Louisiana Ceiling Fans Need to be Spinning This Way to Help Your Heater

Last week when we told you that snow and ice were heading for Louisiana this week we felt a little pushback from some of you. Yeah, the naysayers were quick to say "Snow in Louisiana in January nah that won't happen".

But if you consult the National Weather Service forecast for Shreveport, Homer, Bossier City, and other locales along I-20 you will see that maybe the Old Farmer knows a little more than some high-tech weather folks are willing to give him credit for knowing.

As of this morning, the area under a Winter Storm Watch is northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, and portions of southeastern Oklahoma beginning later tonight and sticking around through Thursday night.

Naturally, if there is a possibility of snow in Shreveport it's probably cold in other parts of Louisiana such as Lafayette, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. And while those cities won't have to worry about ice and snow they will need to be concerned with staying warm.

One of the best ways you can help keep your home feeling warm and cozy during a cold snap is to use your ceiling fan. Normally we think of fans as cooling agents but a ceiling fan spinning in the right direction can actually help your heater be more efficient.

If you slept through sixth-grade science class here's what's going on with the heat and your ceiling fan. Warm air rises and that means in your home the warmest air from your heater is hanging out near your ceiling. Unless you're Shaq you probably won't even notice how much warmer it is up there compared to around your feet.

By using your ceiling fan to pull down that warm air you can't feel above your head your homes and rooms will feel much warmer. And then you don't have to run the heater so much and that saves you money.

If I might use a term that will probably be too antiquated to use in another ten years your fan should be spinning on low speed in a clockwise direction. I do realize there is a certain segment of the population that hasn't ever used a clock with hands but still, that's the best way to describe the direction the fan needs to spin.

What you're hoping to create is an updraft that will pull the cooler air toward the ceiling and force the warmer air to circulate downward into the living space. But make sure you spin the fan on LOW. Any faster it will create a breeze that might make you feel cooler.

Experts estimate that proper use of ceiling fans can save you as much as 12% on your power bill. That means you'd save about $30 bucks on a bill of $250. That's a savings of about $360 over a year's time.  So just by using your ceiling fan, you could afford some groceries or a car payment. It's worth looking into.