About Fans

What your fan will and won’t do

The effects that fans can have on an individual’s health are a contentious debate that most individuals know very little about. Overall, the average fan will have very little, if any, impact on your health.

A fan will not eliminate any particles from the air or filter anything in the air. When you turn on the fan, you are just circulating the air; it will provide you with a nice breeze, but it is not improving the air quality. When you turn the fan off, the air in the room will have the same level of quality as it did when you first turned the fan on.

If you are allergic to dust or pet hair and you don‘t vacuum regularly, turning on a fan will blow the dust and pet hair around the room which could aggravate your allergies. If you vacuum those dust bunnies and hair balls every other day, turning on a fan will move the air around the room, but it most likely won’t aggravate your allergies or impact your overall health in any way.

The true purpose of a fan is to help circulate air in a particular space. The most common use for a fan is to cool your home during warm weather. If your windows are closed, the actual temperature of the air does not change; a fan increases the movement of air which creates a superficial cooling effect. If it is cooler outside than it is inside your home and you open the window, a fan can help remove stale air from your home and allow fresh, cooler air to enter and lower the temperature.

There are some types of fans, such as exhaust fans, that are designed to remove unwanted emissions from the air. Exhaust fans for the home remove steam and smells in the air from above the stove (in kitchens) caused by cooking and the steam in bathrooms caused by hot showers and baths. Although the steam and smells are usually not harmful, steam can become harmful if a small area like your bathroom becomes too hot. An excessive amount of heat and steam can cause dizziness and disorientation, which can potentially lead to blackouts and fainting. Exhaust fans force the hot, moist air up and out of the room to help keep the air clear and the temperature moderate – they do not clean the air.

Most fans are not designed to clean the air in your home; fans are not to be confused with air purifiers. The best way to avoid health-related issues associated with fans, such as allergy flare-ups, is by vacuuming regularly and using your fan in combination with an air purifier or air cleaner. There are no health-related issues caused by fans, it’s just a matter of being aware that fans do not perform all the functions you need in your home. Once you know that, everything will be fan-tastic.