# Things that people get Very Wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958 "2012-07-12T02:18:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/21 "2012-07-12T18:52:16Z")
nm deleted ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/22 "2012-07-12T19:13:18Z")
Some people think a ceiling fan cools the room. It doesn’t. It actually makes the room hotter. The reason you feel cooler is that it increases air circulation which helps your sweat evaporate more effectively. The increased sweat evaporation is what makes you cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/23 "2012-07-12T19:20:29Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Some people think a ceiling fan cools the room. It doesn’t. It actually makes the room hotter. The reason you feel cooler is that it increases air circulation which helps your sweat evaporate more effectively. The increased sweat evaporation is what makes you cooler. This seems very semantic to me. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/24 "2012-07-12T19:26:44Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This seems very semantic to me. Kind of. The point is that it doesn’t lower the temperature of the room. The temperature of the room actually goes up slightly for a couple of reasons: The fan motor isn’t perfectly efficient so there is heat from it. Heat exchange from between the body and the room due to the evaporative cooling from the sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/25 "2012-07-12T19:49:04Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This seems very semantic to me. What are you, some sort of anti-semantite? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/26 "2012-07-12T19:51:05Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This seems very semantic to me. It’s important to realize that a ceiling fan does not work like an air conditioner. My wife did not know this. She would leave the ceiling fan on all the time even when no one was home because she thought it would make the house cooler. In addition to adding heat to the room through the motor, the circulating air will transfer more heat in from the walls and ceiling. The circulating air creates more convection which allows more heat transfer. Your temperature goes down because the sweat is truly cooling you off, but everything else in the room will get hotter. ---
**Author:** ![Pinmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Pinmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pinmin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/27 "2012-07-12T20:11:17Z")
A friend was looking at a map of the US with Alaska and Hawaii in insets in the bottom left - “Why is Alaska cold and Hawaii warm when they are so close together?” ---
**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:** [July 12, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/28 "2012-07-12T21:14:44Z")
Most science-types love to point out that the frequency of a microwave oven’s magnetron is 2.45 GHz because “a water molecule resonates at 2.45 GHz.” They are wrong, of course. A water molecule’s natural resonant frequency is much higher than this. And there are the science-types that \*insist \*glass is a liquid. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/29 "2012-07-12T21:22:18Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > It’s important to realize that a ceiling fan does not work like an air conditioner. My wife did not know this. She would leave the ceiling fan on all the time even when no one was home because she thought it would make the house cooler. This x1000. My wife thinks the same thing. ☹ ---
**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:** [July 12, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/30 "2012-07-12T21:28:56Z")
My late father’s wife. Where to begin?? Okay, just one example: Refused, all these years, to ever have any TV system with a dish antenna because it attracts harmful radiation. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/31 "2012-07-12T21:34:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Also, on a very clear day you can clearly see neighboring Saba. Any degree of overcast and you cannot see it even if it seems like a clear day. I’ve heard people speculate that the islands move around like planets, which explains why you see an island out there some days and not others. “Mountain walking” is how Native Americans referred to the way Mt. Rainier seemed to disappear and reappear, even on days that don’t _seem_ hazy, but really are. Or so I’ve been told. I can imagine having a conversation about the islands like the one you overheard, but not meant literally or seriously, more as a piece of whimsey or a joke with a like-minded friend, with the intent of pointing out the marvelous nature of optics, perception, and the tricks the mind plays. To anyone overhearing, it would seem idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/32 "2012-07-12T21:45:09Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > It’s important to realize that a ceiling fan does not work like an air conditioner. My wife did not know this. She would leave the ceiling fan on all the time even when no one was home because she thought it would make the house cooler. > > In addition to adding heat to the room through the motor, the circulating air will transfer more heat in from the walls and ceiling. The circulating air creates more convection which allows more heat transfer. Your temperature goes down because the sweat is truly cooling you off, but everything else in the room will get hotter. True, but if the room is warm and the air outside is cool, running a ceiling fan to continually circulate the air can help pull in the cooler outside air, thereby cooling the room. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/33 "2012-07-12T21:46:48Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > And there are the science-types that \*insist \*glass is a liquid. I was really disappointed when I found out this is a myth. It’s such a cool little factoid. Too bad it happens to be totally false. Alas. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/34 "2012-07-12T22:44:27Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > True, but if the room is warm and the air outside is cool, running a ceiling fan to continually circulate the air can help pull in the cooler outside air, thereby cooling the room. Yes. If a window is open. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/35 "2012-07-12T22:56:28Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Some people think a ceiling fan cools the room. It doesn’t. It actually makes the room hotter. The reason you feel cooler is that it increases air circulation which helps your sweat evaporate more effectively. The increased sweat evaporation is what makes you cooler. And window fans should never be put in the window. They pull in the hot air from outside, along with all the pollen, dust etc… My mom couldn’t understand why her fan blades always had black gunk on them. Her house sat between a train track and a highway. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/36 "2012-07-12T23:00:20Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Everything posted by **reef shark** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658167). The title and first post of that thread (with what I assume is a mod-provided bracketed explanation) are non-sequitur comedic gold. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/37 "2012-07-12T23:12:46Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > And window fans should never be put in the window. They pull in the hot air from outside, along with all the pollen, dust etc… That’s not quite right. Fans should be put in a window (or doorway) such that they are blowing outwards. This may be counter-intuitive but it’s quicker to blow the hot air our of a room that to push cold air in. Plus what you said about dirt and pollen. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/38 "2012-07-12T23:15:06Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > And window fans should never be put in the window. They pull in the hot air from outside, along with all the pollen, dust etc… i use box fans in the windows every night to pull cool night air into the house. close the windows in the daytime; the house stays cooler throughout the day with no air conditioning. true though in the day you don’t want to use box fans in the window until the house is as hot as the outside air. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/39 "2012-07-12T23:17:51Z")
> [@Batsinma\_Belfry](#): > > And window fans should never be put in the window. They pull in the hot air from outside, along with all the pollen, dust etc… Sure you put them in the window – at night, when the air outside had cooled down. You can either used them to blow the hot indoor air out (and have the cool air come in all windows) or use them to pull in the cool air directly (good for cooling the room where the fan is, but the other method is better for cooling the whole house). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958/40 "2012-07-12T23:18:10Z")
Window fans are set to blow out. Then you get a cool breeze from a different window thats open in the same room. We had a window fan in my uncle’s dining room for years. This was a real, permanently mounted window fan. > **[Amazon.com: Lasko 16" Electrically Reversible Window Fan with Storm Guard, 16...](https://www.amazon.com/Lasko-W16900-Window-Fan-White/dp/B077BVSKLC)** > > Buy Lasko 16" Electrically Reversible Window Fan with Storm Guard, 16 INCH, White: Everything Else - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases Similar to a attic fan. I use my attic fan a lot in the Spring and Fall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-people-get-very-wrong/627958.md?page=3)