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Real Name: Davin McHenry Gender: male Member Since: March 14, 2006 Last Signed In: August 05, 2009 Profile Views: 6849 Blog Views: 14601 Should you run ceiling fans when you aren't home? Rosedale commute tips 2010 Camaro on the streets of Bakersfield? Sondheim vs. The Muppets The greatest race ever? Incredible story out of Fresno 666 views for Exorcism video? Post Easter bunny massacre Governor visits Delano school Why is a Border Patrol story the most read today? June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 
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Should you run ceiling fans when you aren't home?
Recently I was discussing the best ways to keep your home cool in these sweltering months with a friend. The question came up: Should you leave your ceiling fans running when you aren’t home or even in the room? That got me wondering, so I decided to call some local air conditioning experts to see what they had to say. “Waste of energy,” was the verdict from La Verne and Son Air Conditioning. Over at Mike’s Air Conditioning I got the same ruling — and an earful about the laws of thermodynamics. Turns out the only time you really should have the ceiling fan running is when you are in the room. Fans don’t actually cool they air, they just move it around, which helps cool you down thanks to evaporation. Bruce Meister, service manager at Hillcrest Air Condition, says you’re much better off cleaning out your filters, having your ductwork checked for leaks or upgrading an older unit with something more efficient. “That’s where the real money is saved,” he said. One other tip: Make sure your ceiling fan is blowing the air in the right direction. In the summer you want it blowing down on you. In the winter you want it blowing upwards. 2 comments from 2 users
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posted by
goldilox
on Aug 6, 2009 at 08:26 AM
we run our fans 24/7 i am interested in the $$ i would save monthly if they were off anyone know? posted by
Shwaine
on Aug 6, 2009 at 01:36 PM
It depends on what setting you have them on and how much energy they draw at that setting. Not all ceiling fans are made equal, some draw more power than others. Let's say your ceiling fan draws 100W. That's 2.4KWh per day for each fan. The daily baseline allowance for PG&E customers is 19.4KWh, so 12% of your baseline usage is going to EACH ceiling fan. Let's say you turn off those ceiling fans when you're not in the room and you use the room 8 hours a day. Now that 100W ceiling fan is only taking 0.8KWh per day. That means each fan is only taking 4% of your baseline usage. How much that saves you in $$$ depends on your total usage that month, since PG&E uses a scaled rate. For example, if you are consistently at 250% of baseline, you pay an average of $0.20 per watt, but if you're consistently at 120% of baseline, you pay an average of $0.12 per watt. So I can't say how much money you'd save by turning off the ceiling fans without knowing the exact power draw of your ceiling fan and how far over baseline your electricity usage is. I can however say that if you turn it off while not in use, you will save some money because you'll be using less electricity and eating up less of your baseline allowance (which is the cheapest electricity). And since ceiling fans do not lower the actual temperature, they just make the temperature more comfortable, there is absolutely no reason to leave them on 24/7. See a ceiling fan the same as a light: turn it off when you're not using it.
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