ceiling fans

[heritage1992]

is there a benefit using ceiling fans to move heated air,or is box fans the way to go...

 

[Dgopetactical]

I thought there was a the beginning of the season, I discovered with no ceiling fans on I get better heat flow.

 

[jim3854]

I use mine all winter blowing up. but I have very high ceilings. I think it helps.

 

[MountainSean]

I have used my stove without my ceiling fan before. Then I turned it on and felt HOT air coming down from the ceiling and the next room over went up 6 degrees so for me anyways a ceiling fan is very important, but I do have 8.5 foot ceiling.

 

[mikesj]

There are many variables. I found that running the ceiling fan in the room adjacent to the room my stove is in works best for my layout. Running it in the room with the stove was not very effective for some reason. I suggest experimenting to see what works best.

 

[Dgopetactical]

I found blowing a box fan from the coldest room toward the heat source works best for me.

 

[DexterDay]

I run at least 2 ceiling fans 24/7 on low, in reverse. Sucking cold air up and pushing warm air out and down.

 

[glenc0322]

I have found that putting a fan in the top of the door jamb and blowing the warm air to the colder room works best for me I tried my ceiling fan and it did not move the warm air to the room and blowing the cold air out just made me cold from the cold air blowing but To each there own try everything and see what works best then try some more

 

[Mike D]

Yes, ceiling fans work. You have to put it on reverse so it pulls the air up towards the ceiling.

 

[imacman]

The purpose of reversing a ceiling fan is to push the heated air at the ceiling down to the floor. It helps even out the temp. in the room. Box fans are mainly to try to move heated air toward other rooms or areas of the house. Typically, you will want to blow the colder air toward the stove.

 

[343amc]

I have a ceiling fan in the kitchen/dining room that runs 24/7 on reverse. I have cathedral ceilings in that part of the house, so I figure it can't hurt to move the air around. It seems to help a bit.

Wish I had the same on the other side in the living room, but there isn't an easy or aesthetically pleasing way to get power to that area of the ceiling without ripping plaster down and trashing that room.

 

[jslinger]

It is definitely a case specific issue. In theory, the fan on reverse in low is supposed to move the warm air across the ceiling and down the walls. In our house, is makes it feel drafty, so we don't use them. The only way to tell is to try it out and see for yourself.
As far as moving air, I would say box fans are the way to go. Or, if you have a ceiling fan in a far away room, turn that on and see if it helps.

 

[Fod01]

We have a stairway opposite the stove, so the heated air naturally wants to make a bee-line upstairs. The ceiling fan on low/ reverse helps to push more of the warm air to other parts of the house, as well as reducing the feeling of cold air coming down the stairs.

 

[VTrider]

I agree, case specific. This works for us though - cathedral ceilings as well with fan at the very apex running in reverse, I can feel hot air 'flow' down the ceiling to the bottom level. I heat my whole house via pellet and although I can do it without the fan, the ceiling fans help distribute the heat faster and more evenly.

 

[mmckee83]

We installed a ceiling fan in the room that our stove is in and let it run on low and it definitely helped evenly warm up the room better and even spread the heat down the hallway to the back of the house some. As someone pointed out the ceiling fan should have a "summer" and "winter" function, depends on the way that the motor and blades spin. Winter settings should pull up warm air and send it back down the outside of the room as where the summer setting just pushes air straight back down into the room. As some have mentioned it doesn't seem to help but there are variables that play into it (ceiling height, fan height in relation to ceiling height, ceiling insulation, fan speed, etc.) but the laws of physics don't lie, heat rises so if there is stagnant air sitting in a higher area it wont fall by itself.

As far as a box fan we tried that as well and it actually made it colder in the stove room and the house in general. From what I put together it made it colder because box fans don't have a slow speed setting, even on most free standing fans the low setting is still moving a good amount of air. To me unless it is 100 degrees in the room if you turn on a box fan and put your hand in front of it what do you feel, colder air. When air is moved in a large volume and a fast rate it loses its heat much faster, therefore this time of year defeating the purpose. Same aspect as many large commercial building heating systems. Most systems supply warm air through ducts and quickly suck it back out of the space before the air turns colder, hence a cold air return. Same thing on a lot smaller scale in your house, with a box fan the fan is moving a large amount of air but there is nothing taking it back out of the space before it cools back down as with a ceiling fan it is just lightly "stirring" the warm air trapped at the ceiling height and sending it back down into the space.

Hopefully this may help a little but with heating there are many variables so certain things will work for some but not others, good luck.

 

[Jack Morrissey]

I use mine all winter blowing up. but I have very high ceilings. I think it helps.

X2

 

[imacman]

X2

x3

 

[jim3854]

Also a humidifier works good, humid air warms up quicker than dry air.

 

[RK_MacKendrick]

Ceiling fans are good, our's is on low almost full time.
We use a dehumidifier to keep the house at 50%, to keep the mold at bay.
Between the Quad and the Alen dehumidifier, this house is our first one without any mold.

 

[save$]

We have 6 ceiling fans. Set in reverse, there is little draft. Blades get dusty, but can be easily cleaned with a vac attachment made for that. We set ours on the slowest speed possible. Get a good brand of ceiling fan and it will be silent.

 

[DirtyDave]

Hunter ceiling fans x6 in our house. Cathedral ceilings on half of house. set on med same driection (summer) year round 24/7, works great for us and at the farthest part from stove, master bedroom we use fan 24/7 on low during day, and I sleep with it on high. computer room is on low 24/7. I tried the furnace once for moving air but did not like the cooling effect for moving that much air.