Typical 2-story home, approx. 2,500 sq. ft., upper Midwest climate. Some say to set fan to "auto" because running the fan ("On") when the AC is not on will cause the air to continue to gather moisture from the evaporator coils and get dank and cause the humidity in the house to be too high. Others say, yes, the air will be a "little" more humid but leaving the blower setting to "On" will keep the air in the home more evenly distributed between the lower and upper floors.
What should the fan setting be - AUTO or ON?
Thx.
2007-05-29 07:55:32 · 7 answers · asked by David M 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
There are two ways of looking at this. Leaving the fan "on" won't cause excess humidity. The condensate will evaporate in a few minutes because without the compressor running, your evap coil is no longer below dewpoint. Constant air circulation will enable your t-stat to kick the compressor in earlier because the air in your house won't stratify. You will use extra energy running the fan, but the cost may be offset by the compressor not drawing as many amps as the air over the evap coil will be cooler and won't raise your low side suction pressure as high. Six of one....
2007-06-02 07:51:27 · answer #1 · answered by Cookies Anyone? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The piece of equipment that uses the most electricity is the compressor outside. So if you leave the fan in the "on" position, you will continue to move the air around in the house. The mixing of air will keep the temperature in your house more even, and will generally give you the impression that it is cooler in the house. This will allow you to turn the thermostat up a few degrees.
The indoor fan usually only pulls about an amp or two to keep the motor running, while the compressor outside will pull between 12-25 amps when it runs. So the trick is to do whatever you can to keep the compressor from running.
Another reason to leave the fan in the "on" position is for dust and allergies. The more times you cycle air across your filter, the cleaner you will be able to keep the air.
Lastly- the amount of humidity you pick up from the coils is a non-issue, because as soon as the compressor kicks off, the coils aren't cold enough to keep collecting moisture- and are dry to the touch in a matter of seconds.
2007-05-29 08:34:22 · answer #2 · answered by johntindale 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Leave the fan on Auto.The thermostat is designed to turn the unit on/off depending on the temerature you have put it on. If you run the unit on auto, it will cycle warm air when the compressor is not running...so it's not really giving you any cooling.
2007-05-29 08:21:36 · answer #3 · answered by Saucy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have always set our AC to auto. With the thermostat set on "ON", your just running the fan which does nothing to cool the house.
2007-05-29 08:08:30 · answer #4 · answered by eazzzye2003 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ON - keeps the air moving and will make everyone feel more comfortable. OFF - saves energy but allows for more temperature differences. Your choice.
2007-05-29 08:09:37 · answer #5 · answered by gkk_72 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Auto!!! Fan on will make the fan run all the time and that just will waste power .
2007-05-29 08:06:36 · answer #6 · answered by Mr fix it 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have always heard auto and that is what it is on at our house and we haven't had any problems.
2007-05-29 08:06:33 · answer #7 · answered by tomw_66762 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