Where To Place Your Tower Fan For Maximum Effect

Where To Place Your Tower Fan

Fans do not actually make air cooler; no, instead they increase evaporation so that the sweat on our bodies more efficiently works to give us the feeling of being cooler. A tower fan is typically a large rotating fan on a tallish base that swivels according to settings. It usually has a span of 90 degrees and can come with a dust filter, depending on the model. There is one important question, though, and that is:

Where should a tower fan be placed in a room?

The most obvious first step is to take a good look at the room in which the tower fan will mostly be housed. You need to determine how large the room is, how tall the ceiling is, how many windows there are, and whether you want it taking up valuable floor space or mounted on a window ledge, mantelpiece, coffee table, or bookcase. The most logical place to have a fan is pointing towards an open place, be it a door or a window. You want to speed up the process of convection, getting older, mustier, hotter air to circulate in your room, forcing it outdoors so that newer, fresher air can take its place.

The great thing about a tower fan is that it is easy to move from one room to another, or from one part of a room to another part. For example, you might want to place it near your bed during hot, sticky summer nights; however, during humid days you might wish to place it facing out of the door, thus increasing the flow of air passing through the window out via the door. You also need to have a strategic view of the existing furniture in your room; the room’s décor and furniture arrangement can alter the natural airflow so also needs to be factored in.

For example, your tower fan should never be pointed towards but away from desks, tables, and cabinets; it works best when the airflow is unobstructed. Some tower fans will be able to be tilted while others can be set to rotate up to 90 degrees. The less turbulence and blockage that occurs, the better. There are, however, other types of fans out there such as ceiling fans, window fans, even window air conditioners.

Window fans

A window fan is an excellent choice in terms of getting fresh air into your room in a hurry. It has its own separate fan motor which is concealed from the elements (eg. rain), and fits securely in the window, allowing you to maximize the benefits of having dramatically increased airflow, but without annoying bugs or flies getting into your living space. There are models that utilize a twin fan system, whereby one fan is pushing warmer indoor air out, another dragging colder, outdoor air in. Some come with remote control, for added convenience.

Ceiling fans

When thinking about installing a ceiling fan, remember that cold air is heavier than warm air so will tend to sink to the bottom, warm air rise to the top. You, therefore, want to be disrupting this situation, especially when there is no wind to speak of. A ceiling fan, if placed fairly low (or hanging lower) will tend to scoop up a lot of that lower, cooler air, dispersing it into the room as a whole. Moreover, if you place your ceiling fan not in the very center of your room but in the area that has the least movement and activity, it will thus stir up that dormant air and make it interspersed with the more actively moving air, lowering the temperature overall.

Window air conditioners

Window unit air conditioners are another option, functioning similarly to but more powerfully than regular window fans. Indoor air is cooled via a fan that wafts it across an evaporator. Outdoor heat is directed inwards through the air conditioner, to be dispersed into the room via a second fan which wafts it over a condenser. It is a more powerful way of achieving the same result as a normal fan.

The good news is that you don’t need to restrict yourself to just a tower fan, window fan, or window air conditioner, especially if you have multiple windows in a room. A combination of all or none of these can be employed at any given moment in time, thereby giving you more optionality in responding to the various temperature changes that occur each month of a calendar year. You can also make sensible, eco-friendly choices in terms of clothing, lifestyle, diet, and exercise, ie. being in better shape will make you less susceptible to excessive fluctuations in body temperature; having your work-out a little earlier on in the day during summer months will mean your body is allowed more natural cooling time, making it less likely you’ll immediately reach for the energy-guzzling remote to your window AC.