# Is there a reason that the first position on fans is high **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760 "2013-08-08T23:39:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/1 "2013-08-08T23:39:35Z")
I’ve always wondered about this and now that summer is in full swing and I run around the house switching this fan on or that fan off, I wonder why… Almost invariably, the switch goes: **Off | High | Lo** or, if there are more settings: \*\*Off | High | Medium| Low. \*\*I always thought it was curious. It seemed to me it would have been more logical to have the first setting be low and then go up from there. But all four fans in this house whose temp I’m attempting to manage follow the Off-Hi-Medium-Low pattern. And it vexes me. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/2 "2013-08-08T23:58:45Z")
Startingn on high gives the motor a kick to get going. It may not be able to start on low after a few years as the oil dries out and gets gummy, but the brief moment on high will get it going, then you can turn it down. ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/3 "2013-08-09T00:02:56Z")
For some types of motors, the starting torque is small and it helps the motor start faster if it starts at the highest setting. Some earlier threads on this with more details: [Why does the fan switch go from high to medium…?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420159) [What’s up with the power knobs on electric fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=292238) [Why is “high” first speed on fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69110) [Reload this Page Why is the cooling fan switch squence always off, 3 (highest power), 2, 1(lowest)?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=76860) [Fan Speeds](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5627) [Why are fan controls setup that way?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=265613) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/4 "2013-08-09T00:20:59Z")
Guess I should have checked the archives. :smack: I assumed I was the only one curious about this. > [@Arjuna34](#): > > For some types of motors, the starting torque is small and it helps the motor start faster if it starts at the highest setting. > > Some earlier threads on this with more details: > > [Why does the fan switch go from high to medium…?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420159) > > [What’s up with the power knobs on electric fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=292238) > > [Why is “high” first speed on fans?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=69110) > > [Reload this Page Why is the cooling fan switch squence always off, 3 (highest power), 2, 1(lowest)?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=76860) > > [Fan Speeds](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5627) > > [Why are fan controls setup that way?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=265613) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/5 "2013-08-09T02:17:12Z")
Not all fans are like that, although I realize that’s the most common layout. The fan in my bedroom has four push buttons. Off, Low, Medium, and High. I can start the fan at any speed, Low or Medium if I want, and shut it off with the push of the Off button. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/6 "2013-08-09T05:35:39Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Almost invariably, the switch goes: **Off | High | Lo** or, if there are more settings: \*\*Off | High | Medium| Low. > > \*\*I always thought it was curious. It seemed to me it would have been more logical to have the first setting be low and then go up from there. But that would mean as you turned it from High-\>Med-\>Low toward Off the speed would be going down; if you accidentally left it on Low instead of Off you’d be out of the room before you realised your mistake. As it is the fan speeds up as you turn the switch Low-\>Med-\>High, then dramatically down when you hit Off. It’s an audible reassurance that you’ve really turned it Off, not just left it on Low. Whether that’s deliberate design or a side-effect of the torque explanation I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/7 "2013-08-09T05:37:33Z")
I’ve always thought about this. But then I see the fan next to me right now, humming along, but it’s dying so to start it I have to turn it to high, wait 30 seconds or so to get to speed, then turn it down. It has 4 push buttons like **cochrane** , so going straight to low is possible, at least when it was in a healthier state. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/8 "2013-08-09T05:38:55Z")
Do multi-speed ceiling fans follow this pattern too? Now come to think of it, I realize I never came to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/9 "2013-08-09T06:11:16Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Do multi-speed ceiling fans follow this pattern too? Now come to think of it, I realize I never came to think of it. Grumblegrumble… make me do work. At least the fan is on the way to whiskey. At least mine goes: Off\>High\>Med\>Low so yes this one does. I never paid attention, either. But I think it only took me 5 years to figure out which chain does the fan and which does the lights. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/10 "2013-08-09T10:06:10Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Grumblegrumble… make me do work. At least the fan is on the way to whiskey. > > At least mine goes: Off\>High\>Med\>Low so yes this one does. I never paid attention, either. But I think it only took me 5 years to figure out which chain does the fan and which does the lights. On my ceiling fan, I put a longer chain for the lights, and a very short chain for the fan (since I never use the fan anyway). But there is also a wall switch. So when I realized that I never use _either_ chain (and the longer one kept bumping into my head), I removed both chains. (They are now just 2" stubs.) So that’s why I left it to others to do the work for me. Good life strategy in general, by the way. Thanks for the research. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reason-that-the-first-position-on-fans-is-high/665760/11 "2013-08-09T18:55:35Z")
I have a fan that has lights indicating the speed setting. If the fan is set on low and you turn it on, the light indicates it goes to medium speed for the first few seconds, then it goes to low once up to speed. Since it is clearly wired into the system for it to do this, the designers must have decided is was better for the fan to start at the higher setting.