What is fan mode in ac?
What does fan mode do on air conditioner? When the aircon unit in fan mode, the aircon compressor will be shut down while the aircon fan will keep on running.
Does fan mode in ac save electricity? Ac fan mode power consumption is lower because the compressor is shut off. The air condition is not generating chill air but you are getting ventilation which supports lower temperature by a few degrees.
An air condition fan mode generally uses about 150 W with the fan running, while the AC unit uses 1000 W when on cool or default mode. Anyway, the difference in power consumption will largely depend on a few factors such as the brands and what aircon mode you are using. If you are using Mitsubishi aircon, please kindly have a look at our previous article – 7 mitsubishi aircon modes explained.
If the unit is set to chill fast, you just get a quite little difference in energy use, even though aircon fan mode would still utilize slighter energy just the same. It is also vital to think about the competence of running aircon fan mode vs fan.
Using a normal stand fan is very much more power-efficient compare to running aircon in fan mode. So consider using a normal fan and shut off the AC on days when the weather is quite chill and you just want to include ventilation with air conditioner fan mode.
Pros of aircon fan mode
It decreases the workload of your AC unit and better machine work
Having the AC on fan mode can also support decrease the danger of the unit being high work. When an AC is forever overworked, there is a huge chance that its power competence will be decreased. This will outcome in the high-performance effort that it exerts, likely causing a lot of issues for you in the future.
Fan mode in air conditioner save electricity
Does running the fan on my air conditioner use a lot of electricity? NO, actually air conditioner fan mode power consumption is less. By using a fan alone to offer chilly air and ventilation, more energy and extra power is saved by the air conditioning unit. Not only that, having the fan mode on permits the unit to take out some of your inside air that may no longer within the advised standard. How much power does an ac consume in fan mode? Around 150 watt.
It can condition the chill temperature in the morning
The fan mode is also able of giving the chill power that an aircon compressor offers during chill temperatures such as in the wee hours of the morning. Because of the chill temperature outside, the fan is already capable to offer the room important chilling with little to no effort made.
It does not need the power required to circulate the refrigerant
In order for an aircon to work, electrical power is required to make the unit run. Some of this power is directed to circulate the refrigerant. Anyway, when the fan mode is turned on, the unit will rely on the built-in fan to circulate free natural air from the room and also chill the unit hotter parts.
Cons of aircon fan mode
- You may feel a less even distribution of cooling and heating because once the thermostat is satisfied, the fan prevents moving air to other places in the home.
- More frequent stops and begins will make the fan wear out quicker
When to use fan mode in ac
Air conditioner fan auto versus fan on, which one is better? When it says fan on, it’s just the blower recirculating air through the house all the time keeps the air moving constantly versus auto where it only comes on when it’s dated you have a call for cooling when you have a call for heating, then the fan comes on and recirculates air.
When do you need which one? It’s a loaded question and one of the big debates in the HVAC industry.
It really applies to what needs you have. We have to look at what type of motor you have. If we have the older standard three-speed permanent split capacitor motors, then that motors going to use a decent amount of electricity when it goes.
Some of the new motors are ECM x13, variable speed constant velocity or constant torque motors, These motors are a lot more energy efficient that’s going to use a lot less energy to move that same amount of air and when you leave the fan on it runs the fan constantly at a lower speed, so it’s a lot more energy efficiency.
So, with the new ECM and variable speed motors, you can keep the air moving from a very small amount. It’s like running a 60 watt light bulb just an approximation so having that in residential, having the fan moving, the benefits of that is you’re going to have warm spots that build up in your house.
Maybe this section of the rooms outside a wall will have more heat and be warmer than the section over there. So that is if you have air moving constantly, you can keep that room and much more comfortable temperature which is what a ceiling fan does. It helps keep that room the air moving and having movement over your body.
It makes you feel cooler, speeds up evaporation on your skin. It keeps the cooler air moving across your body so you always feel cool with air movements.
It’s the best to have this localized with the local fan tower fan. Ceiling fan keeping the air moving across you can definitely make you feel comfortable and save money on electricity bills.
Now fan on all the time versus auto mode. Let’s talk about a condition.
Let’s say, we’re in a humid climate place. The air conditioner has to do a few things first. It has to cool the air and dehumidified. Before we had Willis carrier, we cooled with ice and fans but Willis care invented AC to not only cool the air but did the humidify.
Air conditioner pulling moisture out of the air. The waters in vapor form has to condensate under the coil and it goes from a vapor form to droplets of water. These droplets of water collect on the fins of this evaporator coil.
