Have You Turned The Furnace On? It’s Time To Reverse Your Ceiling Fan

Raise your hand if you've relented and turned the furnace on, at least during the overnight. I don't think I am alone in that we've taken to turning on the furnace, during the night, to keep us all comfortable at a toasty mid-60s temp. If you've turned on those furnaces it's also time to reverse those ceiling fans.

If you are a new homeowner or new to the area, from someplace warmer like North Carolina, reversing the fan won't take you much time at all. There is a switch on the side of your ceiling fan, that you flip to change the direction that the blades spin. (Pro tip: make sure the fan isn't on and spinning when you go to change the direction of the fan)

Hunter Fan, a ceiling fan manufacturer, says during the winter your fans should be rotating clockwise, and in the warmer months your fan should rotate counter-clockwise.

Get our free mobile app

When we bought our first home, this was the advice we got from our neighbors that first fall. They didn't specify at the time HOW to reverse the fan, so I ended up Googling it and later felt like an idiot for not noticing the switch.

So why would you want to reverse your ceiling fan during the colder months, and when you've turned on your furnace? Well when you reverse the fan direction, instead of pushing air down, you are pulling up the air helping to circulate the air, and moving the warm air down, while pulling the cooler air up.

Cheers to more comfortable homes during the colder months!