep, so the suggestion is to run the fan on a higher speed in reverse so you do not feel so much direct air movement. You will sleep better and get more comfort from your fan.
Large Rooms So you have a large room and wisely decided to install 2 ceiling fans. You might want to experiment with the fans during the summer by operating them on high speed in forward, reverse, and opposite directions. Depending on where your seating is in the room, a combination of directions may actually hit that spot the best by creating a unique vortex in the airflow.
Outdoors Outdoor ceiling fans are usually used only during the summer. An additional benefit of having a ceiling fan outdoors over a table is that you can use the fan to keep bugs away by turning it up on high speed in forward (counter-clockwise). The compromise here is that it will cool your food off. Keep in mind that for this to work, you need a ceiling fan that has a motor powerful enough to create a column of air strong enough to ward off those pesky flies and yellow jackets. Not all fans will do this well, so make sure to ask for a fan with a powerful motor if you wish for your outdoor fan to perform this task. You will be much more pleased with the comfort level the fan produces anyway, so it's worth spending a bit more for the best quality outdoor fan you can afford.
As an electrical contractor, Allyn White Electrical does all kinds of industrial and commercial electrical installations and repairs as well as home electrical services and emergency electrical repairs. We are a small family-owned and run business with over 40+ years’ experience so please call us on 0416235641. We are here to help.
sources: martecaustralia.com.au, universalfans.com.au, hansenwholesale.com
