The Truth about Ceiling Fans in Reverse

9/29/2016

Well, folks, guess what? Summer’s over. Let that sink in for a second. No more cookouts and lazy days by the pool. Sorry about that but hey….there’s always next year! So, along with football season (or, if you’re like me, hockey season) comes the return of colder weather. As we’ve discussed before (see Strait Talk, February 2015), this is the time of year where your HVLS fans start paying for themselves by lowing your heating bills. But don’t be like the rest of the uninformed masses that continue to spin their fans in reverse. Why? Let’s discuss further...

As we learned back in February 2015, the most efficient way to destratify air during the cooler months is to spin your fans slowly in the forward direction. This will mix the air vertically, giving you a warmer overall temperature profile (remember - HEAT RISES). 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 home setting: the fan is usually much closer to the walls. This deflects the air movement off the ceiling, then off the walls and down to ground level. 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 a chill. However, the same is not true in a warehouse or other industrial facility. Since HVLS fans are best used in large open areas, they are generally not near walls. Therefore, running them in reverse results in lower air mixing efficiency, and can increase the time needed to equalize the temperature from floor to ceiling. In reality, this means you never need to reverse your fans – simply 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.

Looking for more unconventional, yet helpful fan knowledge? 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 costs!*

*Actual savings depend on heating costs, size of facility, number of fans, and other factors.

THE AUTHORITY IN AIR MOVEMENT

9 Comments

JOHN STRAIT

Patterson Fan's
Air Movement Guru & Man of Wisdom

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that who cares?... He’s a mile away and you’ve got his shoes!
- Billy Connolly

Rodger DuBose

11/10/2017 04:25:38 pm

I have extremely severe copd! Why is it that when I run my ceiling fan in reverse for winter, I have problems breathing! What could be causing this?

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2/27/2020 01:27:44 am

thanks for providing useful information on ceiling fan

Zeenat Sana link

5/21/2020 09:00:30 am

Chris Pederson link

9/28/2020 11:54:09 am

Thanks for the advice to never reverse your industrial fans but rather speed them up in the summer and slow them down in the winter. I just recently found out that fans can be put in reverse for different seasons. It's good to know that in some environments, it is more efficient to simply adjust their speed.

Addie link

12/6/2020 11:15:10 pm

Nice blog thaanks for posting

Rob K

7/20/2021 07:19:52 pm

What if I have an un vented attic that gets really hot in the summer, and I have low ceilings (8.5 feet)? In the summer of running the fan in reverse blowing the air down from the ceiling to the floor cause that heat from the attic to get pushed down? I don’t have central AC so there are no hvac vents up high to push cool air down. Thank god I’m in San Diego and not somewhere much warmer.

professionalservicestoday link

1/6/2023 07:12:51 am

Evaporative cooling works like this: A cold day will feel even colder if there’s a breeze because of the wind chill factor. The same thing happens if we sweat on a hot day and we put the ceiling fan on the moving air provides a breeze, which acts the same as wind chill, helping to cool us.

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