[Greenbuilding] Data on energy conservation advantages of ceiling fans

[Matt Dirksen]

Hi Bob,

While I personally love ceiling fans for improving comfort, (especially in older homes with poorly designed HVAC systems) they really need to be DC motors, and must be used properly to even remotely contribute to actual energy savings. And because the most energy efficient fans are quite $$, it's likely they won't pay themselves off for quite a while, if ever.

If the building in question is an old leaky building with a poorly designed cooling system, I'd first spend the money on an energy audit. I suspect that tightening the envelope up and improving the AC system might prove to be more cost effective than paying an electrician to install ceiling fans.
(Especially assuming it's a commercial building in Oklahoma. Moisture control is likely your biggest roadblock toward improving comfort.)

Frankly, I've read more articles on how ceiling fans don't actually do too much toward energy savings, due in-part to their constant mis-use. Several years ago, a study was done in Florida on them, and it showed that they actually increased overall energy use. (Of course that was probably done before motion sensors and DC driven fans.)

I'd probably look into greenbudingadvisor.com or buildingscience.com for the most current info.

Good luck,

Matt

> On Nov 21, 2014, at 1:17 AM, Bob Waldrop <bwaldrop1952 at att.net> wrote:
> 
> There's some talk at my work about signing up for the utility's flex hours rate plan, where we pay more between 1 PM and 7 PM Monday through Friday.  I'm thinking . . . if we put ceiling fans in the offices, we could move the thermostat up a bit.  My boss is a data guy, math major in college, and he will want to see some figures. Is there anything convenient out there I could download or give him a link to about how ceiling fans can save energy dollars?
> 
> Bob Waldrop, Okie City
> 
> -- 
> http://www.ipermie.net How to permaculture your urban lifestyle and adapt to the realities of peak oil, economic irrationality, political criminality, and peak oil.
> 
> 
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