They run that into a drain pan and that drain pan then drains that h2o physically out of the house. It physically pulls moisture out of the air and drains that moisture outside by doing that. By pulling moisture out of the air, we’ve dropped the extra humidity of the air which makes it more comfortable.
The higher the humidity levels, the warmer it feels because we have less evaporation going on. So the drier the air, the cooler it fills, the more comfortable at generally us.
By defining the air pulling the moisture out, all that water runs on this coil into this drain pan and runs out. If we live in a humid climate and we leave this fan on all the time, the AC shuts off. So the temperatures what this coil goes up and then if we continue to move air across it.
I take this moisture that I paid money to pull out of the air that’s still there. This moisture will then evaporate back into the air and as it evaporates, it goes back into the air. The coil dries out and we’re putting moisture back into the air so that moisture goes back into the air there becomes more humid.
We lost a decent amount of efficiency! So if we have a humid climate, we for sure want this fan to cycle only in the unit’s running so now when the unit’s running weirdy humidifying that water collects and runs outside. When the unit cycles off, the fan also shuts off.
That water that is that we’ve paid money to humidify to condense out of the air. That water stays mist evaporative cooling. I’m going to vibrate just in this area but it stays right there.
The next cooling cycle comes on we drop the temperature of the evaporator. We start pulling moisture out of the air. Fan comes on and move that cooler and back into the house.
So the humid climate, you for sure want to have that fan to be where it runs at least as possible so that we do humidify and also at a lower speed. This does not include variable refrigerant flow units.
Some of the newer systems Dyken, also Mischa Vichy have designs systems that are made to run non-stop .They control the capacity of the unit to constantly cool the house.
We’re not compared to that at all. We’re just talking about a standard AC with the blower, so in a humid climate, you want to cycle that fan on and off.
On a dry climate, leaving that fan running is a good idea because it keeps the air moving right sounds good.
Let’s think about a place that is very dry such as Las Vegas. There’s no dehumidification we have to worry about because it’s so dry. Anyways, the ductwork though around Las Vegas and the unit itself is up in the attic. So let’s say it’s a hundred degrees outside and you’re looking about 140.
Maybe not in 15 the attic, let’s say 140 degrees in the attic which is a significantly hot. Then the air in your house, let’s say you have your temperature air at 75 degrees. So the return air that’s going into the unit 75 degrees. It’s 140 degree air that’s going in and heating up that air.
Just being the Attic alone so as we run that fan, it’s only two inches of insulation separating that 75 degree air for this 140 degree air. So the more air I move through that unit, the more heat i am picking up.
Let’s think about the air coming out in the ductwork side. Let’s say the temperature of the the ductwork is 50 degrees Fahrenheit. So the attics 140 now. There’s a big temperature difference! So the heat here from the attic is going into that ductwork.
Again, we’re losing efficiency by having the ducts in the attic. We’re actually reheating that ductwork up. There’s a certain amount of losses that’s going to happen now if I leave that fan in the on position and I’m moving air through this unit through the attic all the time non-stop keeping that air moving through that unit.
Then there’s more air touching more of that hotter temperature attic all the time. So one of the theories is by leaving that fan in the on position, you’re actually heating the air in the house up Plus also if you look at the heat of the motor.
The other idea is that if we cycle this fan off, we’re not being used the ductwork will heat up but when the system comes back on, it cools it off quickly and it cycles and keeps the house more comfortable. Generally they say not to have the fan on position residential in the attics because that extra heat process but there’s a huge debate on that my feeling is to have it set on auto.
Commercial buildings, I prefer to leave that unit running all the time and that motor stays running. There’s less wear and tear in the belts and the bearings and it’s better to keep that big unit running constantly than having it cycle on and off.
A residential air conditioner unit, I find that it’s better to really have it cycle on and off as we need unless you end up with the new variable refrigerant flow systems and these systems are going to run non-stop but not just a fan.
The whole AC system, if you look over, we have a ductless system. A lot of these ductless systems now are using variable refrigerant flow technology. So it’s not just that the fans running all the time non-stop. The refrigerant that’s running through the evaporator coil is running at the same time.
We also encourage you to learn other operating modes such as aircon sleep mode, aircon dry mode, aircon quiet mode, turbo mode, cool mode, heat mode and power saver mode ( also known as energy saver mode ) in AC. AC mode can be changed by pressing the button on the air conditioner remote control or thermostat settings. Using the correct temperature setting or temperature mode will save money on your energy bill while you still enjoy the ideal temperature of your room.
