Beat the Heat -- Feel the Breeze

So you're dressed for the weather and you've favored the shade, but you're still feeling wilted from the heat? Don't fret; we've got more tips to help you keep your cool during the summer.

Tip # 3: Feel the Breeze

There's nothing like a steady flow of air to improve your mood on a hot day. Fans use 90 percent less energy than central air conditioning and Energy Star rated ceiling fans are 50 percent more efficient than conventional fan/light units. Remember to turn off the fan when the room is unoccupied to increase your energy savings.

Too hot for a fan? Ease your eco-guilt by opting for a solar powered air conditioner.

Are you a whiz at maximizing a fan's cooling effect? Please share!

Comments

[carol]

Many older homes were built to create cooling airflow. With a little experimentation, I have found that by opening certain windows on the lower floor, and specific windows on the upper floor, a strong draft develops, pulling the air up the stairway and out the open window. It lowers the inside temp by 10 degrees or so on a hot day. In fact it is so cool, that I sometimes go out just so I can wear shorts without getting too cold.

[Ruth Busch]

Pointing a fan at a wall can give you a variable flow, which helps. Especially with an oscillating fan that gets boring if directed at you

[Sam Lair]

How about hooking up your ceiling fan to a motion sensor switch so it comes on when you walk into the room and shuts off after the switch timer setting?

[MHW]

I have 2 big fans that I aim out my windows to push the hot air in my house out those windows while pulling the cool night air into the house through other open windows.

I leave windows open in the rooms I want to cool down. Most mornings, my house is under 67 degrees, even hitting 60 when the nights are really cool. I set my alarm to just around sunrise, get up and shut off the fans, close the windows, and pull the shades/drapes. Then I go back to bed for a while.

Even during Denver's recent record stretch of 2 weeks of 90+ days, including several 100+ days, my house never got warmer than 85 during the day, even if it only cooled the house down to 72 at night. I work from home, so I really notice the temp.

My total investment for the fans was about $80, much less than the cost of AC in one hot summer month.

Some people would call 85 degrees uncomfortable, but it's great to have a $70 (yes, you read right seventy dollars!) electric bill in the summer. My next green splurge will be to install a whole house fan.

This approach could also reduce AC cost -- by cooling off at night, and then the AC wouldn't turn on so soon, saving electricity.

This is how my dad cooled our house during my childhood in Philadelphia.

[Michael Graziano]

I am a great fan of swamp coolers. I installed one last summer and we have enjoyed it through the record heat of the summer here in Boulder, CO. Cool, moist air, cheaper to install and run than A/C, and it is a possible do it yourself project. We also have a whole house fan in the upstairs hall way that does a wonderful job of sucking hot air out of the house.

[jesse]

using a fan in a window works best if you are PUSHING the cool air into the house with the fan (eg face the fan inwards at night). also, it seems to work best if you open the window so that the fan just fits in it, as opposed to opening the window all the way and setting the fan in the window

[Barbara]

Living in a small mobile, the box fan in one window (with just the fan area window open - air flowing out, with an open window or two at the other end really does help when the outside temp cools down.
A question....what exactly is a "whole house fan"...A fan that cools the entire house, I would guess, but how does that work although I got some idea from some of the e-mails above, I assume that we're talking about just one fan. Are they advertised as "all house" and how are they different from other fans? Thanks, in advance