A ceiling fan can quite quickly feel like a heaven-sent gift during those stifling hot and humid days that tend to plague us during summer. While a ceiling fan does not actually create cool air, it can be quite effective at cooling a person down as long as the fan is running.
When the heat becomes too hot to handle, it may be tempting to leave your ceiling fan on the entire day, without even a moment’s rest. Keep reading to find out whether you should ever do this, and how long is actually safe to keep your ceiling fan running.
On average, ceiling fans can run continuously for up to 8 hours. After that, the risk of the motor overheating and/or failing increases. This overheating can also lead to fires. Overworked motors last fewer years.
Ceiling Fans Are Designed to Run for an Extended Time
The good news is that leaving your ceiling fan running the whole night (who can sleep when it’s so hot and the mosquitoes are out in full force!) or during the hottest part of the day isn’t going to be an issue.
Their specific design ensures that ceiling fans can handle operating for many hours at a time, so you don’t have to be scared to leave them on when you need them.
However, that doesn’t mean that they should run 24/7. The motor will need a break in order to cool down and to prevent any malfunctioning.
Duration Ceiling Fans Are Designed to Run For
On average, you can expect your ceiling fan to run happily for about 8 hours, however the exact time frame tends to differ from model to model and according to the age of the fan.
Newer models can probably run for longer inconsequentially than older models, as they tend to have more refined motors that are unlikely to heat up as quickly.
Some models can even run continuously for days without posing any threat, but you can then expect that the bearings may start to wear down a lot quicker than expected, which, in turn, then increases the risk associated with using your ceiling fan for a longer period of time.
If you want to be super cautious, then it is best that you consult your specific fan’s manual to check exactly how long that particular model can run without causing any damage to the motor or inner workings of the fan.
Should You Leave a Ceiling Fan on All the Time?
Now that we have established that leaving your ceiling fan on for several hours at a time is not necessarily a danger, we need to establish whether you actually should be doing so.
While ceiling fans are effective at making people more comfortable in hot weather, they don’t actually cool the room itself. If you are not going to be in the room where the ceiling fan is running, then there is really no point in keeping it on.
You’ll just be disappointed to find that the room won’t be any cooler than when you left it. Only once you’re in the room for a few moments will the wind chill effect start to take place and you will begin to feel cooler.
If you tend to get really hot at night while you sleep, then keeping the ceiling fan on the whole night can definitely help keep you comfortable, provided that you aren’t entirely covered by blankets that may prevent the breeze from touching your skin.
Things That Affect the Time a Fan Can Run For
The Fan’s Motor
The type of motor that runs your fan can affect how quickly it heats up and, therefore, how safe it would be to run your fan for extended periods of time.
AC vs DC
AC fan motors heat up when they are running. Although the fans can dissipate this heat around the room, slowing down the buildup of heat in the motor, the longer you leave the fan on, the more heat is produced, and the less effective this dissipation is. The end result of this is an overheating fan motor.
By comparison, DC fan motors are a lot less inclined to overheat. This is because they use less electricity to rotate the blades. They have a permanent magnet system that helps to turn the rotor, which lessens the amount of work the motor has to do per revolution.
Small vs Large Motors
Small motors work harder to spin the ceiling fan blades. While their average speeds are typically slower to accommodate the smaller motor, users are more likely to keep these fans on the highest setting to achieve the desired airflow, subjecting the motor to the maximum amount of stress.
By comparison, larger motors are better able to convert electricity into work and the motors also tend to be more robust. As a user, you will be less likely to stick these fans on the highest setting as it can create quite a whirlwind.
Low- vs High-Quality Fans
Low-quality fans have low-quality motors. We all know that cheap materials and products are typically victims of poor design as well. The combination of low-quality materials and poor design means that overheating is more likely as the parts don’t move as smoothly and the motor is more prone to stress.
High-quality fans are made with better materials and more care is taken with the design to ensure that the fan runs as smoothly as possible for as long as possible.
Age of the Fan
Finally, even a high-quality fan motor will wear over time, becoming more vulnerable to the forces that create overheating. So, the age of the ceiling fan becomes a factor in how long you can run it at a time.
The Speed of the Ceiling Fan
The speed that you run your ceiling fan can affect how much electricity will be used and, therefore, how hard your motor works, and how much heat is produced.
Running your fan at a medium speed will enable it to run for longer periods of time as the motor won’t be working too hard to maintain the speed.
However, running it at high speed for extended periods of time will increase the amount of power that the motor will need to maintain the speed, and the fan will overheat sooner.
Downsides of Running Ceiling Fans All the Time
While ceiling fans are technically designed to be able to run for hours on end, leaving them on 24/7 has the potential to cause some problems in the long run.
Its Effect on the Maintenance of the Fan
Running your ceiling fan continuously might be safe, but it can have significant effects on how often you will need to perform maintenance on the fan.
While you may only need to oil your fan’s bearings once a year according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, if you run your ceiling fan all day every day, you will probably have to oil the fan a lot more often—perhaps even as much as three times a year.
On the other hand, you may find yourself wiping dust off the blades a lot less. This is because if the blades are continuously moving, there is less ‘down time’ that will allow dust to settle.
It Can Shorten the Fan’s Lifespan
Most ceiling fans are meant to last you at least a decade (if properly maintained). It is highly unlikely that you will need to replace your ceiling fan sooner than this unless a serious malfunction occurs or an accident causes damage to the blades or motor.
However, running your ceiling fan 24/7 can shorten its lifespan by a few years, so you can expect to need to replace it before it even reaches 10 years.
Higher Energy Consumption
While ceiling fans are an energy-efficient way of keeping you cool—they even make your AC more efficient—and are quite affordable to run, leaving them on when no one is in the room is often a waste of energy.
Running your ceiling fan can cost you anywhere from $0.005 to $0.016 an hour, which may not seem like much but if you leave it on consistently, and you’re not even in the room to reap its benefits, then you are really just wasting money.
Potential Safety Risks
While ceiling fans are manufactured to run for long periods of time, and they are all tested for safety purposes, they are not exempt from having the potential to cause safety hazards.
Throughout this article, we have spoken about the fan motor overheating with excessive use. This shortens its lifespan but also makes it more of a fire risk. This risk is quite low, but ceiling fan fires are not completely impossible. It is more likely that the motor will overheat and then fail without flames.
Additionally, the risk of a fire increases greatly if your ceiling fan has not been cleaned. An accumulation of dust can quickly become ignited and have detrimental effects.
The best way to ensure the safety of your home and family is to always buy your ceiling fan from a reputable brand, ensure that it is properly installed, and don’t leave it on longer than about 8 hours at a time (less if that’s what the manufacturer recommends).
Another good practice is to make sure you turn your ceiling fan off before leaving the house.
Sources
https://hvacseer.com/can-ceiling-fans-overheat/
https://ceilingfantips.com/is-it-safe-to-leave-a-ceiling-fan-on-24-7/