Tuesday, September 24, 2013

To Fan or Not To Fan [#CTWW]


My goal is to get back to participating in the Change the World Wednesday challenges. This week's challenge:

This week we are joining my friends at Fanimation in celebrating the the first ever National Ceiling Fan Day (NCFD). Did you know that the average central cooling unit draws anywhere from 3,500 to 5,000 watts of energy? Compare that to the 6-30 watts used by a ceiling fan and we quickly see why ceiling fans are energy efficient. So, for at least one full day this week, power off your air conditioners and rely on ceiling fans and/or portable fans to keep cool.

Ahh, air conditioning! How I love thee; let me count the ways! Don't get me wrong, I don't like for the temperature in the house to be freezing, but I am not a fan of humid air. It's sticky! 

As I read this week's challenge, I wanted to do an inventory of ceiling fans and potential for installing more ceiling fans. Currently, we have the following: one fan on the furnace unit (used sometimes during the summer), two small personal fans (used only during minor flooding in the basement), ceiling fan in the breezeway (using during the summer). Our house has zero ceiling fans. We have thought about installing ceiling fans upstairs because it gets a little toasty in the summer, but have not found suitable fans for the shorter ceilings (cape cod house). The bedroom is an option for a ceiling fan. My husband would love to have a ceiling fan on while he sleeps during the night, but I hate something blowing on me while I sleep. We have not pulled the trigger on this installation.

Back to the challenge. I realized I have been doing this week's challenge without even knowing it. The air conditioner has not been turned on for longer than one week (I can't even remember the last time). I have been keeping the windows open during the day and at night when possible. I ran the fan unit one afternoon when the air was a little humid. Since the summer is coming to an end, my goal is not to turn the air conditioner on anymore. Now, I need to decide when to turn on the heat. Eek!

>> Do you have ceiling fans? Do you use them instead of using the air conditioner??
  




2 comments:

Katherines Corner said...

we use the ceiling fan in our bedroom all year round. We are also considering putting a low profile ceiling fan in our living room. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things hop ♥

Unknown said...

Ah yes ... humidity! This year, for the first time since we've lived here, the humidity became bad enough to cause mold. Ugh! So, we ran the A/C. I hated it! I don't really like cooled (or heated) air but I dislike mold even more. Typically, though, we use ceiling fans & adjust the curtains to stay comfortable. I love ceiling fans! We have one in the bedroom and if we run it on low, we don't really feel a breeze ... it just makes the air move which I find pleasing. Great article, Katie ... thanks for sharing your evaluation with us!

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