Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer and, in many parts of the country, weekend weather was indistinguishable from what one might expect in August.

Temperatures climbed into the 90s throughout the Southwest, South Central, Midwest and Southeast and even crossed 100 degrees in parts of Kansas.

For homeowners with ceiling fans, the change of season offers a timely reminder to change the direction in which ceiling fan blades rotate. Properly-rotating ceiling fan blades not only cool your home more efficiently, but can lower your energy bill, too.

Ceiling fans are meant to amplify your home’s natural heating and cooling systems. Using the equivalent energy of a 100-watt light bulb, on a cool day, a ceiling fan will recirculate warmer air, making a room feel up to 6 degrees warmer.

On a warm day, a ceiling fan can reduce a room’s effective temperature by 4 degrees. It accomplishes this by pushing colder air back into a room, creating a “windchill effect” on the skin. This is a far more economical way to regulate temperature as compared setting a home thermostat up or down by 4 degrees.

The key is to have the ceiling fan blades running in the proper direction.

• When your home’s heating system is on, rotate fan blades clockwise
• When your home’s cooling system is on, rotate fan blades counter-clockwise

For additional cost savings with a ceiling fan, remember to turn it off when you’re not in the room. Ceiling fans don’t cool the air; neither do they warm it. Rather, ceiling fans move air which gives the sensation of a room being cooler or warmer. With nobody in the room, there’s no need to run the fan.

If your home is without ceiling fans, and you’d like to install one or many, the process is inexpensive and easy. There are videos online which walk you through the steps, or you can call a qualified electrician. Need an electricians name?  Call or email me — I’m happy to offer a referral in Port Aransas.

Filed under: Around The Home by Julie Woodward
No Comments »

November is here with many parts of the country are already feeling the chill. This weekend, a nor’easter dropped up to 20 inches of snow in cities along the eastern seaboard  — a reminder that winter is coming.

No matter where you live, though, the seasonal change in temperature throughout Corpus Christi serves as an excellent reminder to reset the blades on your home’s ceiling fans.

Ceiling fans don’t warm or cool air, specifically. Instead, they circulate air which can have the effect of making a room feel warmer in the winter months, and cooler in the summer months.

When it’s cold outside, ceiling fans push warm air down from the ceiling, balancing the heat within a room. This can make a room feel 4-6 degrees warmer. Then, during warmer months, ceiling fans push a room’s cold air back into circulation, which creates a windchill effect, of sorts.

This, too, can change a room’s temperate 4-6 degrees.

The secret to a ceiling fan is in the rotation direction of its blades. 

• When fan blades rotate clockwise, the fan makes a room feel warmed
• When fan blades rotate counter-clockwise, the fan make a room feel cooler.

This Weather Channel video explains how it works.

If your home is without ceiling fans, consider installing one (or more). Ceiling fans are economical and “green”, using the equivalent energy of a 100-watt light bulb, while lowering your home’s energy costs.

Plus, they’re relatively simple to install. 

Tutorial videos are available online for the do-it-yourselfers, or just call a qualified electrician for assistance.

Installing a ceiling fan is a 1-hour project.

Filed under: Around The Home by Julie Woodward
No Comments »