Air conditioners can cool or heat a room, but cannot circulate the cool air evenly throughout the rooms they are in, and may need help from ceiling fans.
Air conditioners can do a great job at extracting hot air from a room and replacing it with cool air that is the desired temperature that you set.
However, even though an air conditioner can cool a space, it may not always be able to cover the entire space and distribute the cool air through the room evenly, which can be problematic, as a space can end up being unevenly cooled.
In the event that this happens with an air conditioner, it may need extra help to distribute the cool air through the space.
Air conditioners and ceiling fans
Sometimes, because of the setup of certain rooms or spaces, an air conditioner may not evenly distribute cool air through a room. An air conditioner is usually positioned or installed in a certain place in the room and it blows cool air as far as it can.
It cannot distribute the cool air around the room to cool complicated corners and this is where ceiling fans come in handy, as they can spread and distribute air around well.
Does a ceiling fan help an air conditioner?
Contrary to what many people may believe, ceiling fans are not actually coolers and they do not blow cool air. Fans are merely intended to enhance the existing temperature of the room.
So, if the temperature happens to be warm at the time that the fan is turned on, then the fan will enhance that warm temperature in the space.
Likewise, if it is cool, the fan will do the same thing – enhance the coolness. They keep the air moving with different effects that are determined by the season and how you use them.
In the case of air conditioners, a ceiling fan can help cooling systems to cool better, or rather to enhance the temperature of the room that is regulated by the air conditioner.
They can also help the unit to be more efficient, which is good if you are trying to keep your running costs low. The trick lies in knowing how to use the ceiling fan to your advantage, to ensure it is aiding the air conditioner in distributing the air in the room.
There are some ways to use a ceiling fan to help an air conditioner, and it will be useful to know how to implement them. This assisted cooling cycle can help to create a reduced cooling or heating load for your AC.
Set the ceiling fan to spin counterclockwise for cooling
Make sure that you set your fan to spin in the right direction. Fans can be set to either spin clockwise or counterclockwise, and the fan blades should be set to spin counterclockwise in the summer when your air conditioning is on.
This creates a downward draft and circulates the cool air throughout the room evenly. Furthermore, this reduces the strain the unit takes from trying to keep the room cool.
Set the ceiling fan to spin clockwise for heating
Some air conditioning units have a heating function, so they are capable of cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. To get the most out of the air conditioner and the fan, you need to set the fan blades to spin clockwise and not counterclockwise.
This has a counter effect on how the hot air moves, so that it will be forced up toward the ceiling instead of being pushed toward the ground. This makes it easier to circulate the air in the room and provides more efficient heating.
Adjust the fan speed for comfortable air circulation
It is also important to note that ceiling fans also have different fanning speeds from low or slow, to high or fast.
You need to ensure that you have set the fan to spin at a suitable speed so that the hot or cool air can be felt, but not to a point where it is uncomfortable.
Setting the fan’s speed too high can result in air not being circulated evenly while setting the speed too low may not circulate the air at all. Ultimately, it comes down to how the room feels in the moment.