Energy Efficiency Services Limited
Most households in India are cooled by fans, and less than 10% of households have air conditioning. The average rating of the fans installed and sold in the market is between 75-80W, whereas energy efficient fans provide the same level of comfort at about 45-50W. Considering that almost 30 million fans are sold every year, the potential to reduce demand is significant. Replacing the country's 35 crore inefficient ceiling fans in with BEE 5-Star-rated ceiling fans could save 47 billion KWh and reduce load by over 12,250 MW.
Ceiling fan
For heating, ceiling fans should usually be set to turn the opposite direction (usually clockwise; the blades should spin with the downward turned side leading) and on a low speed (or the lowest speed the fan is able to circulate the air down to the floor). Air naturally stratifies—that is, warmer air rises to the ceiling while cooler air sinks. Unfortunately, this means it is colder on or near the floor where human beings spend most of their time. A ceiling fan, with its direction of rotation set so that air is drawn upward, pulls up the colder air below, forcing the warmer air nearer the ceiling to move down to take its place, without blowing a stream of air directly at the occupants of the room. This action works to even out the temperature in the room, making it cooler nearer the ceiling, but warmer nearer the floor. Thus the thermostat in the area can be set a few degrees lower to save energy, while maintaining the same level of comfort. It is important to run the fan at a low speed (or a lowest speed the fan is able to circulate the air down to the floor) to minimize the wind chill effect described above. However if the ceiling is high enough, or the lowest speed downdraft would not create wind chill effect, it can be left on downdraft year around.