When people think about ceiling fans, they often equate them with providing cool air during the hot summer months. They are great for that, of course, but they are also very useful during the cooler months if they are used wisely.

Here are some tips about how to use your ceiling fans in the winter and the benefits you’ll receive:

  • Make sure you have the right fan and that it’s installed well. Your fans, just like your A/C unit and furnace, have to be sized correctly. For example, a 10-by-10-foot room needs a 42-inch fan to provide the necessary amount of circulation. If the room is bigger, the fan blades need to be longer. Also, the fan should between eight and 12 feet from the floor.
  • Reverse your fan. There should be a switch between the light fixture and the blades that will cause the fan to rotate clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Rather than sending a cool breeze directly down to you, the reversed blades will lift the air toward the ceiling, where it flows out to the walls around the room. This cycle circulates the hot air in your room so that it no longer sits near the ceiling.
  • Turn the ceiling fans off when you leave the room. Many homeowners don’t realize that fans don’t change the temperature of air, they simply circulate it. In the summer this makes you feel cooler because it provides a breeze directly on your body. The same thing is true in the winter; the heat is being evenly distributed throughout the room, but the fan is not actually changing the temperature. Turning it off when you’re not in the room will prevent you from wasting unnecessary energy.

Whether you need new ceiling fans for your home or you want more tips about slashing your energy bills, contact Stack Heating & Cooling. We have been providing expert HVAC service to the greater Cleveland area since 1976.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about ceiling fans and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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