Does a Celling fan waste energy?

Question

is it like having the light on or a fan?

Answer 1

It wastes more energy than a standard-sized outlet fan or a bunch of light bulbs.

Answer 2

I think so because it runs on electricity, but uses very little.

Answer 3

No....they help recycle the air. whether it is hot or cold.

Answer 4

No--It helps circulate the air so you don't have to use your AC as much.

Answer 5

Not as much as an air conditioner.

Answer 6

A ceiling fan doesn't actually cool the room, but rather moves the air around and makes you FEEL cool by increasing evaporation from your skin. (Evaporation is a cooling process-Thermodynamics 101)

What WOULD be wasteful is if the fan is on and nobody is in the room. Simply switch it off as you leave the room, as you would a light switch.

Answer 7

i hope not cause mine is on maximum fastness...

Answer 8

Depends; it is going to consume some electricity but is that a waste? It's not going to consume as much as an air conditioner by far.

Answer 9

A ceiling fan heats up the room by the amount of energy it consumes. That is very little.

If you are running it while the air conditioner is on, you are also bringing hotter air from close to the ceiling down to  where you live. It is better to have the air conditioner pull its air from close to the ceiling, grabbing the hottest air which is most economical to pump heat from.

Running it instead of an air conditioner, we are atempting to get air movement past our skin so that we will feel cooler. But we get cooler air past our skin if we run a small fan close to the floor. This is because the air there is cooler, and we do not mix in hotter air from close to the ceiling. To enhance our cooling effect we may choose to use what is called a silo effect. Air from close to the ceiling is moved with a very small fan up through the ceiling where it displaces hot air from under the  roof, cooling you by reducing radiation from the hot roof section. Air is thus drawn in through the basement, where it is cooled by contact with basement walls and floor.

Why we use ceiling fans? we do not like to have a big fan like that down close to the floor, disturbing dust, chewing up pets and small kids.

But they do waste energy compared to alternatives.

The exception, in winter when heating the space, a ceiling fan brings the warm air down to where you live.

Answer 10

no. i keeps my house cooler, keeping my sanity intact. See, no waste.

Answer 11

I wouldn't say it waste energy. It does use energy, however, most are very efficient. Running the A/C uses much more power. I wouldn't leave them run all the time.

Answer 12

Not if you think you are benefiting from running it.

Answer 13

This will all depend on how it is used and what you consider to be a waste. If you can keep your house comforitable or at least yourself comforitable using a fan rather then a AC unit then it is a huge energy saveings. Ceiling fans are very good to help controll heat it seems weird but you want the fan to blow air upwards in the summer and down in the winter. This is so that in the summer it will be trying to pull the hoter air up faster and filling the space of the hotter air would be cooler air (hot air raising and all that) and in the winter blowing down to take the warmer air near the ceiling and pushing it back down. I normally leave my fan on slow or medium setting because all it needs to do is move air it doesn't have to make a hurricane in my living room and blow all my papers everywhere :)

Answer 14

a ceiling fan uses energy - it doesnt waste it. it is only 'wasting' energy when someone decides it is.

this is totally subjective and there is no definitive answer.

also, JD, i totally agree. we should revoke all amnesty. send back all those worthless, freeloading europeans who came to america. after all, what have they done for the place?! useless immigrants!  ..oh wait, your just a xenophobic douche. tell you what, go hide in a cave and wait for armagedon. or better yet, drink a nice big glass of tasty punch when the next comet passes by. you can hale-bop your way to a nice white-bread after life.

also, the reason the shale hasnt been developed: its property of the US navy. the big wigs figure it may be of some strategic importance if say, there was a big war with the middle east and our supply lines were compromised. no, youre right - that couldnt possibly happen, lets develop the h**l out of it now. what possible good could a strategic supply be to us?

Answer 15

Ceiling fans use extremely little energy, much less than an AC or some high powered appliance.

wasting energy usually refers to letting something use up power needlessly (ie. lights on when you're not even home, AC running with all the windows wide open, or using a clothes dryers on a warm sunny day)

using energy is inevitable,  but there's ways to use way less