Zen of Jen

No AC? Get the Most From Your Fan!

If you don’t have A/C, what’s the best way to use a regular fan to get the best air flow?  If you want to cool your whole place down, should you put a fan right next to a window, or farther away?  And should it blow in or out?

Some guy on YouTube tested it with two different fans . . . a box fan and a desk fan.  And he measured the air circulation in a different room with something called an anemometer.  Here’s what he found . . .

1.  Box fans work better, which isn’t too surprising.  You just get a lot more airflow in general.  But desk fans were fine too.  Not a bad option if that’s all you’ve got.

2.  The fan should face OUT.  So instead of pulling air into your home, you want to push it out to create the best circulation.  Another window just has to be open somewhere else in your home to let air in.

3.  Putting it right up against the window is NOT the best setup.  It works okay.  But he got much better airflow when he pulled the fan away from the window a little bit.  TWO FEET got the best results.  But even five feet away worked better than in the window, or right up against it.

4.  He also found that if it’s breezy out, you might be better off just opening ALL your windows and pointing the fan at yourself.  A strong breeze from outside did more to cool his place down than any of the fan setups he tried.

Best fan placement to move air through the house – YouTube

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