Why Spinning Your Ceiling Fan Backwards is… Well, Backwards

Well... summer’s over. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hey, there’s always next year! Along with football season and colorful fall foliage comes the return of colder weather. This is the time of year when your HVLS Ceiling Fans really start returning on their investment. "How," you might ask. By lowering heating costs! But don’t be like the rest of the uninformed masses that continue to spin their fans in reverse. Why? Let’s discuss further...

The truth about ceiling fans in reverse:
The most effective way to destratify air in your facility is to spin your fans slowly in the forward direction. This will mix the air vertically, giving you a warmer overall temperature profile ceiling to floor. But, why not switch them into the reverse setting? Doesn’t it work for home ceiling fans? The answer is yes, but there’s a reason it works in a residential environment: the fan is usually much closer to walls. 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 chilly.
 
The same is not true in a warehouse or other industrial setting. Since big HVLS ceiling fans are best used in large, open areas, they are generally not near walls. Because of this, running them in reverse results in lower air mixing efficiency, and can increase the time needed to equalize the floor-to-ceiling temperature. Proper destratification involves spinning your fans in the forward direction at a speed fast enough to move air, but slow enough that it does not create a discernible breeze.

The moral of the story? You never need to use the reverse direction on your big ceiling fans – just 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. Seriously… how easy is that?!
 
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.