How Ceiling Fans Affect Your Energy Efficiency

A ceiling fan lends a helping hand to your air conditioner or furnace and makes your home more energy efficient. Ceiling fans were the original electrical home cooling device, installed in houses beginning almost 100 years ago. With state-of-the-art, highly efficient motors that sip electricity, 21st-century fans improve air circulation and personal comfort while taking some of the load off the A/C and furnace.

Gentle air circulation from a ceiling fan enhances the perception of coolness in a room. Utilizing ceiling fans in summer allows you to bump the AC thermostat up several degrees without decreasing indoor comfort. For each degree you can set the thermostat upwards, you can reduce cooling costs by about 1 percent.

During winter, conversely, the rotation direction of the fan is reversed. Air circulates upward, pushing the layer of heat that typically accumulates at the ceiling back down into the room to keep occupants more comfortable. This allows a lower furnace thermostat setting and more energy savings.

Use this criteria select the best model:

The Right Size

Blade diameter affects the amount of air moved by a fan. For example, a 75-square foot room needs a fan with blades ranging between 29 inches and 36 inches. For rooms up to 144 square feet, a 48-inch blade is required for adequate air movement.

The Most Efficient

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star system evaluates ceiling fan energy efficiency by the cubic feet of air (CFM) moved for each watt of electricity consumed. On low speed setting, the fan should move at least 1,250 CFM with an energy efficiency of 155 CFM per watt. At medium setting, the Energy Star standard is 3,000 CFM at 100 CFM per watt. At high speed, the fan should move 5,000 CFM at 75 CFM per watt.

Always remember that a ceiling fan simply increases the feeling of coolness for occupants of a room without actually lowering the temperature. Therefore, there’s no benefit gained by leaving fans running when nobody’s in the room.

For more advice on adding an energy efficient ceiling fan to your home, contact C.R. Wolfe Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Middletown, New York 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 Guide or call us at 845-367-4482.

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