Flip the Switch on Your Ceiling Fans for a More Comfortable Home

Twice each year, we should flip the directional switch on the ceiling fans in our home to make things more comfortable. Here's how to create a cooler house in the summer, and a warmer one in the winter.

First, if you didn't know your ceiling fan(s) had a switch that makes it change direction, you're not alone. Need proof? There's plenty of it on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Before we get into the direction of the fan blades, does anyone else have problems trying to figure out which chain is for the light and which one is for the fan? The below were such ingenious inventions. Another one of those, why didn't I think of that?!

Ok, on to the direction of ceiling fan blades. In winter, you obviously want to be warmer. Remember "warm up" for ceiling fan blades during the cold months of the year. That means the blades on your fan(s) should rotate clockwise. When a fan turns clockwise, it sends the warm air that gets trapped at the top of the room toward the walls, and eventually down to you. That helps create a warmer feeling room, without a draft.

The opposite holds true in the summer. When you want to "cool down", ceiling fan blades should be counterclockwise. That sends the air straight down, creating the only wind chill we actually want to feel... during the warmest months of the year.

Hopefully "warm up" (clockwise) and "cool down" (counterclockwise) will help you feel more comfortable in your home, no matter the season.

Before you flip the switch on your fans each season, remember to dust the blades first.