On Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:54:04 -0700, rickman wrote:

...snip...
Wow, you seem to have a problem with authority. Of course you can use
the fan anyway you wish.

Problem with authority? Maybe, but it was a LEARNED response.

Actually, I was trying to confirm whether others experienced what I had
found empirically, and was in direct opposition to the 'experts'
suggestion. Plus, convince Ms. Macy that I am NOT an idiot and delusional
for thinking I know more than the experts on these House shows.

The recommendation has nothing to do with your
house, it has to do with your skin. As others have pointed out when it
is warm a slight breeze can feel good, so the fan is set to blow down so
you can feel it. In the winter when it is cool you don't want to feel
the breeze, so set it to up. By the time the circulation reaches you it
is greatly dispersed and you don't feel the cool air so much.


I thought that way too, directly blowing down onto me in hot weather
'sounded' better. But just confirmed that blowing down on me ended up
'feeling' a good 5 degrees hotter, than letting air come in from the
sides. I now have the fan set for UP and it feels cooler in the room than
with NO fan. And earlier it definitely felt hotter with the fan blowing
DOWN, by several degrees above what it was like with NO fam.

My bed is right under a window and I tried adding a plastic film to seal
off the draft. But that only worked so well. I tried adding some
cardboard as layers of insulation behind the blind and still felt a cold
draft. Turns out I was reducing the heat flow through the window, but
that was not the full problem. The air by the window would still get
cold, but since it got cold slowly it fell slowly still lowering
temperature significantly by the time it fell on my bed. It took a 3/4
inch sheet of Styrofoam tightly fitted to the window before I could
sleep in that bed. This was a cold winter here and that draft was
unbearable! It only takes a very little air flow to create a very
noticeable draft in the winter because the air can be rather cold. That
is why you want the fan blowing up if at all in the winter. I turn mine
off in the winter. I don't think it changes the electric bill
noticeably one way or the other or the comfort in the room.

At University I had a roomate who during the summer would go logging for
piece meal wages to make great money. He said they roasted all day, like
into the 80's, 90's, and froze at night in their cabins. Wake up in the
morning to find a sheet of ice frozen over standing water in any dish!
Now THAT's cold. He said the money was worth it, though.