Casablanca Ceiling Fan Article
Old Technology to Defeat a New Enemy
Hardly any modern American homes lack some form of air conditioning. No other country in the world makes more use of climate control to make their homes cooler. Simple ceiling fans used to be the norm. Forty years ago only fifteen percent of American homes had air conditioning, compared to seventy-five percent today. For this we have to thank low energy prices.
Nationally, one sixth of the electricity used goes toward operating climate control systems. The average hot summer day sees air conditioning units using up to a whopping forty percent of total national consumption. Given the effects of global warming, and increased temperatures around the world, these numbers are likely to only increase as time goes by.
Of concern, as we consider this situation, is our continued dependence on fossil fuels. Twenty nine percent of America's greenhouse gases and seventy percent of America's acid rain can be linked to the consumption of fossil fuels. Coal, which is the biggest polluter among all the fossil fuels, is burned to generate more than half of our electricity. Along with that electricity comes a third of our nitrogen oxide, much of our smog and acid rain, a third of our carbon dioxide emissions (the number one global warming gas) and a third of our mercury (contaminating waterways and food).
What's even worse, our bad habits seem to be contagious. Over the past decade, America has tripled the quantities of heating, ventilation and cooling equipment sold to other countries. In addition, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which destroy the ozone, and have been banned in the first world since 1996, will continue to be sold in less developed nations until 2010.
The good old ceiling fan as opposed to modern air conditioning is a classy, quiet, environmentally friendly and low budget alternative. The basic ceiling fan costs between sixty five and ninety dollars to purchase, then continues to be budget friendly for the rest of its life, using only fifty to seventy Watts of power at the highest speed. A fan uses as much electricity as a standard light bulb, which is not even a tenth of what your average air conditioning unit consumes. The difference in cost? Compare $1.50 per month to run a ceiling fan for twelve hours with $25 to run an air conditioner for the same length of time.
There is a lot we can do to conserve energy. A fan stirs the air into a cooling breeze that evaporates the perspiration from our skin, so that the air in our homes feels as much as nine degrees cooler. Air conditioners blow hot air out the home, and cool air in, burning a lot more energy. People who have a ceiling fan and air conditioning can conserve by using the fan to augment the effects of the air conditioning, so that the air conditioning unit can be turned down 9 degrees. Other conservation techniques that are available to us can be learned from people in hot climates, who for millennia have used architectural design to create a cool space inside. Thick walls that absorb heat more slowly and strategic placement of windows and vents are time tested strategies. Pacific Gas and Electric in Davis, California, where temperatures get as high as 110 degrees used window positioning, roof color, efficient appliances and other methods to create comfortable temperatures inside without the use of air conditioning. The result has been a four fifths reduction in energy costs.
Ceiling fans save money, and enable each of us to help protect the environment. That's a big deal.
