I have ceiling fans that I run (on slow) clockwise when it’s cold. I can clearly feel the mixing of upper level (warm) air into my environment which is comfortable but my wife thinks any moving air is cold air and hates it. I think I need to position multiple temp sensors at various heights and locations to prove my point but my concern is that if I have empirical evidence to back my supposition it will be poorly received because, of course, I’m over-thinking it. Thoughts?
Edit: after receiving the thoughts I requested I must say I agree with everyone and will simply pack my opinion away and mix a lovely beverage with some warming whiskey when we settle in tonight…of course, I’ll make two so we can enjoy together.
Edit edit: Sorry, but as I am a goober I had to gather data and I can unequivocally state that fan blowing up makes temp sensors warmer.
Before going down that road, ask yourself this: “How much do I really want to stay married, anyway?”
Happy wife, happy life.
Take a deep breath, hold it in for 15 seconds, now blow through pursed lips onto your hand from about a foot away. The air coming out of your lungs is a couple degrees warmer than the surrounding air, but it still feels cold.
This is because the stream of air mixes with the surrounding, cooler air, rips away the ultra-thin film of warm air around your skin, thus exposing it to colder air and creating a more efficient heat-exchange with the colder air, cooling the skin.
Even if your ceiling fan moves air an entire degree warmer towards her, the movement of the air still strips away the protective film of warm air around her skin.
I used to have this same conversation multiple times through the years until I realized that ultimately, it wasnt really about being right. The wife was just uncomfortable, and was going to be uncomfortable whether I was “right” or not.
Now I mostly don’t worry about the fans, cause her comfort is more important.
Look, she has a point too. Let’s say your skin has a temperature of 30°C and the moving air has a temperature of 21°C. As the air moves past the skin, heat is being exchanged more efficiently from skin to air, cooling the skin.
You have a point as well, the room is heating up more efficiently for basically the same reason.
I suggest to turn on the ceiling fans while heating up the room for like half an hour or however long it takes to reach ± 1°C of the desired room temperature, and to turn it off afterwards.
You could both be right. She might be a more clammy person, so has some evaporation coming off her… Meaning more wind-chill or evaporative cooling. This fits with the idea that women have slightly higher body temperatures.
So it’s cooler for her, warmer for you.
I think I need to position multiple temp sensors at various heights and locations to prove my point
This is absolutely 100% the wrong move.
You want the fan on and she doesn’t, figure it out like adults.
My wife could be wearing a sweater in the Mojave Desert in July and she would still be a “little chilly.” I can’t take a shower with her because she washes with Satan’s tears.
It’s no big deal. I just want her to be comfortable. That’s all.
my wife has some sort of sensory issues with moving air that she finds difficult to describe beyond “uncomfortable”, is it possible your wife has something similar and is using uncomfortable temperature as a stand-in explanation?
My entire apartment is filled with home automation for stuff like this. I simply automate my space heaters, furnace, fans, etc to take into account several factors and let the automations roll. Then when something’s off (wife complains) I tweak it.
This is probably a more invasive approach, but the good news is it’s at a point where everything runs itself and neither of us really complain anymore but of course this is after spending LOTS of time with various sensors (temperature, door sensors, humidity, virtual sleeping switches, location) and technologies (boo Z-Wave), etc.
However the air moves depends on the direction of the fan blades in relation to their direction, some fans even have indications next to the switch.
All the same, it doesn’t matter if you are right, she is complaining. If you switch the fan to where she is happy and you are comfortable, everybody wins. Wear long sleeves, a hoodie, a sweater, whatever if you have to.
