The Simple Thing That Might Be Sneakily Making Your House Hotter

During the summer, when your home feels as balmy indoors as the weather outside, a ceiling fan can help you out with the flick of a switch (especially when paired with an air conditioning unit).

But it won’t actually be that helpful unless you’ve made sure to flip another switch after wintertime, the one that changes your ceiling fan spin direction. In the summer, your fan should run counterclockwise to circulate cooler air.

Here’s what you need to know about fan rotation so that your ceiling fan actually cools your home (and becomes a year-round source of comfort).

Nick Gromicko, founder of InterNACHI, the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, says that you should start this process by standing under your ceiling fan with the power on. “Looking upwards at the fan from below, ” Gromicko says.

• In summer, your fan should spin counterclockwise to circulate cooler air.
• In winter, your fan should spin clockwise to circulate warmer air.

According to Jeff Palla, president of Mr. Handyman, a Neighborly company, the direction your fan blades spin can significantly affect your home’s air temperature. “During the summer months, you want to run your ceiling fan counterclockwise, as it pushes down the air and creates a cool breeze while providing a consistent room temperature,” he says, explaining that it helps reduce the demand for air conditioning. 

“During the winter months you want to have your ceiling fans running clockwise at a low speed,” Palla continues. “This will help redistribute warm air throughout the room.” The redistribution of warm air could really a difference — reducing the amount of time or power at which you need to run your AC or heat each day — and therefore even impacting your electric or gas bill.

That being said, you shouldn’t keep your fan on when there’s nobody around to enjoy these benefits. “We recommended they should only be left on when there are people or pets in the room to enjoy the benefit of feeling cooler or warmer,” Palla says.

1. Turn your ceiling fan off. Before you attempt doing anything with your fan you should always turn the switch off first, ensuring that the blades have completely stopped spinning before you attempt to make a change. Not only can this prevent you from getting injured by an errant blade (or worse), but it can also help keep your fan in good working order. A fan that gets knocked around could become wobbly and start to spin off balance, becoming a hazard all of its own. 
2. Look for a blade direction switch. Typically, Palla says you can change the fan’s direction by flipping a switch on the ceiling fan itself. He says this is usually a small switch and that the location varies depending on what model fan you have, but that it’s usually found near the fan’s pull string or cord.
3. Grab a chair or ladder and press the switch. It’s as simple as that, and a one-minute process that could save you from sweating all summer.
4. Try a remote if you have a newer model. “Some newer fans have a button to reverse directions on a remote control,” Palla says, so you might be able to skip climbing and reaching entirely if your home is a new-build or you just got a new fan.

A lot of dust, debris, and pet hair can build up on those blades. It’s usually not too noticeable while the fans are on, but as soon as you turn them off you’re bound to see the buildup. Let’s be real, it’s kind of a chore to dust the tops of the blades regularly. “So use it as an excuse to clean the fan blades,” Palla says.

A favorite trick for the semiannual chore of cleaning your ceiling fan is the pillowcase method. Once the fan blades have stopped spinning, get up on a step ladder and position yourself toward the end of one of the blades. Then, put the blade inside the pillowcase, gently grabbing either side of the blade closest to the center of the fan. Slowly pull the pillowcase off while still holding the sides of the blade, trapping all of the dust and debris you knock off in the case (and keeping it off furniture and floors). Do this for each blade, slowly spinning the fan to reach them all. 

Here, find answers to the most common questions about changing the direction of your ceiling fan seasonally.

Heat rises, which means that a clockwise-turning ceiling fan will pull heat up toward the ceiling and then circulate it throughout the room. “If the fan was blowing downward in the winter, you would feel colder because the fan would create a wind-chill effect as the air blows on you,” Gromicko says.

By maximizing how much heat is felt throughout the room — and by doing so quickly and evenly — a clockwise-turning ceiling fan will put less strain on a heater to warm an entire space. 

It may sound suspicious, but it’s true: A ceiling fan can actually make a room feel warmer when set on a clockwise rotation since it pushes warm air downward. “They do this best when the fan is on low mode,” Gromicko says.

Gromicko says that new fans have a direction switch, and most can be changed by remote.(Note: You can also search for the model online or consult your fan’s manual to find the instructions if they’re not on hand.)

If you’re still unsure about whether or not your fan is spinning in the optimum direction, consider this advice from Gromicko: “Stand under your fan and turn on fast mode,” he advises. “Try it in both directions to determine which way the air is blowing.”

Air that’s blowing downward means your fan is turning counterclockwise; air that’s blowing upward means your fan is turning clockwise.