When your air conditioner’s doing a good job cooling your home, it may seem like a waste of energy to leave your ceiling fan on. In reality, though, running your ceiling fan with your air conditioner makes the A/C’s job easier, saving you energy and money.
Ceiling fans move warm air downward, which pushes cooler air near the floor upward for more even cooling throughout the room. The moving air also creates a breeze that cools you as it passes over your skin.
By using a ceiling fan with your air conditioning, you can raise your thermostat setting slightly without sacrificing comfort. This higher setting helps your air conditioner burn less energy. Although a ceiling fan also uses energy, most units consume about the same amount of energy as a 100-watt light bulb. The end result is lower energy consumption and improved comfort.
If you’re installing a new ceiling fan, choose a model that’s large enough to be effective. For a room of up to 225 square feet, you’ll be fine with a fan of 36 to 44 inches in diameter. To cool a room larger than that, go with a fan of 52 inches or more.
For efficiency and safety, the fan blades should be 7 to 9 feet above the floor and at least 18 inches from the walls. A fan is most efficient when it’s at least 10 to 12 inches below the ceiling. If your ceiling’s lower than 8 feet, consider a flush mount hugger fan, which sits closer to the ceiling. Although less efficient, these models still help cool.
If you leave the room for more than a few minutes, switch off the fan. Ceiling fans cool you by moving air over your skin, but they don’t change the air temperature. That means there’s no reason to leave them on when no one’s around.
Ceiling fans are just one way to cool your home more affordably. For more expert guidance on improving the efficiency of your home’s cooling system, get in touch with Overland Park Heating & Cooling, Inc., serving the Greater Kansas City area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Overland Park, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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