Ceiling Fan Hacks to Save Energy (and Money)

Energy and Money

Did you know that you can save money with high efficiency windmill ceiling fan? That may seem strange, considering that it has to consume energy while it is running, but it’s true, nevertheless. One trick is to use your ceiling fan in conjunction with your air conditioning unit to make it perform much more efficiently. If you do this properly, then despite the fact that you will be running two appliances, rather than just one, you will use less energy, and therefore actually save yourself a significant amount of money over the course of a year.

In summer when it gets hot, we all tend to simply switch on the air-conditioning unit, setting it on high to create a nice cool atmosphere in the room. If it’s very hot, your air conditioning unit will have to work hard to maintain a cool temperature in the room, and this will prove to be quite expensive. Most of us just accept this cost as the price we have to pay for being comfortable during the hot summer months, but we can remain comfortably cool, and save ourselves money if we use a ceiling fan as well.

Your ceiling fan should be able to reverse its direction of spin, from clockwise to anti-clockwise. A little switch or button on the base of the fan is usually the way to change direction. In summer, you usually need it running anti-clockwise, but check it first. Switch it on and stand below it. If you feel a down draught of air, then it’s set properly for summer. The fan alone may be all you need if it isn’t too hot outside. Your ceiling fan uses around 60 watts of energy, compared to around 3,500 watts of energy for your air conditioning unit.

However, if you need more cooling power than your ceiling fan can provide, you should find that you are able to raise the temperature on your air conditioning unit from say, 70 degrees to something like 76 degrees, or perhaps even higher, and with your ceiling fan running as well, still feel as cool as if the air conditioning unit was running alone, but set at a much lower temperature. This could save you several hundred dollars over the course of a summer.

You can save money with your ceiling fan in winter too. When it gets cold you will have to use a heater of some kind to warm the room. It doesn’t really matter what kind of heater you use, but the warm air will inevitably rise to the top of the room, leaving cooler air near the floor level. This is where you are, and if you want to stay warm, you will need some way of drawing the warmer air from the top of the room, down to the lower parts of the room.

This is where your ceiling fan comes in. You will usually need to have it running clockwise, which will have the effect of pushing air upwards and outwards, thereby circulating it around the room and equalizing the room temperature, making the room actually feel warmer without you having to turn up the heat. And remember, running your ceiling fan costs about the same as running a light bulb, so switch one off and you will reduce your heating bill and save money even further.

If you enjoyed reading these ceiling fan hacks, you may want to subscribe to our quarterly newsletter.