Summer is here, and temperatures are rising. While hot temperatures are enjoyable in the post-winter thaw, they can quickly become almost unbearable. In looking for an escape from the heat, you may find yourself searching for the most effective cooling method.
Doubling up on your cooling by combining the AC and a ceiling fan has been thought to waste electricity. However, this isn’t true, as you will see below. And the benefits to be gained from combining your two cooling systems depend on which direction the fan is blowing.
When the AC is running, a ceiling fan can improve the distribution of the conditioned air throughout the room when spinning either clockwise or counterclockwise. When the ceiling fan spins counterclockwise, the air is pushed down and wind chill is added to enhance the cooling effects of the AC.
Is It Pointless to Use AC and Fan Together?
There is a misunderstanding that using a fan while the AC is on is counterproductive and wastes energy. This stems from the fact that heat rises naturally rises and gathers in a pocket against the ceiling of a room.
Ceiling fans push air down, so users are concerned that the air being pushed down would be warm and would, therefore, increase the temperature of the air surrounding occupants as opposed to cooling it down.
As mentioned, this is not the case at all. Because fans are constantly moving, hot air is unable to accumulate near the ceiling. Using both AC and a fan together is actually beneficial to ensure even distribution of cold air and enhanced cooing effects.
The AC cools the air down and the ceiling fan helps to distribute it. This is helpful in rooms where AC vents may be poorly placed, like AC registers near the floor.
Furthermore, in one particular direction—which we get to in a moment—running a ceiling fan with the AC can replicate the feeling of running the AC alone at a cooler temperature. Basically, you feel colder than the actual ambient temperature, so you don’t have to set your thermostat to such a low setting, saving energy and money.
The reason you feel colder is that the fan’s cooling mechanism is wind chill. As air, particularly cold air, blows over your skin, it removes the barrier of warm air. This means you don’t have that insulating layer of warmth and your body can also release more body heat, which is also “blown away.”
The colder air supplied by the AC also means that you don’t have to set your ceiling fan to such a high speed. Such speeds can become irritating and uncomfortable after a while. So, you stay both comfortable and cool without worrying about high-power air currents hitting you.
Fan Must Turn Counterclockwise To Enhance Cooling
When the ceiling fan turns counterclockwise, the blades direct air downwards because, in this mode, the highest point of the pitched blade leads the rotation.
Air is then directed downward by following the angle of the blade. This is the summer mode of the fan, and this mode enhances cooling in the presence of the operating AC.
Clockwise Rotations Can Help Distribute Cooled Air
On the flip side, the fan functions in winter mode when it rotates clockwise (not all ceiling fans have this functionality).
When in winter mode, the fan displaces the warmer air closer to the ceiling with cooler air pulled up from the occupied zone. This space is then filled with the warmer air. While the purpose of this mode is to help warm the room, it does not actually drastically change the temperature without the addition of a heat source.
Without a heat source, this function of the fan is actually only really effective at creating air circulation throughout the room. When the AC is running, the air that is circulating is cold. So, using the AC with a clockwise spin of the ceiling fan helps to evenly distribute the conditioned air to prevent pockets of much colder or much warmer air from forming.
In addition, the airflow produced in winter mode is much more gentle. You forgo the added cooling mechanism of wind chill but you also avoid being buffeted entirely. So, this is a great option if the blowing from the fan’s summer mode is uncomfortable.
Sometimes, it’s not as straightforward as summer mode in summer and winter mode in winter. Sometimes, it depends on where you vents and registers are located: