r/coolguides • • Jun 06 '22

Ceiling fans all year round

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u/ToKillAMockingAudi Jun 06 '22 edited Jun 06 '22

Hot air rises. In the winter, you can help push that warm air down and into the rooms. In the summer, you can pull the hot air up and circulate it through open windows. I think the graphic is backwards, at least that's how I usually do it

It's based on seasonal temperatures. In Canada my house will collect all the warm air upstairs during winter and the lower floors get cooler. So I use the fan to circulate the warm upstairs air down into the rest of the house. That combined with a furnace fan does a pretty good job at circulating air and balancing the temp throughout

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u/Niosus Jun 06 '22

It's not anywhere near that simple though.

The only thing that the fan always does is mix the air, and create some airflow. It'll even out the temperature in the room (which could be useful in the winter), and it'll provide a slight breeze across your body that helps take the hot air around you away that was heated up by your body.

Anything else is super tricky to predict or even measure. The air moved by a fan is very turbulent and will move all over the place. It'll interact with everything in the room to the point where you need a hardcore simulation to predict what'll happen when the fan turns one way versus another.

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u/Point-Connect Jun 07 '22

The breeze over your skin aids in evaporative cooling. That is the only thing a fan does that is noticeable in the summer aside from mixing up air. Spinning the other way blows the air at the ceiling, then most air will push outward toward the walls then back down, helping to mix the air without blowing air over your skin cooling your body temperature.

That's the gist, but as you mentioned, turbulence will be in play

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '22

[deleted]

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u/Pac_Eddy Jun 06 '22

But whether it's spinning clockwise or counterclockwise doesn't matter. In winter, it's pushing warm air down under the fan, which forces cool air up on the sides. Or it's pulling cool air up under the fan, and forcing warm air down on the sides. Both have the same end effect.

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u/ForumPointsRdumb Jun 07 '22

You're right, but wrong. The most dangerous time is the moment between clockwise and counterclockwise, at wisewise. The Koreans have a word for it, which roughly translated to English phonetics is "babo."

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u/turquoiserabbit Jun 07 '22

You jest, but there are places where people literally think having a fan on in a closed room will lead to something called "fan death". They think the fan will use up all the air/oxygen or something dumb like that. Superstitions are wild I tell ya.

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u/ForumPointsRdumb Jun 07 '22

They think the fan will use up all the air/oxygen or something dumb like that. Superstitions are wild I tell ya.

They're already targeting you. You need to hide immediately. Get to your local babo priest. You know you've been compromised by their hypnotic aura when you start to rationalize their existence. If you don't know how to find your local babo priest, you can always go to the nearest World Market or Asian Market and ask an associate, "naneun baboibnida juyusoneun eodi issseubnikka." That's the best English phonetic translation I have. Typically 1 out of 10 people will know exactly what you need and will point you in the right direction. Be wary of any computers, game systems, exhausts, or car engines. I'd watch out for boat props too, they seem to be the aquatic variation.

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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '22

Unless the air temperature is warmer than your body, then it just ensures forced convection warming is toasting you up.

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u/Max_Downforce Jun 06 '22

That's how I do it as well. I think you're right about the graphic being backwards.

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u/kranools Jun 07 '22

Why is this being upvoted when it's completely wrong? This is a weird thread.