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Ceiling fan manufacturers often advertise their products as more energy efficient and therefore more cost effective than air-conditioning options. Although it does take considerably less energy to operate a fan than a central or window air conditioner, you won't see savings on your electric bill unless you use your fans wisely. Simply adding fans to your normal electricity usage raises your bill rather than lowering it. However, when you know how to maximize a ceiling fan's potential, it can save you money during both the heating and cooling seasons.

1 Turn ceiling fans on in the summer only when someone is in the room. Unlike air-conditioning systems, fans don't cool the air in the room, they only circulate it. Essentially, they add a windchill factor to a space. An empty room doesn't benefit from having a fan running, so that fan is using electricity for no reason.

2 Raise the temperature on your air-conditioning unit's thermostat by 5 to 10 degrees while you run your ceiling fan. Better yet, turn the a/c off altogether. The energy savings come not from running the fan but from using less air conditioning, so if you don't reduce your a/c usage, you won't save money.

3 Invest in high-efficiency, Energy Star certified fans if you're installing new ones. These fans can cool you off just as well as other models, but they use less energy to do it, saving you money on your electric bill and reducing your impact on the environment.

4 Reverse the direction of the fan blades during the heating season so they are pulling air up. Run a fan while someone is in the room to pull cooler air from the bottom of the room to circulate with the warm air before returning back to the living areas. Lower the setting on your heating system's thermostat to save money. Use the fan on its lowest setting for this purpose; higher settings create a draft that doesn't help keep you warm in the winter.

Tips Always remember to turn fans off when all occupants leave a room.

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