LPT: It’s that time of year where the seasons change. If you’re in the northern hemisphere, change the rotation direction of your ceiling fans to pull air upwards and if you’re in the southern hemisphere, change the direction to push air downward.

Submitted by intellifone t3_yihnua in LifeProTips

This could save you some money on your energy bill and generally make you more comfortable. Your fan’s owner manual also tells you to do this, not that you scanned it in and saved it anywhere.

Turn the fan off and while it’s coming to a stop, stand under the fan and look up. Pay attention to the direction it’s currently turning and the direction of the pitch of the blade. If your fan blade is tilted like this \ and rotating counter clockwise, this it’s pushing air down and is great keeping the room feeling cool. If it’s like this \ and rotating clockwise, then it is pulling air upwards which is great for keeping the room feeling warmer.

Let it come to a full stop before doing this. Most ceiling fans have a little switch on the main body that changes the rotation of the fan. Flip that switch, then turn the fan back on and you’re good to go. Don’t forget to set a reminder for the next equinox (end of March/September to change it back.

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keepthetips t1_iuiovmk wrote

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woojo1984 t1_iuipkj0 wrote

remember though, fan's only help people feel comfortable, not rooms.

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PrisonerV t1_iuir7zs wrote

Lpt: clean your ceiling fans throughly before switching spin direction or you'll be sorry.

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eejjkk t1_iujinaf wrote

If heat rises and accumulates in the upper area of a room... wouldn't pushing that accumulated warm air DOWN help to keep the lower area of the room feeling warmer?

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kempff t1_iujqnmj wrote

Replying to eejjkk (#401,376)

Burn the heretic!

But seriously in all the years I've had ceiling fans I've never noticed a difference. Ceiling fans are nothing more than air mixers. They do not blow a well-defined column of warm air down from the ceiling that keeps us on the floor warmer, nor do they pull cool air up from the floor to make us feel cooler. Or maybe it's the other way around I can't remember. But either way the whole ceiling fan thing sounds like a marketing ploy by ceiling fan manufacturers.

Besides they blow things off of tables/desks/countertops and in a kitchen with a gas stove they mess with the burners. If I had the money I'd get rid of all of mine.

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cra3ig t1_iukb8hs wrote

Replying to eejjkk (#401,376)

It does seem to make more sense that way, but OP is right.

Summers, you're pushing the warmest air down at you. But it's the breeze effect that directly cools you, and accelerates the evaporation of sweat. Same as any other fan. The displaced air near the ceiling is replaced by air coming up alongside the perimeter walls.

Winters, you don't want that. By drawing air upwards, it spreads across the ceiling - displacing and driving the warm air there outward and then down the perimeter walls, mixing with and warming the room air there. Reducing temperature stratification with no draft.

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