HVAC question - manual fan setting

[nomas]

I have never run my fan continuously , but we have ceiling fans that almost never get turned off so that seems to work for us . Do whatever makes you the most comfortable .

 

[RhondaHonda]

I don’t run mine continuously for the mentioned humidity issues. Main floor east unit, main floor west unit and an upstairs unit as well as one in an addition. I use the Sensi thermostats and have them all set to different schedules and temps. It’s very comfortable this way, I’ll never go back to a multi-story or large single story without multiple zones or units.

 

[Hall]

I have never run my fan continuously , but we have ceiling fans that almost never get turned off so that seems to work for us . Do whatever makes you the most comfortable .

Our old house had ceiling fans in almost every room and I definitely miss them. They ran pretty much all day when we were up as well as the bedroom ones running while we slept.

 

[X15]

We run a bathroom exhaust fan 24/7 when it's warm enough, started doing it after a member of the household caught a virus one summer.

Just that small amount of air movement makes a huge difference in comfort levels.

 

[factorytuned2012]

Does anyone run their HVAC fan all the time, versus using the auto setting?

It's been really hot in the east. We had a Carrier dual speed system installed a few years back. Our house is older (70's), with not the best insulation (that is my next improvement.) The temp between the upper and lower floors seems more balanced when the fan runs all the time. It runs really slow (almost imperceptible), but then ramps up when it calls for cooling.

The temp spread is most obvious at night, when the system doesn't run as often, and the humidity rises somewhat. (By my feel anyway).

Should I look at a remote temp probe for upstairs? (I'm not sure if that exists).

Thanks.

running the fan continuously will scavenge every bit of coolness left in the coil after a cooling cycle, you'll get the most out of this if your rooms are evenly cooled. any rooms that are + a few degrees will defeat this and you'll just be pulling that warmer air back into the return.

 

[rszappa1]

running the fan continuously will scavenge every bit of coolness left in the coil after a cooling cycle, you'll get the most out of this if your rooms are evenly cooled. any rooms that are + a few degrees will defeat this and you'll just be pulling that warmer air back into the return.

IMO.. by running the fan all of the time you will increase the humidity in your house. When the hvac turns off your evaporator is still full of watr esp on a humis day.so by having the fan keep on running it will dry the evaporator but the air will be more humid and that air goes inside your house...

 

[factorytuned2012]

IMO.. by running the fan all of the time you will increase the humidity in your house. When the hvac turns off your evaporator is still full of watr esp on a humis day.so by having the fan keep on running it will dry the evaporator but the air will be more humid and that air goes inside your house...

by then the unit will be back on running. theres no winning when the outdoor temps are 100+ heat index.

 

[AZjeff]

Not all of us have a problem with humidity. RH here right now is 11%. The air handler and furnace and all duct work is in the attic and the ducts are undersized so the east side rooms get warm in the morning so I run the fan to even things out. We have a whole house fan that I run in the morning with the windows open to cool the house and run the fan then to distribute cool air into areas without windows. Works well.

 

[greenjp]

The air handler and furnace and all duct work is in the attic...

Our place has the 2nd floor system in the attic and this is the very reason I don't run the fan in continuous on mode in the summer. Despite the soffits and ridge vent it's hot as hell up there so the air running through the (insulated) ducts is going to pick up some heat energy and despite my best efforts probably some leakage at the various joints. So for that one we just have it set to run when the cooling is called for.

Now the first floor & basement system is a different story. That system is entirely inside the conditioned part of the house, and you get some free cooling from the below-grade basement so we run that fan all the time.

jeff

 

[Chester11]

Thanks all, appreciate it. I'm running the fan at night just to keep the air moving a bit. Also dropping the temp a bit. Seem to make the upstairs feel cooler.

 

[greenjp]

Thanks all, appreciate it. I'm running the fan at night just to keep the air moving a bit. Also dropping the temp a bit. Seem to make the upstairs feel cooler.

Ours is set to drop the set temp a couple degrees around 1 AM to provide that little extra bit of cooling overnight.

 

[alarmguy]

We leave our fan on automatic. It only runs when the unit turns on for cooling or heating… (we never turn the power off to our system as we never open our windows.)

However, when we have guests staying overnight, I put the fan in circulate mode. In this mode, the fan will turn on a couple times an hour and circulate the air in the house. This will help keep the bedroom temperatures even as the bedroom doors are closed when sleeping at night.

Sometimes even with no guests I will use circulate mode in the early spring at night if it is cool outside, but the house still needs some air conditioning. Since the ductwork is in the attic the ducts will become cooler and transfer some of that cool into the house. For this reason, I never have a fan run by itself when it is hot outside or else I’m just bringing hot air from the attic into the house. With the one exception when we have guests.