Fan switch on wall

[Samchaz]

Hello...new member here. I have a question. My husband and I have a disagreement about the separate "fan" switch that is on the wall in our hallway on the first floor of the house. It is a little chilly this morning so we turned the heat on for the first time this season. He said just turn on the switch on the right which is the switch for the furnace. The second switch right next to it (these are separate from the thermostat) says "fan only". He says we don't need that one on. All that does is draw cool air up from the basement. You can leave that off. Is that right? Or should we be running that along with the other one. Sometimes in the Summer he would turn on the fan only switch since he said that draws cool air up from the basement? I am still confused. Although I hate to admit it....is he right this time? Thanks for your help....Sara

 

[Nukeman]

Normally, central heat and A/C have a couple settings on the t-stat for heat/cool and a couple settings for the fan (usually ON/AUTO). Normally, the fan will be in auto mode and will just come on when the t-stat calls for heat/cooling. If you just turn the fan setting to 'ON', that just runs the blower to circulate air without any heating/cooling.

It sounds like he is correct. Set the mode to 'heat' and set your temperature. The fan switch should be in 'auto'. If the "fan only" only has setting of on/off, just leave it on 'off'.

Is the heat coming on when you do this? Make sure to check the temperature setting on the t-stat since it could be set for summer (assuming you have A/C).

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Thatguy]

'Fan on' means more nearly even temperature throughout the house. It lessens the 'stack effect'.

 

[Jadnashua]

The heat ducts are normally a closed loop. There are normally cold air return ducts in the main part of the house, and ideally, one in each room. Those are what return to the furnace and that air gets heated and blown out the heat registers. It would be unusual to only have a return in the basement, and none elsewhere. So, my guess is your husband's comment about drawing air from the basement is not correct.

As noted, running the fan on "ON", means cleaner air (it goes through the filter more often, and that the temperature is more even around the house, plus, higher electricity costs, and shorter life on the fan. I run mine continuously.

 

[Kimster]

Like others have said, leaving it on heats the house more evenly and filters the air continuously. I used to have a clunker of a natural gas furnace and I never used to run the fan 24/7. I found that there were cold spots in the house. i don't have any returns in the basement, though, I wish I did (finished basement). If you don't want to heat the basement and you don't want a return air down there, you can always close off any heat vents and close off the return air -- but I wouldn't recommend it.

I now have a forced-air electric furnace and the fan is circulating air all the time. When the heat kicks on, the fan speeds up to circulate the heated air more forcefully. It slows down again when it kicks off.

I think your hubby is wrong on this one and maybe you need a new furnace. The one I have doesn't use a belt drive for the fan, it's direct drive is meant to be run continuously. I have also saved a lot of money switching to this furnace and I have not found an appreciable difference in the cost of running the fan 24/7. It's uses the same amount of energy as a 9-volt battery.

 

[Nukeman]

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but to me, Sara is asking if the "Fan Only" switch needs to be on when runing the heat. I don't think she is asking what the benefits are for running in the "Fan Only" mode, but that's how I read it.

 

[Kimster]

If they want to run the fan 24/7, and this function isn't provided on their thermostat, as well as having heat when they need it, then the answer is, yes.

 

[Thatguy]

600 w on 24/7
vs
600 w on maybe half the time
in a 24 hr. day gives me a 7 kwh per day saving, about $1/day for me.

A 9v battery might give you 4 w-h of energy.

Sumpin's wrong somewheres.

 

[Jadnashua]

My fan is a 16-speed, and when not called for to distribute heated or cooled air (i.e., the furnace is running or the a/c), it only runs on speed 1 of 16, so yes, it doesn't use much electricity. Conventional fans can use a lot more. Before I had this installed, I still ran it full time - the more even temperatures and slight white noise (I live in a townhouse condo) were worth it.