Does a ceiling fan make a room hotter or colder?

Question

My husband and I are having an ongoing battle over the d**n ceiling fan in our bedroom. He says that the fan pushes the hot air that collects at the top of the room down, making the room warmer. I tell him that the fan is meant to cool down a room. I try to get him to sway my way about this thing like saying "Im cold" so that he can turn the stupid thing on. Then he tells me to cover up with the blanket if Im cold. I am tired of his ridiculous reasoning, so anyone's opinion regarding this matter is much appreciated so that I can prove to him that he is an illogical idiot.

Answer 1

It does neither. It just moves air about.

I would say however that it MAY make teh room warmer, By moving air your also transferring any heat form objects to that air, So it may slowly increase in temp.

If a window was open however then that should cancell the effect out.

Answer 2

Jean-Luc is correct, but since the fan is operated by electricity, it produces heat making the air hotter. While the air movement makes it seem cooler, and so it does its job making you more comfortable, if the room is sealed off, then you will if using a thermometer find the actual temperature to rise. You do not need to tell him that, though. Just ask him to try it and it will Feel as though it is cooler.

Answer 3

It can do both depending on which way it is running.  One way will pull air up, and the other way will push air down.  Pulling air up will keep the room warmer, but still circulate the air.  Pushing air down will keep the room cooler.

My husband and I are at opposite ends of the temp thing as well.  He sweats while I am shivering.  Basically, I just keep a lot of throw blankets around, and tend to wear pants in the house.  Its easier for me to put more layers on, because he can only take off so many.

Answer 4

The fan does have a motor which will generate heat so it does add heat to the room.  The real advantage is that it moves air around in the room so that, if there is warm air rising to the ceiling, it will make the room more uniformly warm.  On the other hand, moving air is more effective at carrying heat away from your body thru evaporation so it can make you feel cooler.  hope this helps

Answer 5

it just circulates the air which is already present in ur room.

Answer 6

Neither.  It just blows the air around at the same temperature of your room.

Answer 7

Ceiling fans usually have a direction switch to blow air up in the winter, and down in the summer.

The reasoning is this -- In the winter, when hot air collects at the top of the ceiling, the ceiling fan creates an outward current right at the ceiling level, pushing that hot air back down the walls.  In summertime, the area of low pressure generated by the ceiling fan is not enough to pull air all the way from the walls, so you don't need to worry about "heating the room" with that air - so why use the summer setting at all?  Evaporative cooling.  In the summer, the ceiling fan, when it blows air downward, is intended to produce the same evaporative cooling that a normal desk top fan would.  If you can't feel air current from the summer setting, you may as well leave it off.

  In short:  Blow air up in the winter, and down in the summer.