Moving More than Air: The Importance of Fans

With rising energy costs and temperature extremes, fans are a great investment for your home. They help lower energy costs in both the summer and winter by helping move the air you want to the right locations in your house. More than that, fans can be a lovely decorative addition to any room and can increase the value of your home.

Built-in Fans
Ceiling fans are a great addition to any room. Usually combined with lights, these double-duty fixtures add beauty and temperature control to any room in your home. For best results, go for ceiling fans that are reversible, so you can push warm air down towards the floor in the winter, and pull cold air up through the room in the summer. The latest iteration of ceiling fans is “Smart Fans”. These fans have motion sensors, temperature detection, scheduling timers for both fans and lights and more. Many of them will connect to their own app or your smart home devices like Google Home or Alexa. These fans have the added benefit of using the lowest amount of energy for the greatest benefit and can pay for themselves rather quickly, at least according to the latest test and advertising.

If your home doesn’t have central air-conditioning, or even if it does, a whole house fan can help reduce your cooling costs and make your house more comfortable year-round. Better for the environment than air conditioning systems, the latest designs are quiet and can lower skin temperatures by as much as 10 degrees. These fans, located in hallways or stairwells and venting into the attic, pull air through open windows to reduce the temperature of the whole house. Just want the fan in the attic? Both whole-house and attic-only fans vent warm air out to help protect your roof from heat warping damage. The main difference is that an attic fan doesn’t draw air through the living spaces. It can be a great augmentation to a whole house H-VAC system.

Moveable Fans
Box fans, tower, pedestal, and other free-standing fans can be moved from room to room in your house and just used when needed. Newer high-end bladeless fans are quieter and safer for children and can even include remote controls, multiple speed options, and scheduling features. Like window air conditioners, window fans fit into the window frame of an open window and draw air in from outside. They work the best overnight when the air is cooler and can offset air conditioning costs considerably when used correctly.

Fans in the Winter
You might think fans are only for summer, but you would be wrong. Fans can move air in multiple directions, that means they can pull warm air down in the winter just as easily as they push cool air up in the summer. In addition to reversing your ceiling fans with the built-in switch, reversing window box fans on your lower level can bring warm air down from the upper floors and push cold air outside. Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans are especially useful in the winter since they can reduce the mold and mildew caused by moisture build up.

Next time you go to an open house, make sure to note existing fans and take pictures of areas that would benefit from new fan installation.