Last week under the Big Top it was hot. It was hotter than it usually is or expected to be the first week of May with temps in the 90s nearing the century mark. Yes, I am well aware that in other parts of the country people were shoveling snow…in May!
I know!
I’m sorry.
Unfortunately I can’t control the weather. It is not part of my job description as the master juggler around here…no matter what my kids might think.
Still I did my best to keep the Big Top cool. Hurray for the window tint I got for my birthday. It worked…it really worked!!! I also, after careful research…which came after discussing it with the wise folks on Twitter, changed the direction in which all of our ceiling fans were turning.
Counter clockwise was the overwhelming consensus that a fan must turn in order to produce a cooling wind chill effect by the downward air flow.
As predicted it did not change the thermostat but the living room and kitchen area, as well as the bedrooms did indeed seem to be significantly cooler…oh, and I didn’t have to turn on the ac until the day we hit the century mark last Thursday late afternoon. I liked that. I liked that a lot.
And my circus clowns came home all week to a nice, cool Big Top after their long days at work, school, dance, Krav Maga and Tae Kwon Do.
Saving energy and keeping the Big Top comfortably cool; I win!
Thankfully, by Sunday there was a change in the weather and this week has brought temperatures that are 20-30 degrees cooler along with cool evening Delta breezes. As it should be here in the merry month of May. It is then that my darling husband wonders out loud if we should turn on the ac because he is hot.
Close the blinds and open the windows and let the breezes in, honey. It is only 75° outside.
But I’m hot!
Oh for goodness sake! (opening some windows and closing the blinds to block the setting sun)
Then looking up I notice that the ceiling fan is now turning clockwise.
Um, honey?
Yes?
Did you change the direction of the fan?
Yeah. I changed them all. They’re going in the wrong direction.
Um, no! I checked. They are supposed to be counter clockwise to cool the house more efficiently.
No, they are supposed to be clockwise in the warm months. I’ve got this.
No. Seriously honey, I did some research on this. In order to cool the house more efficiently and decrease our ac usage…AND save on our energy bill, the fans need to be turning counter clockwise. It helps to cool the whole room so we all can enjoy it.
When the fan turns clockwise it isn’t cooling the whole room. It does however seem to create a mini tornado under YOUR chair when you turn the fan up to high.
As it should be.
No, it should not be that way. Look, I’m just trying to save us a little off of our energy bill. It is crazy during the summer months and every little thing helps.
Fine! (he gets the step ladder and proceeds to change all of the fans directions back to counter clockwise)
A few hours later…
You know, I have been doing my OWN research and the direction the fan has nothing to do with cooling the room. It is how the blades are angled.
And so now the fans are turning clockwise…for now.
The moral of the story is it would seem that married couples are always arguing about directions.
So…what direction is your ceiling fan turning?
