We are about to enter into those classic days of summer with high temperatures, some oppressive humidity, and a lot of stagnant air. The easiest thing to do to combat these waves of heat is to turn up the AC and ride it out. Although I am as much a convert to the AC lifestyle as anyone else, I really enjoy the outside air more than filtered and cooled inside air. For this reason, I love to have several fans around and ready to run at a moment's notice.
I'm all for AC cooling on those hot and sticky nights, no doubt about it. But truth be told, I will turn off the AC whenever I can and run several fans throughout the house. When you place a box fan in a window at night, you suck in the cooler air and when you're using a couple more fans, distribute all that air all around your house.
Not only that, how about considering the green issues? Even small room-size AC units will consume almost 600 watts of power. Larger ones will use up to 1500 watts. A larger box fan uses only about 80 watts of power each. So when you're using 3 big box fans, you will be using between 60 to 90 percent less power than an AC unit. In my book, that is some serious saving per month even if you only switch to fans one or two nights in that time period.
So let's cut to the environmental chase here. Any sized fan, from small to large, is going to use less power and energy than any air conditioning unit on the market. Not to mention, you can direct a fan to blow anywhere, even directly onto yourself, which will keep you cooler than a proverbial cucumber. They even make fans now with a built in misting system which will actually mist the air with water and give you a far better cooling effect than just blowing air around.
Fans are inexpensive, too. For under $20 at your local store, you can get a window-sized plastic box fan that does a solid job of blowing air. For those of us into the recycling aspect, there are plenty of the old metal bladed fans to be found at rummage sales. Generally, they are really inexpensive and they blow a good quantity of air in any direction you need.
Power savings, fresh air and a cool breeze will blow you right through the 'dog days' of summer every time. Add that to the fact you will be saving not only green in your wallet, but also you'll be doing a little green energy savings to boot.
You can't get enough of fan appreciation.
To see a gallery of beautiful ceiling fans, go to Casablaca's site. You'll cool off just by looking around.
Source: BecauseAction.com
