Spin Your Hat Backwards, But Not Your Fan!

​Whelp, summer’s over. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hey… there’s always next year! So, along with football season and colorful fall foliage comes the return of colder weather. As we’ve discussed before (Strait Talk, February 2015), this is the time of year when your HVLS fans really start returning on their investment by lowering heating costs. But don’t be like all those other jabronis that continue to spin their fans in reverse. Why? Let’s discuss further!
 
As we learned all the way back in February 2015, the most efficient way to destratify air is to spin your fans slowly in the forward direction. This will mix the air vertically, giving you a warmer overall temperature profile ceiling to floor. So why not use reverse? Doesn’t it work for home ceiling fans? The answer is yes, but there’s a reason it works in a residential setting: the fan is usually much closer to walls. Also, most house fans do not have a forward setting slow enough to not create a breeze. So running them in reverse not only mixes the air, it keeps those in the room from getting chilly.
 
The same is not true in a warehouse or other industrial setting. Since HVLS fans are best used in large, open areas, they are generally not near walls. Because of this, running them in reverse results in lower air mixing efficiency, and can increase the time needed to equalize the floor to ceiling temperature. Proper destratification involves spinning your fans in the forward direction at a speed fast enough to move air, but slow enough that it does not create a discernible breeze.

So what’s the moral of the story? You never need to use the reverse direction on your fans – just vary your speeds from season to season. Turn them up in the summer to create a cooling breeze, and dial them back in the winter to destratify. Seriously… how easy is that?!
 
Looking for more helpful fan knowledge? It’s only a phone call away! Talk to the fan experts at Patterson today – before the real cold weather sets in! You could be well on your way to saving 25-30% on your heating bills!*
 
*Actual savings depend on heating costs, size of facility, number of fans, and other factors.

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