Ceiling Fan Benefits

Winter Benefits

• Most people think of fans as home appliances they use only during the summer but they can be useful in winter as well. By reversing the direction of your fan's rotation, you can use it to blow air up against the ceiling. This causes the warm air in your house to circulate back down the walls of the room rather than gathering near the ceiling where it doesn't help to keep you warm. You circulate air without the fan blowing directly on residents of the room, something that would make the room feel cooler than it actually is.

Summer Benefits

• In hot and humid weather, houses can become heat traps where humid and uncomfortably warm air accumulates. If your house is poorly insulated or lacks trees around it that can help to cut the sun's glare, this problem can be particularly severe. Opening windows helps heat to escape, and ceiling fans can make this process much more effective by keeping the air in constant motion. The combination of moving air and cooler air that is drawn in through the windows can increase comfort levels within the home.

Energy Bills

• A ceiling fan uses about the same amount of energy as a 100 W bulb, according to the website Residential Landscape Lighting and Design. In the winter, a ceiling fan using this small amount of energy can allow you to decrease your heat settings a few degrees by utilizing the warm air in the house more efficiently. In the summer, strategically located ceiling fans may allow you to turn off your air conditioner in all but the most torrid weather, saving you a lot of money in electricity bills.

Air Conditioning

• Many people use air conditioning throughout the summer months to keep their houses cool but there are drawbacks to this practice. With an air conditioner running, you need to keep all the windows in your house closed, and this not only deprives you of the pleasure of summertime air and sounds, it can also compromise your health by depriving you of fresh air. Air conditioners use a lot of electricity and the larger ones make noise that can be irritating to residents and neighbors. Cooling a house with ceiling fans can help you to avoid all of these problems.