Everyone’s a fan of saving money on energy costs.
An easy way to cut that electric bill this summer is installing a ceiling fan in the rooms in which you spend the most time.
“Fans have always been promoted that way, keeping your heating and air conditioning (costs) down,” said Harlan Lessman, president of Lessman’s Lighting Center, 801 W. Seventh St.
Used correctly, a multi-speed reversible ceiling fan can save up to 40 percent on cooling costs, according to SaveOnEnergy.com.
The fan itself isn’t cooling the room, but by circulating the air in the room, it creates a breeze.
“It helps keep air moving so you feel cool,” Lessman said. “It’s like a breeze flowing on you to cool your skin.”
Think of being outside on a humid, 95-degree day, said A.J. Hutton, a Lessman’s Lighting Center lighting consultant. When a breeze comes up, you feel a little cooler, although it’s still 95 degrees.
Because the fan helps you feel a little more comfortable, you can raise the temperature on your home’s thermostat by a couple degrees, keeping your air conditioner from running as often.
To optimize the savings, homeowners should choose the right fan, then use it correctly.
“The biggest thing you can tell people is take the room size, the ceiling size into consideration when purchasing a unit,” Hutton said.
The bigger the room, the bigger the fan needed. Hutton said a 42-inch fan will work in most rooms 12-feet-by-12-feet or smaller. A 52-inch fan is best for larger rooms.
Hutton said if the room has a high ceiling, vaulted ceiling or other coves, a fan with a bigger motor is going to be needed because there’s more air to move.
The number of blades on the fan doesn’t make much difference, Hutton said. Rather, it’s the pitch, or degree of tilt, of the blades. The bigger the pitch, the better the fan will move air.
Bigger blades also move more air than smaller ones, Lessman said.
Still, in many cases, style trumps everything. Hutton said she can explain all the energy efficiencies and choosing the proper-sized fan for a room, but it doesn’t matter if the customer falls in love with how another model looks, no matter if it isn’t the best fan for that room.
“Sometimes you’ve got to get the balance between what looks good and what gets the job done,” Hutton said. “The more information that we can give the customer, the better decision they can make. Really do your research before you just go out and buy something.”
Lessman said that even though the energy-saving benefits of ceiling fans are widely known, that’s not why most homeowners buy them.
“I don’t think people are buying fans for energy purposes. They’re doing it to have them,” he said. “The fans are there for two reasons: the functionality and the look.”
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