Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
Sounds good, but does it really make a significant difference in your electric bill? To me, ceiling fans are just annoying and don't provide any temperature reduction. Also, leaving your garage attic stairs down is a code violation and can cause a fire in the garage to spread quickly to the rest of the house.
|
Ceiling fans make a noticeable difference in the comfort of a room. I feel I can set my thermostat two or three degrees higher and still be comfortable if I have fan running.
There is nothing in the fan itself to cool the room; if anything, there is a little heat generated by the motor. Where the ceiling fan helps is in circulating and mixing the air. There are no hot spots at the ceiling and cold spots on the floor; instead, all the air is a more uniform temperature. The walls and ceiling of the room stay cooler because the air does not become as warm and therefore they do not radiate as much heat. And, the slight breeze over your skin makes you feel cooler.
I like the idea of running the fan in reverse to push air towards the ceiling. We feel the breeze more at the edges of the room (where the chairs are anyway) and the breeze is less than of the fan was blowing directly on us. I use the lowest setting; I'm just trying to move the air, not cause a wind.