# Fans — On/Off : High : Med : Low? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198 "2014-06-20T12:47:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/1 "2014-06-20T12:47:25Z")
Is there any engineering or manufacturing reason why every make and model of a fan\*, from ceiling to box to portable, have their settings arranged to that in the title? It annoys me that it’s not the reverse (On/Off : Low : Med : High), as it seems like common sense; you’d turn it on, and gradually dial up the fan’s speed. But as it stands now, you have ramp down after turning it on, or ramp up to turn it off, Imagine if the volume knob on your stereo worked this way. It’d drive you batshit. \*That I’ve come across. I’m sure someone will link to a counter example. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/2 "2014-06-20T13:11:42Z")
Previous threads on this topic: [ul] [li][Fan Speeds](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=5627)[/li][li][Why is “high” first speed on fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69110)[/li][li][Why is the cooling fan switch squence always off, 3 (highest power), 2, 1(lowest)?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=76860)[/li][li][Why are fan controls setup that way?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=265613)[/li][li][What’s up with the power knobs on electric fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=292238)[/li][li][Why does the fan switch go from high to medium…?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420159)[/li][li][Is there a reason that the first position on fans is high](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=698945)[/li][li][Fans: Why Off-High-Med-Low and not Off-Low-Med-High?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712099)[/li][/ul] The TL;DR of it seems to be contained in the last thread in the above list, wherein [**Crafter\_Man** sends an email to the Hunter Fan Company](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17000755&postcount=11) and gets this response: > [@](#): > > Our fan speeds are controlled through capacitors. So at the lower speeds, depending on the cap value for low speed, it might be a very slow starting process when trying to start the fan in low speed. This is especially true when you have a fan with serenity speed which is extra low. But starting the fan in any speed is not detrimental in any way to the motor. If you want to run your fan in low speed, then it is perfectly fine for you to push the low speed button on your fan first. It simply may take a little longer to come up to speed. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/3 "2014-06-20T13:39:14Z")
Funny, I was wondering if it had something to do with capacitance. Although, it annoys me so much, I’d almost rather have a very slow start than cycle through it in reverse. Anyhow, my bad for being lazy and not searching. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/4 "2014-06-20T21:15:36Z")
starting in high speed dusts off the fan for you, a work saving feature. ---
**Author:** ![Sasquatch\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sasquatch\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sasquatch_1)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/5 "2014-06-22T01:43:27Z")
Also, as the fan gets older dust gets in and grease thickens, so the starting torque provided by slow speed may not be enough to actually start it moving. This risks the fan being turned on, on low, and the user not even knowing it is trying to run, which might cause the motor to over heat. Starting at max power gets things moving and then you can lower the speed with the shaft already rotating. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/6 "2014-06-22T02:07:15Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > \*That I’ve come across. I’m sure someone will link to a counter example. Here you go: My [Bionaire BW2300](http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BW2300-Window-Remote-Control/dp/B000065DKJ) cycles off-low-med-high. But even if you don’t go past low when you turn it on, it initially spins up to high and then cuts back to low. Thanks to your thread, I now know why. It’s a nice fan, but I don’t find the thermostat feature useful at all. You can set it at a temperature, and if it gets hotter than that, the fan kicks on. In my experience, usually if the room is warming, it’s because it’s even hotter outside, and the last thing I want is the fan speeding that up. I would love to find a relatively inexpensive fan that I can tell, “If the room temperature is above 65, and the outside temperature is cooler, turn yourself on.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/7 "2014-06-26T20:32:37Z")
> [@](#): > > …wherein Crafter\_Man sends an email to the **Hunter Fan Company** and gets this response > [@](#): > > Our fan speeds are controlled through capacitors. So at the lower speeds, depending on the cap value for low speed, it might be a very slow starting process when trying to start the fan in low speed. This is especially true when you have a fan with serenity speed which is extra low. But starting the fan in any speed is not detrimental in any way to the motor. If you want to run your fan in low speed, then it is perfectly fine for you to push the low speed button on your fan first. It simply may take a little longer to come up to speed. Today I received this response from [**Casablanca Fan Company**](http://www.casafanco.com/): > [@](#): > > There is no technical answer to the question. However, when dealing with fans controlled by a pull chain switch or a control, the consumer has the ability to start the fan in any of the speeds. Since fans can be started in any of the speeds, all our ceiling fans are tested to ensure that they can start at any of the available speeds without issue. For the most part, the order of the fan speeds is based on tradition rather than any technical need. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fans-on-off-high-med-low/691198/8 "2014-06-27T01:09:40Z")
I have a Black and Decker column fan, I guess you’d call it. It has a remote control. It has separate on, off, and speed buttons. And a couple more. So I can hit start and it’ll start on high.