How to tell if your window fan should be facing forward or outward

For many, window fans are an essential tool for maintaining air conditioning. Especially if you don’t have (or are reducing) air conditioning. Even with access to AC, window fans can provide the very necessary ventilation for otherwise stuffy rooms.

Therefore, the question is whether the fan needs to be placed outward or inward. After all, the answer is not as easy as you might think. Here’s what you need to know:

Are your window fans face up or out?

To get the most out of the cooling capacity of a window fan, simply pointing it at your face is not enough., And turn it on. Instead, take a few factors into account when deciding whether to turn the fan face up or inside.

The location of your home

Think about the natural light in your home. In most cases, some rooms get more than others, based on the direction and time the house or building is facing. What’s more, for example, some rooms benefit from the shade of large trees. This means that the sun doesn’t get too hot when it hits the room directly.

So, generally speaking, Wind fans must be facing out It’s on the warm side of the house (to blow out the heat) and on the cool shade side of the house, taking in its cold air.

Number of levels in your home

As you remember in the elementary school science class, the heat rises and the cold air sinks. Therefore, if you live in a house and have multiple levels, the upper floors can be warmer than the first floor, especially during the summer.

MeIf you are using a window fan to cool your house Chris Regan, an engineer who also tests the AC unit in Consumer Reports, recommends: Multi-fan approach. This means keeping the fan on upstairs in the house and pointing outwards to get rid of the heat trapped in it.

Then, in the evening, when it’s not too hot outside, turn on the inward-facing fan on the ground floor of the house. This blows in the cooler outside air in the room and, in combination with the outward fans on the upper floors, maximizes the airflow inside the house, Regan explains.

As a whole, keep in mind the following: A window fan is much more convenient to get hot air out of a house (or apartment) than to bring cold air into a house (or apartment).