# Comment on: Will sleeping in a closed room with an electric fan cause death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 24, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771 "2013-06-24T11:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/22 "2013-09-25T17:08:28Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > You should have hit on that Dyson beauty. Nothing but smooth, sensuous curves that can blow all day. Isn’t Dyson the one with the balls? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/23 "2013-09-25T20:16:38Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > By later I think you mean earlier. I blame the cat, buttered or not. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/24 "2013-09-25T21:26:54Z")
> [@J2Cam85\_hotmail.co.kr](#): > > Your explanation in terms of carbon monoxide poisoning lends a sadly plausible air to the supersitious concept that a fan can cause death in a sealed room. However, it is merely a matter of semantics to show that it is not the fan that causes death at all, but in fact improperly combusted charcoal. Technically, the proposed theory it is carbon monoxide buildup from an underfloor heating system that is somehow creating heat but not circulating and thus ventilating would help explain deaths; however, it has not been proven, only proposed. And you are right, that would not make it have anything to do with the fans. Which makes one wonder why fans are so associated with the conditions that cause death, if having no connection whatsoever. Thinking about it, it appears that the real issue is the lack of central A/C, so the summers get hot and the folks are relying on fan circulation of air for cooling. If carbon monoxide were building up from underneath, the circulating fan would keep it stirred up and more mixed with the whole room, versus settling to the floor. Ergo, operating a fan should have fewer deaths than deaths in summer without a fan in a closed room. I wonder what the statistics are on that. Probably hard to find, since if it is hot one would be running the fan. A more plausible scenario in my mind is the one proposed where the fan does contribute to the conditions of death – _slightly_. It is the case of a very hot room that is closed. In conditions where the ambient temperature is above human body temperature, the human cannot cool off. Circulating the hot air in those conditions will _speed_ heat exhaustion/heat stroke. That could create conditions where a person was in a closed room using a fan and died, that would stand out from people in an open room with a fan. That unexpected speeding of the heat exhaustion would be what makes the conditions suspicious, and thus could spawn the idea that the fan itself somehow caused the death. Note that the cause of death is not really the fan, it is being in overheated conditions for too long. The fan contributes slightly to the speed of overheating, but the lack of a fan would not be sufficient to prevent death, merely delay it some indeterminate amount. Of course, opening a window to allow air flow that is hopefully below human body temperature would change that dynamic. > [@](#): > > Now, if you can explain to me why Koreans actually believe (as confirmed by a taxi driver who claimed to be a traditional medic in his spare time) that eating gimchi will prevent the contraction of HIV, then I will gladly eat your suspicious pubic bacteria (for details on which, please see the relevant thread). Not sure which thread is relevant to kimchi (typical English spelling of the dish) and pubic bacteria. > [@Sparky812](#): > > Isn’t Dyson the one with the balls? ## That’s the Dyson _sucker_\*, Amateur Barbarian was talking about the Dyson _blower_\*\*. \*[Vacuum](http://www.dyson.com/vacuums.aspx). \*\*[Fan](http://www.dyson.com/fans/fansandheaters.aspx). ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/25 "2013-09-25T21:32:28Z")
Carbon monoxide won’t settle out of room air, fan or not. Especially on a hot day, with people moving and breathing in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/26 "2013-09-25T21:35:33Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I’m curious – what’s a coal-based underfloor heating system like? I would assume a coal-fired boiler and a water pump, but obviously that’s not what you mean because the coal-fired boiler wouldn’t be stupidly placed under the floor. But it is and that’s the problem I think Hal was getting it (a few months ago). The light a fire under the house and let the heat (and smoke) travel under the floor boards. > **[Ondol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondol)** > > Ondol (ON-dol; /ˈɒn.dɒl/, Korean: 온돌; Hanja: 溫突/溫堗; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Korean pronunciation: \[on.dol\]) or gudeul (구들; \[ku.dɯl\]) in Korean traditional architecture is underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to heat the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage, it refers to any type Th... It makes you wonder, could putting a fan in your room pull some of the smoke up through floorboards that aren’t airtight? ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/27 "2013-09-26T16:54:41Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Thinking about it, it appears that the real issue is the lack of central A/C, so the summers get hot and the folks are relying on fan circulation of air for cooling. If carbon monoxide were building up from underneath, the circulating fan would keep it stirred up and more mixed with the whole room, versus settling to the floor. Ergo, operating a fan should have fewer deaths than deaths in summer without a fan in a closed room. I wonder what the statistics are on that. Probably hard to find, since if it is hot one would be running the fan. Why would they be running the heat during the summer? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/28 "2013-09-26T17:46:29Z")
I don’t know, that wasn’t my proposition. Someone else said the heaters are tied to the hot water system, for showers and things. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/29 "2013-09-28T19:06:54Z")
> [@J2Cam85\_hotmail.co.kr](#): > > This isn’t a proper sentence. Please be less Irish. To what, and whom, are you referring? On this board it is usually good form to get to know people, and let them get to know you, before you start throwing around things that could be seen as ethnic slurs. Even if the other person is Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771/30 "2013-09-28T19:50:13Z")
This was mentioned “by me” a very long time ago. I lived in Korea for almost 5 years and ondol (sp?) was very common at that time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comment-on-will-sleeping-in-a-closed-room-with-an-electric-fan-cause-death/661771.md?page=1)