As the Florida summer season approaches, so does the relentless heat accompanying it. The scorching temperatures can make staying comfortable indoors a challenge, leading us to rely heavily on our HVAC systems while running up our energy bills. However, there are alternative solutions that can help alleviate the burden on our air conditioning units, most notably efficient ceiling, and box fans. By harnessing the power of fans, you can find a balance between staying cool and minimizing energy consumption, helping you comfortably enjoy all Sarasota offers.
How Fans Actually Work
To fully grasp the advantages of fans in reducing HVAC usage, it’s essential to comprehend how they function. Contrary to popular belief, ceiling fans do not lower the temperature in a room. Instead, they create a cooling effect by circulating the air and moving relatively cooler pockets of air onto your skin, letting your body cool down. While they don’t alter the actual temperature, they enhance the perception of coolness. Consequently, leaving a ceiling fan running in an unoccupied room is unnecessary, and fans will ever so slightly increase the room’s temperature because of the electricity used and friction created, which both release heat energy.
Benefits of Using Fans Over AC Systems
On extremely hot days, a fan alone might not be enough to cool off all your family members. However, using fans in conjunction with changes to your AC usage might be the ticket to lowering costs while feeling just as comfortable in your home.
Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings – Fans won’t make your room any colder, but they allow you to raise the temperature of your thermostat without a noticeable difference to your body. Even changing your AC a few degrees can save lots if you otherwise use your cooling system at all times of the day. The best estimates are that fans can help lower your overall bill by 10%.
Most fan packaging will tell you the hourly operating cost of running it, and the few cents per hour at most are much more affordable than the thirty, forty, or fifty cents per hour that an insufficient AC system running at full blast might cost.
Ultimately, these savings are due to the fact that fans use less energy than HVAC systems. Even if your main goal is to save money, you are also doing a small part to reduce overall energy usage in your area.
Personalized Cooling – You can control the flow of a fan much easier than you can an entire AC system. Often, for units that have not been updated recently, you are limited by a thermostat that only allows you to turn off or on the entire system. If you are alone at home and only need cool air in a tiny part of one room, a fan gives you greater control and saves you money by not reducing the temperature of unoccupied spaces.
You can ensure the most amount of savings on energy by making a note of how your fans work. For example, if you use ceiling fans to cool down the room, don’t turn on the fan light if it is unnecessary. In many houses, the fan and light turn on simultaneously, but you can change this by hiring an electrician to rewire parts of the light switch or swapping out the fan for a different model.
Fans offer a fantastic solution for maintaining airflow and creating a comfortable atmosphere throughout the year, especially in the warm Summer South Florida is known for. Call Promise Electric today for expert installation of any fans, AC system upgrades, or general electrical system improvements that you need to stay cool in the coming months.
