# My ceiling fan has a switch where it can go up or down.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ceiling-fan-has-a-switch-where-it-can-go-up-or-down/764237>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 28, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ceiling-fan-has-a-switch-where-it-can-go-up-or-down/764237 "2016-08-28T02:17:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ceiling-fan-has-a-switch-where-it-can-go-up-or-down/764237/21 "2016-08-30T08:29:13Z")

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Something else to keep in mind is that ceiling fans can mix up the air in a room. One poster in another thread here on the Dope related how his electric bill increased when he used his ceiling fan because it brought the hot air down from the ceiling and required more cooling. I can’t verify how much of an actual effect that would have on most rooms.

We used “free standing” fans which blow air sideways, and it helps us keep the thermostat up higher.

> [@MrSquishy](#):
>
> Ah, good point, I hadn’t thought about it that way. I didn’t mean to make it sound like it’s only psychological, just that it isn’t a “real” temperature change.
> 
> **It only affects things that produce (or have residual) heat.** That is, if you leave an object outdoors when the temperature is -30 degrees, that object will gradually get colder and colder until it is -30 degrees on the surface. Then, if a wind picks up and makes the apparent temperature -40 degrees “with the wind chill”, that object remains -30 degrees.

My bolding.

As since we are discussing the art of making people in a room feel comfortable and not absolute temperature of the coffee table, this seems to be overly pedantic.

I grew up an an extremely dry environment in Utah and now live in a humid semi tropical climate. Humidity and air flow make large differences in how we, _people_, feel at any given temperature. Both of are directly related to our actual, measurable comfort.

I haven’t asked the coffee table what it thinks, but since it lacks self generation of heat, doesn’t have exposed skin and there are no sweat glands, I think it doesn’t care.

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**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-ceiling-fan-has-a-switch-where-it-can-go-up-or-down/764237/22 "2016-08-30T09:51:14Z")

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> [@rbroome](#):
>
> One issue you will have is that your fan is almost certainly mounted too close to the ceiling. They are designed for a certain distance from the ceiling and being too close or too far reduces their effectiveness. Not that anyone pays any attention to this detail, but that is how fans are designed.

It’s hard to blame someone for having a fan too close to the ceiling when the fan manufacturers design them with motor assemblies that mount directly to the ceiling.

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