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Safe to run circulation fan all night? M 05-27-2008
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Posted by M on May 27, 2008, 6:10 pm

Hello,

I have central air and a gas furnace for heating, and I believe one
system controls the air circulation. When it gets hot out, the a/c
doesn't cool the upstairs well. My thermostat has the option to keep
the circulation fan on all the time, not just when the AC (or heat)
turn on. I believe this will help a great deal, but hubby says it
isn't built for that and we will break something. Is it safe to run
the circulation fan all night, or should I save that for more
conventional house fans?

Thanks,

Posted by mark on May 27, 2008, 6:49 pm

>
> Hello,
>
> I have central air and a gas furnace for heating, and I believe one
> system controls the air circulation. When it gets hot out, the a/c
> doesn't cool the upstairs well. My thermostat has the option to keep
> the circulation fan on all the time, not just when the AC (or heat)
> turn on. I believe this will help a great deal, but hubby says it
> isn't built for that and we will break something. Is it safe to run
> the circulation fan all night, or should I save that for more
> conventional house fans?
>
> Thanks,
Hubby is wrong. I do it all the time, and nothing has broken for years.
It's suggested to run the fan all the time during the heating season, this
eliminates the high and low temps when the system is cycling on and off. Run
it. Mark



Posted by John Gilmer on May 28, 2008, 3:21 pm


> Hubby is wrong. I do it all the time, and nothing has broken for years.
> It's suggested to run the fan all the time during the heating season, this
> eliminates the high and low temps when the system is cycling on and off.
> Run

Believe it or not, the circulation fan (if it's a standard 3-speed) uses a
fair amount of electricity.

When the heat is off but the fan is on you are blowing about unheated air.
I just don't see how that helps anything.

In the summer you definitely don't want to run the fan all the time. When
the compressor cuts off there is still a little water on the coils. If you
keep the fan running, this water is evaporated and inceases the humidity of
the living space.

Summer or winter, the fan does consume some energy.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Posted by HeyBub on May 29, 2008, 7:45 pm
John Gilmer wrote:
>> Hubby is wrong. I do it all the time, and nothing has broken for
>> years. It's suggested to run the fan all the time during the heating
>> season, this eliminates the high and low temps when the system is
>> cycling on and off. Run
>
> Believe it or not, the circulation fan (if it's a standard 3-speed)
> uses a fair amount of electricity.
>
> When the heat is off but the fan is on you are blowing about unheated
> air. I just don't see how that helps anything.
>
> In the summer you definitely don't want to run the fan all the time. When
> the compressor cuts off there is still a little water on the
> coils. If you keep the fan running, this water is evaporated and
> inceases the humidity of the living space.
>
> Summer or winter, the fan does consume some energy.
>

The blower is, what, 1/4HP? That's about 200 watts. Running for ten extra
hours in a day is 2 kwh. At 15c per, that's thirty cents a day, $9.00 a
month. To keep the temperature relatively constant.


Plus, keeping the temperature constant via continued circulation doesn't
make you think you're going through the hot flashes of menopause. Peace of
mind is worth something.



Posted by Nate Nagel on May 29, 2008, 7:54 pm
HeyBub wrote:
> John Gilmer wrote:
>
>>>Hubby is wrong. I do it all the time, and nothing has broken for
>>>years. It's suggested to run the fan all the time during the heating
>>>season, this eliminates the high and low temps when the system is
>>>cycling on and off. Run
>>
>>Believe it or not, the circulation fan (if it's a standard 3-speed)
>>uses a fair amount of electricity.
>>
>>When the heat is off but the fan is on you are blowing about unheated
>>air. I just don't see how that helps anything.
>>
>>In the summer you definitely don't want to run the fan all the time. When
>>the compressor cuts off there is still a little water on the
>>coils. If you keep the fan running, this water is evaporated and
>>inceases the humidity of the living space.
>>
>>Summer or winter, the fan does consume some energy.
>>
>
>
> The blower is, what, 1/4HP? That's about 200 watts. Running for ten extra
> hours in a day is 2 kwh. At 15c per, that's thirty cents a day, $9.00 a
> month. To keep the temperature relatively constant.
>
>
> Plus, keeping the temperature constant via continued circulation doesn't
> make you think you're going through the hot flashes of menopause. Peace of
> mind is worth something.
>
>

In my house the basement is consistently cooler than the second floor.
Keeping the fan running makes both more comfortable. Certainly beats
running the A/C cost wise. I left the fan running when I left for work
this AM and it was close to 80 degrees out when I got home. The house
was about 70 degrees inside, had the A/C set for 77 degrees, so
obviously it never kicked on all day. (I must admit that it was cool
last night so the inside temp. was about 66-67 degrees when I left,
because I'd had the windows open and a big window fan running to cool it
off before I went to bed.)

I'm sure that if I *hadn't* had the fan running it would have been at
least 75 upstairs if not higher - I can say this because I didn't have
the central A/C last year and just had a mercury thermostat with no fan
switch, so I didn't have the option of leaving the fan running.

nate

--
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