[Greenbuilding] Ceiling Fans at Night?

[Sacie Lambertson]

*On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 10:35 AM, Ron Cascio <roncascio at verizon.net> wrote:
*
>
> * It is my belief that a ceiling fan is useful in winter only when there
> is a large degree of temperature stratification in high ceiling areas and
> the fan is able to push that hot air (which wants to stay up there) down to
> a lower level at a very low velocity, low enough as to not cause convective
> cooling to the occupants of that area.
> *
>

This is precisely our situation.  I rarely leave our fans on at night
because no one is there to enjoy the warmth they create as they bring the
warm air down.  On the other hand, fans turned on immediately below normal
ceiling level ie 8 or 9 feet, might make the air feel cool to the occupants
below.   There must be a right ratio between the volume of hot air above
before a fan can be efficiently employed to warm the air below.   Certainly
in our house, I would not turn on the fans in the spaces where the stove is
not located, even though, for sure, the air is somewhat stratified there
too.    Sacie
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20110106/e35bf462/attachment.html>