It’s the eternal question of summer: should your A/C fan be set to “auto” or “on”? Don’t guess wrong or you could cost yourself money!
Most people have the wrong idea
Most people seem to think that they should have their fan set to “auto” instead of “on,” in order to prevent their A/C from running constantly. If it’s set to “auto,” then the fan will only kick on once your house gets too hot, which means you save money, right? Not necessarily. Actually, (as long as you have a central air unit), then your fan should be set to “on” at all times.
Why should you set your fan to “on”?
Setting your fan to “on” allows cool air to circulate through your home more effectively. When it’s set to “auto,” then you can’t take advantage of this feature and all that cool air is essentially wasted. After all, the way an air conditioner works is by taking the hot air inside your home, running that air over the cooling evaporator coils in your indoor unit, then putting that air back in your home. If your fan is set to “auto,” the hot air will just hang around in one place because it’s not being circulated often enough. Plus, when the fan is set to “on,” a lot of times you’ll notice how cool air starts coming out of vents near where people are sitting or standing at home. This helps create a more pleasant environment for everyone!
Why is there an “auto” feature, then, if you shouldn’t use it?
“Okay, you smarty-pantses at Weather Master,” you might be thinking to yourself right now, “if the auto feature is not a good idea, then why does it even exist in the first place?” Well, you are right! (And funny.) The truth is, there are still some situations where you might want to set your fan to “auto” instead of “on.” For example, if your home has a lot of windows and you like to keep them open, it might be helpful to set the fan to “auto” because the breezy windows are already doing part of the work. For many people in hot climates like ours, the answer is easy: their A/C should always be set to “on.” But for others who live in cooler areas, the “auto” setting could be okay because their A/C doesn’t need to run as often.
The question of whether to leave the setting at “auto” or “on” is an important one, and it’s a question we get often from customers! If you have any questions of your own or if you need fast service here in the Raleigh area, you can easily schedule an appointment online or give us a call: (919) 853-7910