Pssst… I’ve got a super-duper amazing wonderful secret for keeping yourself warm during the winter. It’s probably something you’ve got right in the house, something you use a lot—but maybe didn’t realize could help with the winter cold weather.
That amazing secret is… your ceiling fan!
Come on, Olive! The ceiling fan? That’s for keeping cool
Yes, I’m serious. It’s true that a ceiling fan is a wonderful invention when it comes to helping keep people cooled down in a house in the summer. The wind currents from the fan help your body to release more heat, so your body cools down more. A ceiling fan can help you cut down on how much you run the AC by 25%. Plenty of folks here in the South use these fans all through the summer.
But a ceiling fan also can help during the winter. And here’s how:
Go look at the base of your ceiling fan. Do you notice a small toggle switch there? You probably aren’t sure what this does. If you toggle it, it will cause the blades of the fan to rotate in the opposite direction, moving clockwise rather than the standard counterclockwise direction.
When the blades spin in the reverse direction, something interesting occurs. Instead of sending down a current of air, the fan pulls air up from the room, which then forces air along the ceiling downward. Heat rises, so a ceiling fan running backwards moves the warm air from the top of the room down to where you are. This is especially beneficial for rooms that have high ceilings.
If you aren’t sure which direction the blades are turning, remember to look at the fan from below. Counterclockwise is the direction for summer, and clockwise is the direction for winter.
Final reminder: fans don’t do any good when nobody is in the room! To help conserve power, make sure to shut off any fans when you leave a room empty.
Stay warm,
Olive