Ceiling fans – summer and winter switch

What’s the science behind how a ceiling fan works in winter?

• The winter switch on your ceiling fan really does work
• Using a heater alongside a ceiling fan in winter mode can save you money

Yes, yes. We all know there’s that switch on most ceiling fans that makes them spin the other way around in the colder months.

But how does a ceiling fan really work to heat the home in Winter?

It’s a fair bet a number of you will be thinking, ‘of course they do – it’s simple.’ And it’s a fair bet too that some of you will be thinking, ‘erm…’.

So, here we go.

“The answer’s yes – they absolutely work in heating your home during the winter.”

And, according to Choice, they can slash winter heating bills too.

Warm air, of course, rises, so reversing the spin of the fan (in a clockwise direction, rather than the summer setting of anti-clockwise), pushes hot air down (without the blast of downward airflow that summer mode gives you). This means that, used with a heater, the temperature throughout the room is more evenly dispersed.

Choice’s research showed that using a fan in winter mode as well as a heater actually used less energy than when the heater was being used alone – as the heater wasn’t having to work anywhere near as hard as it was when working alone.