I, admittedly, am not a man of science. When Colt asks, "why do cyclones spin clockwise and hurricanes spin counter-clockwise?" I give him the best answer any parent can possibly give:
A. Go ask your Mom, or
B. Google it.
I know... Parent of the Year 2010, here I come.
Still, I have a hard time grasping the concept of the Fan Vortex Phenomenon. (hereinafter referred to as "FVP" because I'm too lazy to keep spelling phenomenon and having spell checker tell me I spelled it incorrectly.)
I installed a ceiling fan years ago in our bedroom. You'd think, the hotter the temperature, the more you would feel the breeze from the fan. Leai. FVP steals the wind.
On hot, muggy, South Pacific nights, it feels as if the ceiling fan, while spinning at four gazillion revolutions per second, does nothing. Somehow, there's an invisible vortex between my six feet separating my bed from the ceiling fan which sucks all the moving air. So, instead of laying peacefully on my mattress at 10 pm with a light man-made breeze blowing through my hair, I'm starving for circulation, contemplating physics, and sweating profusely, (and this before Jaime has even entered the room).
Yet, on cool nights, the fan feels as though it's blowing Arctic air onto my bare skin. I can't explain it. FVP.
If you can explain this, well... give yourself a pat on the back and explain it to your kids. In the meantime, I'll tell Colt to google the answer for me.
'nuff said.
A. Go ask your Mom, or
B. Google it.
I know... Parent of the Year 2010, here I come.
Still, I have a hard time grasping the concept of the Fan Vortex Phenomenon. (hereinafter referred to as "FVP" because I'm too lazy to keep spelling phenomenon and having spell checker tell me I spelled it incorrectly.)
I installed a ceiling fan years ago in our bedroom. You'd think, the hotter the temperature, the more you would feel the breeze from the fan. Leai. FVP steals the wind.
On hot, muggy, South Pacific nights, it feels as if the ceiling fan, while spinning at four gazillion revolutions per second, does nothing. Somehow, there's an invisible vortex between my six feet separating my bed from the ceiling fan which sucks all the moving air. So, instead of laying peacefully on my mattress at 10 pm with a light man-made breeze blowing through my hair, I'm starving for circulation, contemplating physics, and sweating profusely, (and this before Jaime has even entered the room).
Yet, on cool nights, the fan feels as though it's blowing Arctic air onto my bare skin. I can't explain it. FVP.
If you can explain this, well... give yourself a pat on the back and explain it to your kids. In the meantime, I'll tell Colt to google the answer for me.
'nuff said.
The solution is quite elementary my dear Wat wat.
You have installed the ceiling fan blades upside down. As the fan rotates it is infact pulling the air up and away from your person. This is actually a common mistake by DIYers.
All you need to do is to unscrew the blades flip them 180 and then screww them back into place. Voila, you will get some downward circultion of air.
- the voice of reason
Ahh Sherlock... if only it were so simple. Been there, done that... still sweating.
Most fans disallow "upside down" installation of blades. However, there is usually a small toggle switch on the motor that will reverse the blade direction. Regardless, I'm pretty sure P-Daddy can tell the difference between air blowing forward from the fan vs. air circulating around the perimeter of the room.