June 13th, 2023 by Shauna Hammond

Summer is just around the corner and the temperature is already on the rise, so that means it is the time to dig out your fan to try and keep yourself cool as the temperature soars. However, sometimes it feels like our fans can’t really compete with the high temperatures of summer and while they certainly have their restrictions there are a few things you can do to make sure your fan is working its best and you are getting the most cooling possible! In the blog, we will discuss ways you can utilize your fan to its fullest so that you can hopefully keep cool and comfortable in the face of summer.

Choosing the Right Fan

First and foremost you need to ensure you are choosing the right fan for the job, for example, if you are wanting to cool multiple people in an open-plan living room using a small USB or even a desk fan is not going to be very effective due to their small range, likewise using a floor circulator fan in a small room will only serve to be well probably very annoying when all your possessions are blowing around the room! These types of fans are designed for use in large open areas such as warehouses, shop floors and over commercial areas. When choosing your fan consider the size of the area you are using it and how many people you will want to cool with this one fan, if you are looking for a fan to make sleeping easier something like a tower fan, which will cover a fairly large area and has a lower operating volume.

Most fans will include information in their specifications or on the box in regards to how big an area it will cover so take some time to look into this rather than buying the first fan you come across although we know this can be tempting when there is a mad rush to buy fans and shelves start to empty.

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Choosing A Fan with The Right Features

Fans have come far since they first began their journey all the way back in 1886 and many of the modern fans available now are packed full of incredible features that will help to improve their cooling effect and helping to make us feel more comfortable. While some of these features such as timers are designed more for convenience than performance improvement there are a few other features to keep an eye out for that can make a big difference to how much cooler you feel. Here are some features to look out for:

Changeable Speed Settings

One of the most common features you will find with fans is changeable fan speeds, you probably don’t need to worry too much about looking out for this feature as it tends to come as standard these days with most modern fans, however being able to gradually increase the speed throughout the day as the temperature rises will definitely help you to feel cooler for longer than having one consistent speed through the day. This is because as the day becomes warmer and we begin to sweat more and higher fan speed will help evaporate the sweat quicker to make us feel cooler.

Oscillation

This is also another very common feature; however, they do not necessarily come with every single fan so we highly recommend keeping an eye out for these particular features. The oscillation feature is great for covering a wider area or for cooling multiple people in a space. The oscillation feature will also ensure that the air in the room is constantly moving and circulating around the room which will help to make it feel cooler, and you will also feel benefits from having the fan blowing on you intermittently rather than consistently.

Changeable Wind Settings

A much more modern fan feature that is a little more niche is changeable win settings – this is different to changeable speed as it changes the fan pattern in order to offer a more cooling experience. Some of these wind types often included a ‘natural’ mode which will blow intermittently in order to mimic the feeling of a natural breeze, this natural breeze can feel more cooling and similar to oscillation you will feel the benefits more of a fan if there is an absence in the breeze. Another wind mode you may find is a ‘night’ or ‘sleep’ mode and just as the name suggests this wind pattern is designed specifically to make us feel comfortable throughout the night, this mode usually entails a combination of intermittent blowing while also slowly decreasing the speed – this is because our bodies cool naturally while we sleep, so by adjusting with our bodies natural flow it will prevent us from becoming to cool and having our sleep disturbed – this mode often quitter while operating too which will restrict the max wind speed you can use. This feature is a great addition to your fan because not only does a natural feeling breeze feel cooler and fresher but it can also prevent adjusting too quickly to your fan and feeling like it isn’t doing anything which is a frustration we’ve likely all experienced at some point.

Ioniser

Another fairly new feature to look for is a fan with a built-in ioniser. This can really help to improve the air quality of a room and in particular humid and warm temperatures when the air feels muggy this feature can be a huge help. Ionisers work by adding negative ions into the air while they are working, these negative ions are naturally occurring and are what are found in cooling outdoor breeze and is what actually gives the air that ‘fresh’ feeling. So, by circulating these negative ions around a room, it can help to make the room feel fresher, clearer and by extensions cooler! Fans with an ioniser can sometimes carry a slightly higher price tag but it most definitely makes a big difference in increasing your overall comfort.

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Positioning is Key

Now that we have covered some of the important things to look for in your fan and you hopefully have a better idea of what kind of fan you should be choosing for your needs, it is time to place your fan. The positioning of your fan is incredibly important to how efficiently it will cool and circulate the air in a room. We know that it is tempting especially when it is incredibly hot that it can be tempting to sit directly in front of the fan and while this initially will keep you feeling cooler you will soon get used to this temperature and start to heat up again. Instead, you should consider placing your fan somewhere it can optimise airflow.

Place fans in a central location and with the oscillation feature switched on, this way it will circulate the air more efficiently – this is particularly useful for large open places areas such as large living rooms or offices. Alternatively, another optimal place to position your fan is somewhere near an open door or window, this way it can pull in some of the cool air from outside to circulate around the room, dissipating some of the heat energy more effectively and making the overall atmosphere feel cooler and more comfortable. So as tempting as it can be to point your fan directly at yourself try these positions and see if you notice the overall difference!

Cooling Tricks

We hope that you now have a better idea of the kind of features you should be looking for and how to better position your fan in order to benefit more from the breeze it creates. There are also some tips and tricks you can use on those especially hot days that will help to kick your cooling game up a notch.

The first is to use a cooling mist, or simply a spray bottle with a fine mist option and some cool water alongside your fan. By spraying your body, it will imitate the evaporative cooling effect of sweat being evaporated which is what makes us feel cooler, so imitating this effect it can improve our cooling – however, we know it’s not practical to sit in front of our fans spraying ourselves with water all day… even if it seems tempting at times!

Another method to try using is to make your own pseudo-air cooler by adding a bottle of iced water behind or in front of your fan. Doing so means that the fan will circulate the cold air that is being produced from the iced water bottle and it will circulate that around the room which while not lowering the temperature can certainly help you to feel much cooler, especially during the hottest parts of the day, just be sure to keep an eye on your water bottle and change it out for a cool once when the ice melts and the water warms up.

We hope that this blog was able to provide you with some useful tips to make the most of your fan, however, it is always important to understand that fans will always be restricted by the fact they are not able to lower the ambient temperature of a room and will simply create a cooling effect and while we can improve on this cooling effect by following these tips and tricks if you want a device that will actually lower the overall temperature of the room you are in then you will need to look at investing into an air conditioning unit as this is the only way to do this!

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