Save Money by Using Ceiling Fans

A ceiling fan can be a great way to add additional lighting to your home and improve the air circulation. Many models are priced within the reach of most budgets and they are also able to help pay for themselves in energy savings over time. In fact, the use of ceiling fans and a little bit of careful planning can help you keep the home cooler in the summer and more comfortable in the winter. Not to mention the fact that it will allow you to adjust the thermostat in order to save money on the electric bill. Here are a number of ways in which ceiling fans can be used to save money.

Open Windows More:

Many times what makes your house feel too warm is the lack of air movement or circulation, not the actual temperature. Using a ceiling fan can allow you to open the windows more often, helping to spread the fresh air all around the room. When the temperature drops during the evening, you might even want to try shutting off the air, opening the windows, and sleeping under a ceiling fan. The air will continue moving and you will avoid air striations, or alternating pockets of warmer and cooler air

Maximize Benefits Of Air Conditioning:

Once again, temperature is not the only factor that allows you to feel cooler and more comfortable. The main factor is actually circulating air and feeling that air moving over your skin. Ceiling fans are excellent devices for helping to circulate the air around a room. Setting a fan on a medium level of circulation will allow you to set the thermostat several degrees higher and still feel quite comfortable. If this is done over the course of weeks and months, the savings can really add up.

Maximize Benefits Of Heating:

Simply having your fan running all winter, just as it was doing in the summer, is not the right approach to take. Instead, look for the reverse setting on the base of your fan. This changes the direction of spin for the fan and helps to circulate the air in a different manner. Instead of dispersing cooler air throughout the room (which is what happens with the 'normal' or 'summer' setting) this will pull the warmer air in from nearby and then push it back down through the rest of the room. This can be a perfect method for helping you feel warmer and more comfortable in the winter, through the use of a ceiling fan.

How Much Money Will Be Saved?

There is a general rule which should be able to help you calculate how much money a ceiling fan will help you to save. The rule that most people hear quoted is that for every degree of change in your thermostat, should work out to approximately a five percent savings in your heating and/or cooling bill. So, if you are able to raise your thermostat setting by three degrees in the summer and lower it by 3 degrees in the winter, this could lead to an overall 15 percent in savings.

Of course the previous tips are just the beginning of the story. Any way you look at it a ceiling fan can be a great investment. Just be sure to find one that includes the reverse ('winter') setting. Also, make sure that the angle of the blades is at least 12 degrees to get the best effect for both seasons.