HOW A FAN COOLS YOU
Many homeowners depend on their air conditioning units to keep their homes cool, especially during the summer. Running air conditioners on high can be expensive, so it is always best to consider the alternative—your fan. A fan or two in the home can help your air conditioner function efficiently even at a lower temperature setting.
What if you don’t have an AC? Will a fan still help cool the air inside your home? With this experiment, you will know if your fan can really be your air cooler this coming summer.
What you need:
• A thermometer
• A portable fan
What you do:
1. Choose a hot day for this experiment.
2. Get your portable fan on a table in one of the rooms in your house.
3. With your thermometer, record the temperature inside the room.
a. Hold the thermometer about three feet from the fan.
b. Turn the fan so it faces the thermometer.
c. Wait. After a minute, record the temperature.
4. Reset the thermometer and hold it two feet from the fan.
a. Turn the fan, so it faces the thermometer.
b. Wait. After a minute, record the temperature.
5. Reset the thermometer and hold it a foot from the fan.
a. Make sure the fan is facing the thermometer.
b. Wait. After one minute, record the temperature.
What you discover:
If your room is large, then you must have a large fan with large blades to cool it down. The blades of your fan circulate the air inside the room. As air passed through the blades of your fan, the air travels faster, creating a breeze. Fast traveling air feels cool on the skin, even if the room’s temperature remains the same or even if the room is warm. The blades of your fan should spin counterclockwise during the summer, so that you can enjoy the breeze that they make.
Fans can make you feel cooler even in a warm house set in a tropical area. If you live in a place with a temperate climate, you could just turn on your fan and not turn on your AC anymore. Fans even enable you to save money on electricity. Just make sure that you only turn them on when someone is occupying the room.