Cooling Fans

Fans are often used to move air around within the house making occupants feel cooler. In this mode of operation, they do not actually cool the air. In fact, a fan operating in a closed room will increase air temperature because of electrical losses from the motor. However, they make occupants feel cooler by moving air across their skin. The moving air causes moisture on the skin to evaporate taking with it heat. The cooling effect of moving air is directly related to the speed of the air, which increases the body's evaporative cooling. Fans are also used to move hot inside air out of the home so it can be replaced with cooler, outside air.

Compared to refrigeration units, fans are inexpensive to purchase and use very little energy. For these reasons, most homes in this country use of some form of fan cooling. Even homes that use air conditioning during the hottest months of the year usually use fans to reduce the amount of time or number of months the air conditioner must operate. Systems that rely on the movement of air include natural ventilation through open windows, window fans, portable fans, ceiling fans, whole-house fans, attic vents, and passive ventilation.

And Furthermore . . .

Window Fans Portable Fans

Ceiling Fans Whole-house Fans