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Oh, you want to know how to actually cool down your house with fans? Well, I can help, as this is my sixth summer without an air conditioner, practically qualifying me as an expert on staying cool without one. I got one of my fans by simply taking it from an ex during a breakup, but these things are relatively cheap, so whether you’re using them in place of AC or to supplement it, you must get one (or more) by whatever means necessary.
But regardless of if your fans are ill-gotten or honestly purchased, they won’t do much to cool down your house unless you place them strategically. Here’s where you should put them for maximum effectiveness.
In my small apartment, I have two fans: The one in my living room (which is also my dining room, unfortunately) is a rotating cylinder that stands about three feet tall. When it’s operating on its highest setting, I can feel its breeze for about eight feet, provided there are no obstructions. The fan in my bedroom is a small, circular one that fits on a nightstand, but its miniature size is deceptive, as I can also feel that from about three feet away.
Certain sizes and styles of fans will work better in certain spaces, according to fan-making company Lasko. In general, if you’re looking to cool a living room or family room, opt for one of these:
A tower fan
A pedestal fan
A wall-mounted fan
A bladeless fan
An air circulator fan
While each of these will direct airflow in a slightly different way, they all do basically the same things, which are create a breeze and circulate air. You want something that fits well in your space and has some power behind it. For smaller spaces, like bedrooms, you can use a smaller fan.
It’s not enough to stick a big fan in a big room and a small fan in a small room, though—you also need to find the perfect placement. Remember that cold air sinks and hot air rises, so if you have a high ceiling, you are providing lots of space for warm air to occupy. Stairways and hallways within these large, open spaces are going to be hotter than the areas below them. My “bedroom,” for instance, is actually a lofted storage space at the top of my studio, which has ceilings that go up 11 feet. Without my little bedroom fan, I would have surely faced some kind of heat-related medical event in my sleep by now. You may need multiple fans to cover higher areas, so keep that in mind.
The key to placement is this: Adjust your fan so it faces the opposite wall from where most of the activity in the space takes place. This, per Lasko, will drive the air to the surface. It will bounce off, interacting with the rest of the air and cooling the space overall.
Fan placement is more important than type, too. You might think a taller fan or a fan on an elevated surface is your best bet to cool a room, as it attacks that higher-up hot air, but as Lasko points out, a fan situated lower to the ground can actually pick up the “refreshing chilliness” lingering down there and push it out. Consider a box fan, which can be placed on the floor or in a window. Window fans are great for circulating fresh air from outside, but if you are worried about allergy triggers infiltrating your home or just generally letting outside air in, it’s not necessary.
Finally, when figuring out your placement plan, consider your furniture. A window fan obstructed by curtains does you less good than one that isn’t covered. Similarly, a fan on the floor that is blocked by a couch or table won’t be as helpful as one that has a clear pathway to push out air. One thing that can be in front of a fan is a shallow pan of ice, to produce some cold air that your fan can pick up and push out (a DIY air conditioner, of sorts).
If you only have one fan or you want to use a single fan to circulate air in multiple rooms, your placement strategy will be a little different. Andrew Persily, an engineer focused on indoor air quality at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, told Quartz that if you have an air conditioner in one room and you want to circulate that cold air to another, you have to put your fan between the two and make sure the air is blowing into the warmer one. That strategy can work to a lesser degree if you have a big fan in one room and want to use a smaller fan to usher the colder air it generates into a smaller one nearby.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that fans don’t cool rooms, but rather cool the people inside those rooms. I disagree with this because I clock a notable difference between walking into a room where my fan has been on vs. entering one where it hasn’t, but it’s kind of irrelevant. When considering your placement, per the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, it is important to make sure your fan is actually blowing on the people in the room, so whether it “cools” the room or not, the people feel a benefit.
You should place the fan somewhere that is convenient for you to turn it off, though. Leaving a fan on can actually generate some heat from the power source, and while that’s minor compared to the heat of a hot summer day, it’s also a waste of energy.
Where Should A Kitchen Exhaust Fan Be Placed?
The placement of kitchen exhaust fans can affect both the fan's performance and your home's air quality. An ineffective installation can cause several problems, including a rattling noise, poor air movement, and the dumping of contaminants into other parts of the home. You can improve the operation of a kitchen ducted exhaust fan by installing it in the right place according to the layout of your kitchen and your home.
There are different types of kitchen exhaust fans and ventilation systems that can be installed within kitchens to eliminate moisture and odors while cooking. These include kitchen ceiling fans, under-cabinet exhaust fans, downdraft vent hoods, and kitchen ducted exhaust fan. Of these styles, a ceiling fan will mostly move air around, while under-cabinet fans or downdraft vent fans work to remove and replace greasy, humid air with air that has been filtered.
The kitchen ducted exhaust fan is the only one that will take contaminated air out of the home and dispel it into the atmosphere. But, knowing where to locate these exhaust fans can make a big difference in performance.
Best Kitchen Fan Locations
Ceiling mounted above stove
Inside cabinet above stove
Inside a range hood
Wall-mounted beside the stove
Best Venting and Ductwork Locations
Vent kitchen fan directly outside of structure
Avoid venting between floors or walls
Keep ductwork as straight and smooth as possible
Minimize duct bending to avoid crushing or dents
Use the maximum diameter duct to fit exhaust fan
Do not vent into attic or crawlspace
The Canarm kitchen shutter mounted wall exhaust fan is a great option for locations that do not have the ceiling space and/or sufficient duct routing space up and out of the home's roof or other vent locations. These fans can not only vent but also cool a variety of locations, including kitchens, attics, sheds, greenhouses, and garage spaces. These new generation of shutter fans are quieter and feature smart technology, such as a programmable controller that automatically adjusts air flow in response to changing temperatures.
Shutter exhaust fans can also be installed within an existing window or opening in the wall to avoid the necessity of duct routing up and out of the kitchen area. The added benefit to removing stale, greasy air is the cooling effect and ease of installation for these high-powered fans. Shutter fans are mounted on the interior side of the structure without any need for external framing or additional shutters to deflect rain water.
Visit us at Industrial Fans Direct for a wide selection of kitchen exhaust fans, kitchen ducted exhaust fan, and the Canarm kitchen shutter mounted wall exhaust fan. We carry a large inventory of exhaust fans for commercial, residential, and industrial applications from major manufacturers such as Continental Fan, Canarm, and more.