Have you ever wondered if your ceiling fan is actually helping cool down your home, or just pushing around warm air?
Do ceiling fans help or hurt your AC efficiency?
Is your fan making your home a more comfortable temperature or just wasting electricity and money on utility bills?
These are common questions that East Texas AC and heating companies hear often.
What Does a Ceiling Fan Actually Do?
First, let’s get to the bottom of what’s actually occurring when you use your ceiling fan.
Rather than the fan offering much in terms of lowering the room’s temperature, the fan instead is useful to create a more comfortable atmosphere for whoever is in the room at the time. This is because the fan provides the feeling of cool wind moving against your skin, which helps your body feel cooler. There’s nothing like a cool breeze when we’re too warm and that’s exactly what a fan provides. A fan also cools the moisture on your body, which makes you feel cooler and more comfortable.
Ceiling fans also distribute warm air so that it doesn’t accumulate near the ceiling and continue to heat up a room.
Ceiling fans can’t replace an air conditioner. However, they can help you feel cooler and help your HVAC system work more efficiently.
How Ceiling Fans and AC Work Together
That being said, there is real, measurable benefit to using a ceiling fan in conjunction with your AC. According to the Department of Energy it’s possible to set your programmable thermostat four degrees higher when you’re using the ceiling fan and air conditioner at the same time.
Over the course of the long East Texas hot summer season it’s possible to make considerable savings on your home’s energy bills with this small adjustment.
According to a report by Energy Star, if you turn your thermostat higher by about three degrees in combination with running your ceiling fan, you can save as much as 14% on cooling your home.
It’s too hot in East Texas not to have your AC on night and day during the summer months. Running your HVAC unit so much uses a lot of electricity and can significantly raise your utility bill.
The Cooling Cost Formula
So here’s the formula for lowering your cooling costs without compromising on comfort:
At the times of day or night when you’re using a room, set your programmable thermostat a few degrees higher than you would normally have it. Turn on the ceiling fan to increase the room’s airflow and the cool air moving across your body, which will help you feel cooler.
Raising your thermostat for those hours means your AC is working less, and your home will use less electricity.
When you’re not in the room turn off the ceiling fan, which helps conserve more of your home’s electricity.
Or…You have the option of leaving your ceiling fan on, which can help your air conditioning work more efficiently.
The Direction of the Fan Blades Matters
There’s an important detail to this equation working properly however:
Have you ever paid attention to what direction your fan blades are going? You will now, because it makes a difference in whether your fan is cooling the room—or not.
In the hot summer months, your fan blades should be rotating counterclockwise. When your fan blades are spinning counterclockwise, they’re pushing the hot air down and causing it to circulate, rather than accumulate and continue to make your home hotter and hotter.
How to Change Fan Direction
If you’re not sure how to get your fan to rotate counterclockwise, it should be pretty straightforward:
Turn off your fan. When the blades have stopped spinning, locate the switch on your fan’s main body. If you have a remote controlled fan, you should be able to change the fan direction easily from the remote. Once you’re sure the fan blades are spinning in the right direction, they will help push the warm air around and cool the room.
Get a Professional HVAC Check for Maximum Efficiency
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re getting maximum cooling efficiency for your specific HVAC system is scheduling a professional inspection with an AC repair company in East Texas.
There are many benefits to a professional inspection and better yet, signing up for a professional HVAC maintenance program. Experienced HVAC technicians with state of the art products and diagnostic equipment will do whatever is needed and might include an AC system check, a carbon monoxide inspection, provide any necessary HVAC maintenance, air conditioner repair, heating repair, change your air conditioner filters if needed, clean ductwork and, if necessary, install a new air conditioner.
A professional will be able to determine how you can best utilize your air conditioner with your ceiling fans for the best efficiency.
Contact a local East Texas HVAC company today and schedule your appointment.
